County Commission instructs Sheriff to move toward unlimited free phone calls and elimination of fees in jail

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In a meeting that went over six hours on April 6, the Alachua County Commission voted to ask the Sheriff to move toward providing unlimited free phone calls and eliminating or minimizing fees charged to inmates at the jail.

The meeting started with almost three hours of presentations from Sheriff Clovis Watson and his staff, and public comment didn’t start until almost three hours into the meeting.

Options and costs for free phone calls

The County has a contract with Securus to provide a hardened phone system at the jail through November 2025. The FCC sets the maximum per-minute charge at 21 cents for jails with a population under 1,000 inmates, and the Alachua County Jail, which typically houses about 800 inmates, charges 21 cents per minute; the cost for a 15-minute call is $3.15. Securus gets 12 cents of that, and the County gets 9 cents.

Jail staff presented four options for free phone calls for inmates:

• Option #1: Seven free 15-minute calls per week for each inmate (total cost to the County: $580,000 per year)
• Option #2: Five free 15-minute calls per week per inmate (total cost to the County: $375,000 per year)
• Option #3: Two free 15-minute calls per week per inmate (total cost to the County: $75,000 per year)
• Option #4: Unlimited phone calls per week per inmate (total cost to the County: approximately $1.3 million per year)

Research showed that other counties that implemented free calls saw an increase in the number of calls made, so additional phones may need to be installed, and the Sheriff said he was concerned about needing additional staff to manage the demand for the phones and possible fights that might result from conflicts over phones.

Policies in other counties

Leon County is now using tablets at their jail; Assistant County Manager Carl Smart said they’re not ready to recommend that yet, but “it’s certainly something we need to take a look at.” He said the concerns with tablets are mainly security issues: “We wouldn’t want people misusing tablets and using them in fights, or anything like that.” He said benefits include being able to provide forms to prisoners on the tablets, as well as providing access to workshops, movies, and other content. He says the technician who maintains the tablets in the Leon County Jail says the jail is quiet now because everybody’s on their tablet, and if they misuse it, they lose the tablet, “so there’s a disincentive for them to abuse it.”

Miami-Dade County now provides free phone calls to inmates, and they’re evaluating tablets; according to procurement documents, they’re planning to offer six 15-minute phone calls per week for free plus two videos a week, five emails a month, and one movie a week. Smart said Miami-Dade had to hire additional staff to implement the free phone calls.

“More communication is better”

Cornell said, “There isn’t a person I’ve talked to that hasn’t wanted us to get to [Option #4, unlimited free phone calls], where we are basically providing free calls, free communication–everything I’ve read is more communication is better. It reduces recidivism, and the overall cost, long-term, is obviously less: less people come to the jail, it costs us less. So this is where I think we’re all attempting to get to.” Cornell said the goal for the meeting was to find the best way to get there and find out how quickly they can do it. He asked some questions about the assumptions going into the estimate of $1.3 million a year, and the response was that the estimate assumes that each inmate will talk on the phone for 37 minutes a day.

“If we can do this, we’ll have less recidivism, and sort of long-term… our goal would be that we would have less inmates, we would have less costs, because over time, it would drop.” – Commissioner Ken Cornell

Adding operational costs, Cornell said, it would be “somewhere in the $2 million-plus range, and the idea behind that, I believe, is that if we can do this, we’ll have less recidivism, and sort of long-term… our goal would be that we would have less inmates, we would have less costs, because over time, it would drop.” He was interested in finding out what it would cost to have a contract with a per-line rate instead of a per-minute rate.

“Our phone lines, as a part of General Government, should be everybody paying it, not some families because their family member is incarcerated.” – Chair Anna Prizzia

Chair Anna Prizzia said she had just learned that the per-minute rate charged by the jail is the maximum rate allowed by the FCC, and she said she had checked rates around the country and learned that Alachua County is one of the highest. She said, “If we do not get to unlimited right away, I want to see that number go down and go down fast.” She said that at the very least, the County should stop taking its part of the fee. She added, “Our phone lines, as a part of General Government, should be everybody paying it, not some families because their family member is incarcerated.” Prizzia said she wanted all phone calls to be free, even if the number of calls needs to be limited.

