By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
Inmates at the Ellis County Jail are set to get access to tablets that will allow for better communication, educational opportunities and access to the jail commissary funds without any additional cost to the taxpayer.
Sheriff Scott Braun presented the Ellis County Commission with the plan Tuesday to implement a program with 35 tablets within the jail.
Braun said since the remodel of the Ellis County Jail in 2016 inmates have used the Kiosks system within each jail pod to make phone calls. That system replaced the old system of having one phone that was used by all the inmates.
Now as technology continues to advance Braun says it is time for Ellis County to update the jail's technology.
“With technology, it’s one of those things where we either move ahead or we lose,” Braun said. “This technology will allow them to do a lot more with the tablet.”
The tablets will allow inmates to do a number of things, including watch movies, play games, listen to music, read books as well as send and read texts, emails and U.S. mail.
Braun said he believes that the jail will be better off by providing the technology to the inmates.
“It’s a different thought process,” Braun said, “but it's technology and it’s the way things are going and we’re not the first one to try this.”
The tablets will come from Crown Correctional Telephone. They estimated the county would need 35 tables, about half the average number of inmates housed in the county jail. Braun said Tuesday morning there were 74 inmates in the jail, so they may need to add to the 35 tablets.
Crown Correctional Telephone has already worked with other jails in Kansas to implement a similar system.
Braun said the Ellis County Information Technology Department created and will maintain the system that the tablets run on, which will allow the county to save money on the project.
Because the system is maintained by the county IT department, there will be no access to functions outside of what is allowed. That includes no access to social media or Google, Braun said.
“They’re really locked down, and there’s just not much they can do with it,” Braun said.
The tablets will be leased to the inmates for $15 a month, and they will pay for the system. Braun said it will not cost taxpayers.
The money collected from tablet leases will go to the inmate fund, and the inmates will then pay for the system themselves.
Braun said if the inmates want to make a phone call, other than to their attorney, they will have to pay for it. The inmates will also pay to send and receive text and instant messages or emails.
They can also order commissary items through the tablet. A commissary serves as a type of store that allows inmates to purchase items that could include snacks and hygiene items.
Inmates receive the money to pay for the tablets and other services through family and friends.
Braun said they offer two ways people can provide funds to inmates. The first is through a machine in the lobby of the sheriff’s office or over the internet.
Inmates who cannot afford the tablets will still have access to the commissary through the Kiosks system.
The tablets cost $550. Braun said if an inmate breaks the tablet, they will be charged, and the county will seek restitution for the damaged device.
Braun said the tablets allow inmates to have greater communication with family members and that has a number of benefits.
“Studies have shown that it decreases recidivism and it also has shown that it helps prevent mental problems in our jail,” Braun said. “We have a lot of inmates with mental health issues.”
Braun estimated 40 to 60 percent of inmates in the jail have some mental health issues.
The implementation of the tablets has also helped to decrease the number of discipline issues.
“I’m not going to lie to you (and say) that we still won’t have issues, but it has decreased it dramatically across jails as well as within the prison system,” Braun said.
Commissioner Michael Berges said he believes it’s a “great project.”
He said he has a cousin, whom he has a close relationship with, who is in the prison system, and Berges said they communicate using similar systems.
“I know from his standpoint, to be able to talk to friends and family a little bit more freely is tremendously supportive,” Berges said.
Braun said the jail will also offer, if allowed through the USD 489 school district, the opportunity for inmates to obtain their GED. They previously had an inmate finish their GED while in the Ellis County Jail.
The biggest upfront cost to implement the system will be the infrastructure which will cost $7,090. There will also be upfront costs for an increase in the jail’s internet service along with the cost to lease the tablets.
But Braun told the commission they project the revenue will be $37 a month per inmate or $2,550 per month. That does not include additional revenue from movies and other options offered on the phone. Braun said that is a very conservative estimate.
They estimate a total of $38,000 would go into the inmate fund each year, and it would take two months to cover the upfront costs.
“That entire infrastructure, the implementation of tablets is truly funded from the inmates, and it costs the taxpayers of Ellis County not one cent,” Braun said.