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Telephones

Interview with Lance, Ana and Jack

JM: Did you have regular access to telephones?
Lance: Yes, from 8am to 10pm. There were three phones and there was never a line. People would wait for the one farthest from the TV but there was never a line.
Ana: Yes. In jail there are several payphones, but whomever you are calling will have to arrange a prepaid service after the first one or two calls you make to them. The first one or two calls, you can call collect. In prison, there are also numerous payphones available, but you must go through a lengthy process in which you must fill out a list of visitors you desire, then they must apply to visit. This takes several months. Once they are approved to visit, you must put in an application to have their phone approved to call. This usually takes at least another month. Once it is approved, the person you are calling must set up a prepaid account.
Jack: Yes, the problem was that unless someone set up an account you could not talk to them. Collect calls were not accepted.

JM: What types of charges applied for calling people? How much money would you guess the average inmate spends per week on phone calls?
Lance: I don't know, I didn't make any calls while I was in there. I know the recipient of the call could put $30 on their phone and get 5 phone calls.
Ana: As I said, in all instances the person being called must set up a prepaid account. Depending on where the inmate is and where they are calling greatly effects the cost. There is a connection fee plus a per minute charge. It is difficult to give an average inmates phone charges because some make no calls and some make five long distance calls per day. Your average in city call would be approximately $4 per call while out of county calls are approximately $10 per call and out of state calls could be as much as $17 for a 15 minute phone call.
Jack: Well, the receiving party would have to set up an account with a private company before they could receive a call. I would guess around twenty five dollars or more was spent by inmates on the phone.

JM: Did you need to buy phone cards to call out?
Lance: No.
Ana: No. They do not offer phone cards in jail or prison.
Jack: Nothing you could do could help you in there. Only people on the outside.

JM: Did the jail screen your calls?
Lance: They said they did in the little paperwork I got.
Ana: Yes. All of the calls in jail and in prison are recorded. It is not known which calls are actually screened or listened to.
Jack: I am sure they did.

Read about how inmates pass the time in the Yavapai County Jail