“The addition of more inmate phones is not feasible due to the lack of space”

Sheriff Clovis Watson opened his presentation by saying, “The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office are not opposed to free calls, regardless of what you may have heard. We are adequately and appropriately prepared to do whatever this commission deems appropriate for your jail. This is your jail, and we want to make sure that we can live up to our contractual obligation to do it as you see fit.”

Major Dorian Keith, Director of the Jail, described the living space requirements in the Florida Model Jail Standards and said, “The addition of more inmate phones is not feasible due to the lack of space.” She said that if the County decided to provide seven free 15-minute phone calls per week to each inmate, that would require 9 additional staff members, 6 new phone quads, and 9 new single phones. She said this would also require modifications to the infrastructure of the jail to add floor space for the new phones. The other options similarly required more staff members, new phones, and modifications to make space.

Jail Director: current staff and phones would support one free phone call per inmate every two weeks

Keith said that unlimited free calls would require a “significant increase in staffing and infrastructure modifications.” She said they would base the additional staffing and phones on the calculations made for the other options and then make adjustments based on actual usage. With the current staff and phones, Keith said they could offer one free phone call per inmate every two weeks.

Major Lance Yaeger said that about 1,400 phone calls are currently made every day at the jail by a little over 800 inmates. After Commissioner Mary Alford asked for clarification, Yaeger said that inmates could make paid phone calls on top of the two free calls every two weeks, so the free calls are assumed to be on top of the current number of calls. Yaeger also explained that the additional staff would be needed to “manage all the free phone calls that you’re giving to the inmates and to make sure that the inmates aren’t fighting over the phones, and all of that.”

“We already have inmates complaining that they don’t have enough phone time, because of the number of phones… It’s certainly going to increase if you give free phone calls.” – Major Lance Yaeger

Yaeger said he thought there would be more fights if the jail provided free phone calls, “and I’m basing that on the fact that we already have inmates complaining that they don’t have enough phone time, because of the number of phones… It’s certainly going to increase if you give free phone calls.”

“We embrace this, we just need to get direction… as to how we can facilitate this with some type of expansion at the jail, so we can have more phones and more phone opportunities.” – Sheriff Clovis Watson

Sheriff Watson suggested directing the County Manager to meet with his office and “look at possible ways for us to do some type of expansion within that area to provide free service or more phone opportunities… We embrace this, we just need to get direction from this board and the opportunity to work with the Manager as to how we can facilitate this with some type of expansion at the jail, so we can have more phones and more phone opportunities.” Watson said individual tablets for inmates could alleviate the space constraints but that they have their own complexities.

“I’m not interested in expanding the jail in any way, shape, or form.” – Chair Anna Prizzia

Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler said she was uncomfortable with expanding the facility and instead wanted to “make sure people are not incarcerated unless they’re a danger to themselves or the community.” Prizzia agreed, “I’m not interested in expanding the jail in any way, shape, or form. I want to close pods, not expand… [Using] everything we can to make sure we’re shrinking our jail population.”

Watson said he would prefer to control the contract with the phone provider, the same way he controls the contracts with the healthcare providers and food providers: “That’s one of my asks of you all tonight, is to allow me autonomy to do that.”

Yaeger said the jail doesn’t have the WiFi or technical support to allow tablets right now. He added that the Sheriff’s Office is not opposed to free telephone services, “but we want to make sure it’s safe for the staff.”

“We really don’t know what would happen until we do it.”

Prizzia said she felt like the Sheriff’s Office was presenting a lot of assumptions: “We’re making a lot of assumptions and worst-case scenarios, and… I’m not ignoring your data or your suggestions or your whatever, but I am recognizing that we really don’t know what would happen until we do it.” She said she thought it would be “worth it to try something for 90 days and see what happens. Get the data. Get the information, and then we actually go from there to be able to make decisions about what are the right additions, subtractions, those kinds of things.”

