JM: Did you have regular access to telephones? Roderick: Yes, the ag pods have 2 phones in each section
and the regular pods have 10 phones along the
back wall. Phones are turned on between 9a.m to
9pm except for Friday and Saturday when they
stay on until 10. You have to get permission
from the guard to use the telephone. Liza: Yes
JM: What types of charges applied for calling people? How much money would you guess the average inmate spends per week on phone calls? Roderick: There is a $4.70 charge for accepting calls
from an inmate and that allows you to talk for
twenty minutes but isn't reduced if you talk for
less than that. And unfortunately you are still
charged if the call is accepted but fails to
connect or there is something wrong with the
phone. Sedgwick County Jail doesn't allow any
one number to except more than $50 in calls from
an inmate in a seven day period. When a specific
telephone number reaches $50 the phone system
automatically blocks the calls and you have to
call Global Tel Communications to make
arrangments to begin receiving calls again. Liza: 4.95 per call and if you were out of state up to
20.00 a call
JM: Did you need to buy phone cards to call out? Roderick: No phone cards in Sedgwick County. Just your
average, ordinary collect call system. Liza: No phone cards
JM: Did the jail screen your calls? Roderick: All calls are monitored and recorded. Somebody
can call the jail and complain that somebody who
is incarcerated is harrassing them and they can
pull the call and listen to it. Also, they
don't allow any 3 way calling anymore. They
never really did but you could get away with it
on the old system. TTY telephones are offered
to the hearing impaired and are free for the
inmate to use as well as the receiver of the
call. Liza: Yes