KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – After citizen complaints that inmates and their families were being gouged by the vendor providing phone calls at the Kalamazoo County Jail, the sheriff’s department has found a new provider who will cut the costs by half.
The county board approved a three-year contract with ViaPath Technologies last night.
Inmates are not permitted to have their own cell phones but contact with family members and others is considered essential.
Board chair Jen Strebs says the new rates are a lot better.
Inmate advocates were pleased with the new rate structure.
Ashante Collins with the Campaign for Criminal Justice Transparency had one additional request.
The proposal includes educational content, law library access, and mail scanning services at no additional cost.
The federal Martha Wright-Reed Fair and Just Communications Act was signed into law during the Biden administration in 2023 requiring the costs for such services be lowered, but it’s being challenged in court by Republican attorneys general in several states, blocking its implementation.
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