First motion: one free 15-minute phone call per day

Alford said she wanted to make a motion: “I think we’ve looked at worst-case scenarios and we haven’t looked at reality; if it turns out to be a big fiasco we can walk that back, but I feel like we are assuming the worst, and there are a lot of folks out there that might not come back to jail where they would otherwise if they had the opportunity to maintain contact with relatives, employers, their landlord, or the million other people they might need to contact while they are incarcerated.” She made a four-part motion:

• Direct the County Manager to work with the Sheriff to provide all inmates with one free 15-minute phone call per day for the next 90 days;
• Direct the County Manager to renegotiate with Securus for a per-line charge instead of a per-minute charge, and if Securus does not agree to that negotiation, to offer the contract to the lowest service option to provide a flat per-month active per-line fee;
• Have a goal of unlimited calls as equipment becomes available to increase the amount of time given per inmate;
• Continue to explore tablets.

“If it turns into a fiasco, we can walk it back.” – Commissioner Mary Alford

There was no immediate second to the motion; Wheeler said she was concerned about doing that for 90 days without putting in more phones. Alford responded, “That’s what we want to try, right? We don’t know. We’re looking at numbers that are assumed… If it turns into a fiasco, we can walk it back.” Alford said she knew it couldn’t happen overnight, but “as soon as it can be arranged between our Manager and the Sheriff.”

Amended motion: five free 15-minute phone calls per week

Wheeler said she could second the motion if Alford changed it to five free 15-minute phone calls per week per inmate, so Alford agreed with that. County Manager Michele Lieberman said some funding needed to be added to the motion, “that whatever money is not currently allocated, from a budget perspective, that it come from reserves or special expense.” Alford added part five to her motion, to take any required funds from reserves “because I don’t see this as being a giant expense, and if it turns out to be different from what we think, then we walk it back.” Commissioner Chuck Chestnut agreed to second the motion if it specified only five free calls per week.

Changes will require a contract amendment with Securus

Lieberman said they would probably need to execute an amendment to the contract with Securus to even do a trial period, and she said that would take at least 60 days. Watson said his office would “evaluate what you all are asking and determine what we can do logistically with 70 correctional officers down… I hope you would give us some leeway… I want to make sure that staff can adequately do that and safely do it at this time.”

Lieberman suggested that the commission give her direction to sit down with the Sheriff to figure out what they could do and then report back on a regular basis because “I may be coming to you saying I can’t do it.” Prizzia asked Watson, “Are you willing to try it?… Let’s try five phone calls a week… if we start it for 90 days and you do it for two weeks, it’s chaos, we can’t do it, we dial it back.”

“I don’t know if you understand the jail atmosphere. It’s hard to do something and take it back from inmates.” – Sheriff Watson

Watson replied, “I don’t know if you understand the jail atmosphere. It’s hard to do something and take it back from inmates.” He clarified that he wasn’t requesting additional positions: “We just need to fill the positions… As employees are hired on, we will have more employees to address this concern… We just don’t have the bodies right now… We will go and sit down with the County Manager and look at what we can do to do this or come close, but I’m just being honest with you. I don’t think we can logistically do it at this particular time. But it’s not a no.”

Prizzia restated the motion: “We are giving Madam Manager and Sheriff Watson 60 days to come up with a plan to implement a three-month trial of Option #2, and at the same time asking them to sit down with Securus to renegotiate a per-line, per-year fixed amount versus the current per-minute, per-inmate rates. And if that’s not done, then to opt to exercise our option to terminate and send out an RFP. And then to tangentially explore tablets and bring back a presentation about tablet options, including grants and other opportunities to reduce costs or make them free.”

“We need to believe in folks that they might be able to manage things better than we think, and I know you have more experience on that than me, but I feel in my heart we need to do a trial of this.” – Commissioner Mary Alford

Watson asked whether that meant the commission was going to fund the infrastructure to support additional phones. Prizzia replied, “We’re asking you to try it… to see it if will work.” Alford added, “We’re making a lot of assumptions, and while I appreciate the work that went into those assumptions, I also feel like we have citizens that deserve this opportunity, and we need to believe in folks that they might be able to manage things better than we think, and I know you have more experience on that than me, but I feel in my heart we need to do a trial of this.”

