San Francisco is going to become the first county in the country to stop charging jail inmates for phone calls and stop marking up the costs of items in the jail store.
Those costs can add up quickly: Last year inmates and their families spent about $1.7 million on the fees, even though San Francisco already has one of the lowest calling rates in the area.
The changes will go into effect over the next year. For now, the sheriff will provide free phone calls on holidays.
KQED listeners and readers had a lot of questions about Mayor London Breed and Sheriff Vicki Hennessy's proposal.
What were prices for things at the commissary? Phone calls?
The average cost of a 15-minute, in-state phone call from a San Francisco county jail cost $2.10, and a similar call would cost an average of $5.70 statewide, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.
But even with lower costs, inmates and their families could spend hundreds of dollars on phone calls. For instance, the average jail stay in San Francisco is 70 days. If an inmate made just two 15-minute phone calls a day, that could come out to almost $300 over 70 days, or $1,500 over a year.
Items in the jail store -- like snacks and hygiene products --- are also currently marked up 43% before being sold to inmates.
Where was the money going?
Last year, inmates and their families and friends spent about $1.7 million in phone fees and commissary markups, according to the Financial Justice Project, part of the San Francisco treasurer's department.
San Francisco collected about $1.1 million in fees for phone calls. Under the existing contract, about $500,000 of that went to GTL, a private company that provides the phone service. The other $600,000 went to the inmate welfare fund. That money goes to staff members who coordinate nonprofit services and legal services.
The Sheriff's Department collected another $765,000 last year through the jail store. That money also went to programs supporting inmates.
