The Allegheny County Jail gave every inmate in its facility an upgraded free tablet.
On Wednesday, Allegheny County Jail Interim Warden Connie Clark announced the jail distributed improved tablets for free to residents inside its facility. The tablets come at no cost to Allegheny County taxpayers, county officials said.
They are being provided through the county’s communication contract with GTL/ViaPath.
“Because we know that it is important for individuals who are incarcerated to maintain contact with their loved ones, we prioritized affordable communication by significantly reducing fees and incorporating more free minutes per person per day,” Clark said.
Inmates in Allegheny County Jail first gained access to tablets from the county in 2021.
The new tablets are part of a $300,000 contract between the jail and GTL/ViaPath, which was put into effect on April 1, and run until March 2029.
In the release, the county said it implemented the tablet program to “better facilitate communication efforts and educational opportunities to the incarcerated population.”
The tablets will allow inmates to have 30 minutes of free phone call time each day, which will significantly reduce other costs associated with telephone and video visitation at Allegheny County Jail, the release said.
Inmates will also have free access to books, health and wellness applications, educational programs, a legal library and other features. Paid features include video visitation, text messaging, games, news and streaming services for movies and music.
Fees for phone calls longer than 30 minutes have been lowered from their rate of 16 cents per minute to .035 cents per minute. Video visitation fees have also been reduced from 25 cents per minute to .07 cents per minute.
The replacement fee for the tablet is $255. Family members can deposit funds through a GTL account.
Inmates generally have access to the tablets during recreation time, which ends at 8 p.m., according to Allegheny County Jail public information officer Jesse Geleynse.