Substitute motion: Five 15-minute phone calls a week and give Watson control of the Securus contract

Cornell said he couldn’t support the motion because they were asking Watson to implement the plan without giving him “operational control,” the authority to negotiate with Securus. He suggested a substitute motion that would implement Option #2 and direct staff to transfer operational control of the phone contract to the Sheriff as soon as possible but not later than October 1, 2023, and ask the Sheriff to explore tablets and bring back recommendations by October 1. Cornell said that his intent was to implement Option #2 as quickly as possible instead of requesting a trial period.

Following this discussion, Cornell’s substitute motion became the motion on the floor, and public comment began at nearly three hours into the meeting.

Public comment

During public comment, Chanae Jackson said she supported free phone calls but didn’t support giving more control to the Sheriff: “At the end of the day, the money is the people’s money. It’s our money. We want free phone calls. We don’t care how you get it done, and we want the excuses to stop.”

A number of speakers represented Florida Prisoner Solidarity, Alachua County Labor Coalition, and the Florida Student Policy Forum. Public comment lasted nearly an hour and a half and included 20 people who supported unlimited phone calls for inmates, another 12 who supported unlimited calls but specifically said they would not support giving control of the Securus contract to the Sheriff, three people who said they supported Cornell’s substitute motion as a first step, and one who supported Alford’s motion as a first step.

Second substitute motion: Unlimited free phone calls, no new infrastructure

After public comment, Prizzia passed the gavel so she could make a substitute motion. She said the commission has talked about wanting to invest money into reducing the costs of incarceration, so “we can take that money and invest it in free phone calls, and there will be less people [and problems] to deal with.” She said she did not support giving control of the Securus contract to the Sheriff because “he doesn’t have to have public meetings. He doesn’t have to be accountable to the voters except at the ballot box.” She said it wasn’t about trust but more about the fact that the RFP and the contract wouldn’t have to come before the public, “and I really believe if we’re spending taxpayer dollars with a contractor, we should be the ones holding those contracts.”

Cornell withdrew his substitute motion, then Prizzia stated her substitute motion, which was to

• Immediately eliminate the part of the price for phone calls that is paid to the County (9 cents per minute), making the phone calls cheaper, and cover the remaining 12 cents with County funds;
• Work with the Sheriff to negotiate a plan to implement unlimited free phone calls by October 1 without any new infrastructure;
• Terminate the contract with Securus and work with the Sheriff to write an RFP as soon as possible for phone calls to be free at the jail.

Cornell suggested that the County pay the 12 cents a call to Securus for 90 days and see how much that ends up costing, and he asked Watson how he felt about Prizzia’s motion. Watson said he thought it was “a very fair motion” because it gave him until October to work out the details.

Prizzia clarified that her intent was to “eliminate the subsidy” by not collecting the 9 cents per minute that inmates pay to the County and “use that money to pay for the phone calls that are happening… that 12 cents.” However, her plan would reduce revenue, not costs, so there would be no savings of money that could be applied to paying for inmate phone calls.

County Attorney Sylvia Torres said her staff was having trouble keeping up with the changing motions, but the Interlocal Agreement with the Sheriff would need to be amended, and the Securus contract would need to be amended to stop collecting the County’s 9 cents per minute. She said that although that would be a minor amendment with Securus, they could end up renegotiating the whole contract.

“I think there’s a scenario where the inmates are just going to figure out, OK, the phones are free. They’re available. We’re communicating now. And hopefully there’s no capital involved in building more jail. We don’t want to build more jail, right?” – Commissioner Ken Cornell

Cornell and Prizzia said they would like the County to cover the remainining 12 cents per minute in the interim. The worst-case cost for the plan was estimated at three-quarters of a million dollars, and the intent was to pay for it out of money that will be returned from the Sheriff for vacant positions. Cornell said, “I think there’s a scenario where the inmates are just going to figure out, OK, the phones are free. They’re available. We’re communicating now. And hopefully there’s no capital involved in building more jail. We don’t want to build more jail, right?”

