by Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian

06-23-25

 The Uvalde County Commissioners Court voted to approve an addendum to the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office Contract with Securus FCC at this morning’s January 23rd, Uvalde County Commissions Court meeting

 The addendum, referred to by Uvalde County Auditor Alice Chapman as an unfunded mandate by a federal government ruling, limits the amount an inmate can be charged for video and phone calls from the jail.

Under the new FCC addendum, the cost for an inmates’ calls will drop from 20 cents a minute to 9 cents a minute according to a Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson.

 Uvalde County Auditor Alice Chapman said, “It’s works the same as your personal cell phone due to inmate
The larger government says the county cannot charge inmates for phone calls because they are incarcerated.”

In a report published by www.prisonlegalnews.org on January 15, 2025, it states:

“On November 18, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued two orders denying motions filed by Securus Technologies, LLC, and Pay Tel Communications, Inc., seeking to stay implementation of a rule recently adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which capped the amount both companies may charge for telecommunication services provided to prisoners.

As PLN reported, the FCC published a final rule on August 24, 2024, to significantly reduce the cost of phone and video calls made by people held in prisons and jails nationwide. Under the new rule, which takes effect in 2025, rates in state prisons are limited to $0.06 per minute, while rates in local jails dropped to no more than $0.12 per minute. The FCC also capped the cost of video calls at $0.16 per minute in prisons and between $0.11 to $0.25 per minute in jails. [See: PLN, Oct. 2024, p.1.]”

 According to the company website it states: Securus Technologies is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and serves more than 3,400 public safety, law enforcement and corrections agencies and over 1.2 million incarcerated individuals across North America.

 “The landmark Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations poised to bring down costs of phone and video calls for incarcerated people will move forward as planned, despite an onslaught of lawsuits and delay tactics from the corrections industry. The first of the new FCC caps will be enforced January 1, 2025.

 On November 18, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit denied separate petitions from Securus Technologies and Pay Tel Communications, both of which had requested a stay of the new regulations while they fight them in court. Both contractors had similarly petitioned the FCC directly and received denials from the agency in October, ” according to a Filtermag.org article: