KS- Poll: Is Kansas correct to give inmates limited e-mail access?

5-14-2009 Kansas:

State hopes to reduce contraband, screening chores

Kansas prisoners will soon have access to limited electronic banking, e-mail and video family visitations.

It is all part of a move by the Kansas Department of Corrections to improve security in state prisons and reduce contraband, all while reducing staff time to screen regular mail.

For the state's 8,619 inmates and their families, the services will be a more convenient and efficient way to send money, exchange e-mails and digital photos, or visit loved ones from miles away by video links.

There is no cost to taxpayers. The department will make money from commissions whenever inmates use the services, with the money to go into the Inmate Benefit Fund to buy such things as library books in facilities.

E-mails will cost inmates 43 cents apiece, a price set (before the latest postage increase) to match the cost of mailing a letter.

"This was, frankly, done for the benefit of the department to cut down on mailroom processes and the need for us to look at virtually every piece of mail that comes through the mailroom," said DOC spokesman Bill Miskell.

Electronic messaging also will give the department the ability to automatically scan messages for certain words and phrases associated with security threats or criminal activity, he said. A staff member will check attachments such as digital photos to ensure they do not contain inappropriate material such as sexually explicit images.

"What we are hoping at some point is that the use of electronic messaging significantly reduces the amount of paper that has to be processed through the mailrooms every day," Miskell said, adding that in other states as much as half of mail volume has been cut by using electronic services.

E-mail services are limited to approved contacts and inmates will not have access to the Internet, the department said.

The DOC entered into a contract amendment for the new services with Embarq Corp. in Overland Park, through subcontractor JPay Inc. of Miami, which already provides inmate telephone services.

Electronic funds transfer services were implemented in March. Fees range from $3.95 to $10.95, depending on the amount of funds sent to the inmate.

Inmate E-mail services are now being set up at kiosks located at each of the eight state adult prison facilities, and should be available to all state prisoners within two months.

Offsite video visitation services are expected to be operational sometime later this year.

On Wednesday, the Lansing Correctional Facility became the first Kansas prison to go live with inmate e-mail capabilities, said L.D. Hay, chief marketing officer for JPay. Lansing is the state's largest prison facility.

More than 1 million inmates in 10 states nationwide use JPay for e-mail services, Hay said. But only a few of those states have implemented both inbound and outbound e-mail services. Kansas and Indiana are the two states that will allow both, Hay said.

The company also handles electronic funds transfers for inmates in 20 state prison systems and more than 50 large county jails, he said.

"We really try to make things as convenient to friends and family as possible, while at the same time on the department's point of view we try to streamline operations and save resources," Hay said. ..News Source.. by cjonline.com