47-101.01.

Telephone services for inmates; use of funds.

(1) Each county jail shall make available either a prepaid telephone call system or collect telephone call system, or a combination thereof, for telephone services for inmates. Under either system, the provision of inmate telephone services shall be subject to the requirements of this section.

(2) Under a prepaid system, funds may be deposited into an inmate account in order to pay for telephone calls. The provider of the inmate telephone services, as an additional means of payment, shall permit the recipient of inmate collect telephone calls to establish an account with that provider in order to deposit funds for advance payment of those collect telephone calls. The provider of the inmate telephone services shall also allow inmates to communicate on the telephone, or by videoconferencing, with an attorney or attorneys without charge and without monitoring or recording by the county jail or law enforcement.

(3) A county operating a county jail may receive revenue for the reasonable operating costs for establishing and administering such telephone services system or videoconferencing system, but shall not receive excessive commissions or bonus payments. In determining the amount of such reasonable operating costs, the Jail Standards Board may consider for comparative purposes the rates for inmate calling services provided in 47 C.F.R. part 64. Amounts in excess of the reasonable operating costs include, but are not limited to, any excessive commissions and bonus payments, as determined by the Jail Standards Board, including, but not limited to, awards paid to a county for contracting with an entity that provides such service.

(4) Nothing in this section shall require a county jail to provide or administer a prepaid telephone call system.

(5) For the purposes of this section, collect telephone call system means a system pursuant to which recipients are billed for the cost of an accepted telephone call initiated by an inmate.