Cost of prison phone calls rises in Michigan

JACKSON, Mich. (AP) -- The cost of telephone calls from Michigan's prisons will increase from 10 and 12 cents per minute to 18 to 20 cents per minute under a contract with a new company, the state said. The contract with Alabama-based Public Commutations Services will allow the prisons to maintain a relatively inexpensive phone system while paying for technology upgrades and better security, said John Cordell, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections. "This rate is still very good," Cordell told the Jackson Citizen Patriot for a story published Sunday. "We understand there is a great cost burden for families." The corrections department had previously contracted with another company and that contract expired in 2009. The company agreed to continue serving Michigan's prisons until a new company was found. The new system will be phased in throughout the month. Robert Avery, of Jackson, whose 31-year-old son Aaron Avery is serving five to 15 years in prison at Pugsley Correctional Facility near Traverse City, said it will cost him 20 cents a minute instead of 12 cents a minute. They typically talk on the phone at least five times a week. "It's not going to be easy," Robert Avery said. "I'm retired, and I'm on a pension, but I'll do what I have to to keep the phones open." Under the contract, users pay for service through PCS. The contract doesn't generate a profit for the Michigan prison system, Cordell said. The rate increase is expected to go toward providing more phones in prisons and upgrading existing technology. Published: Wed, Jun 22, 2011