Prizzia told the public that the intent is to make phone calls free “as soon as we can do all of this.” Lieberman said she wasn’t sure how long it would take to change the price with Securus because it’s in the contract, and she didn’t want the public to think phone calls would immediately be free.

Cornell said the message should be, “The board is moving to put out a new RFP to create a new process whereby calls will be free and unlimited starting October 1 and that they’re going to be working with the Sheriff to come up with that RFP and immediately reduce the cost and start providing, hopefully, free and unlimited calls prior to that date… That’s the best we can do.”

“I don’t think we’re doing the due diligence to really make this happen or be sustainable. That’s my problem… I support [unlimited free calls], but I just think there’s a way we go about doing it instead of becoming reactionary and emotional about it.” – Commissioner Chuck Chestnut

Prizzia’s substitute motion passed 4-1, with Chestnut in dissent. He said he voted no because he wasn’t sure how much it would cost. He said he favored moving to unlimited free phone calls “gradually on a basis to see how it works first” and then work it into next year’s budget. He added, “I don’t think we’re doing the due diligence to really make this happen or be sustainable. That’s my problem. I don’t want to start something and then we find out we can’t afford to do it, and then we got to come back to the citizens and say we can’t do this because financially it’s going to break us. And I don’t want to be in the situation like across the street [at the City of Gainesville]… I support [unlimited free calls], but I just think there’s a way we go about doing it instead of becoming reactionary and emotional about it.”

Inmate fees

The board then moved on to a discussion of inmate fees. Smart said that a lot of the fees are covered by state laws that allow jails to collect fees such as medical expenses. Some of these are listed in the slide below.

Jails are also allowed to collect subsistence fees and to charge for linens and services, as described below. The fees are set by the County Commission and are remitted back to the County from the jail. The fees are deducted from the inmate’s account, or if they are unable to pay, they leave with a debt that can remain up to three years. The County has collected less than 10% of that debt in the years since 2019. ASO Chief of Staff Danielle Judd told the Commission that the jail has collected and remitted to the County an average of about $263,000 per year over the past five years, with the bulk of the fees coming from inmate subsistence fees.

To save time, Lieberman said the Sheriff had previously told her he is willing to forego any fees that aren’t required by state law, and her staff could come back with a list of those if the board wanted them to. She said they would need to make a list and then determine how much it would cost to remove those fees.

Cornell made a motion to refer that to staff, with the goal of removing any fees that aren’t required and minimizing the fees that are required. Alford seconded the motion.

Commissary and inmate welfare funds

Under state law, the Sheriff administers the inmate commissary fund and the inmate welfare fund, which is funded by a 47% commission on commissary sales. If a jail has an inmate welfare fund, it must have an Inmate Welfare Committee, which recommends expenditures. Expenses can include games, gym equipment, recreational items, newspapers, magazines, cable TV, GED testing, a library, a chaplain, snacks for inmates, and similar items; Judd said the fund balance could be used to purchase more phones for inmate use. The Committee typically spends between $250,000 and $300,000 a year, and the current balance of the fund is about a million dollars.

Cornell added a second part to his motion to ask staff to work with the Sheriff to bring back recommendations on using the inmate welfare fund balance to improve inmates’ basic needs and welfare; this came out of a discussion about providing items like soap and deodorant to inmates instead of charging them for those items.

Before the vote, Chestnut said, “One of the major things in terms of my line of work is when a family member wants to get their loved one out of jail or prison to attend a funeral; the cost is so outrageous that they have to pay the funeral bill and on top of that, pay the security cost for the Sheriff officer or police officer, so it becomes very, very difficult, and the family just makes the decision, we can’t do that, because we can’t afford that, and then that person misses out on actually being able to say good-bye to their mother or father, and that just disturbs me, that this country that we live in, which is supposed to be one of the richest countries, we can’t look out for those who are less fortunate… I just think that if you poor in America, you catch hell.”

Cornell’s motion passed unanimously.