What Families Pay
to Stay Connected
A documented record of ViaPath's contract with Kalamazoo County — the commissions paid to the county, the fees charged to families, and the legal history behind the company. The contract expires November 9, 2026.
When Kalamazoo County signed its jail phone contract with ViaPath in 2020, it agreed to receive 80% of the revenue from every call a family makes to someone in the jail. That arrangement — common in counties across the country — is the main reason call rates here are more than three times higher than in states that have stopped accepting that revenue. The current contract expires in November 2026. Start with The Issue →
Kalamazoo County is actively preparing a new Request for Proposal (RFP) for its next telecommunications contract. The criteria written into that RFP — and how they are weighted — will determine what the county prioritizes when selecting the next vendor. The county has received nearly $500,000 from ViaPath since 2020, all of which flows to the General Fund. The window to provide public input on those criteria is open right now.
Get Involved or Ask a Question
Whether you have a personal story to share, want to volunteer with our campaign, or simply have questions about the contract process, we want to hear from you. All participation is completely voluntary, and you can remain anonymous if you'd prefer.
Reach us at [email protected]
The Issue
How Kalamazoo County turned a jail phone contract into a revenue stream — and what it costs the families left behind.
How the Commission Model Works
The commission/site fee model in American jails emerged in the early-to-mid 1990s following deregulation of the telecom industry. When a county needs a phone and video service for incarcerated people, it auctions off a monopoly. A single telecom company wins exclusive rights. In exchange, the company pays the jail a site commission — a cut of every dollar families spend.
Because families have no choice of provider, there is zero competitive pressure to lower prices. A provider might offer to charge consumers $1/minute and pay the facility a 90% commission, or $0.10/minute with no commission at all. Both combinations deliver the same income to the provider per minute — but the end cost to families depends entirely on how large a commission the county demands.
"The site commissions have become the leading cause of the phone rates, because the cost of providing service is relatively low. But when the facility starts demanding money in exchange for awarding that company a contract, the incentive is for the companies to offer higher and higher commission amounts."
— Peter Wagner, Executive Director, Prison Policy Initiative (Axios, May 2021) — Prison Policy Initiative is a nonprofit research and advocacy organization focused on criminal justice reform.New York State illustrates what happens when commissions are removed. The same company — ViaPath — charges $0.05 per minute in New York because the state banned commissions. In Kalamazoo, the same company charges $0.18 per minute because the county receives an 80% revenue share. The cost of the technology is the same. The policy is different.
The Kalamazoo Contract
In November 2020, Kalamazoo County signed a five-year Master Services Agreement with ViaPath (then operating as Global Tel*Link), granting it exclusive control of all jail telecommunications. The contract was extended one year and expires November 9, 2026.
Signing Bonus — Paid to County
A one-time payment from ViaPath to the county's General Fund in 2020 to secure the exclusive contract. This is a documented industry practice: when percentage-based commissions are banned or capped, vendors shift to one-time signing bonuses or inflated equipment arrangements. The payment structure changes; the net transfer to the county does not.
Additional Commissions Collected
Ongoing revenue share collected by the county on top of the signing bonus. Combined total to the county since 2020: nearly $500,000. All of it flows to the county's General Fund — confirmed on-record by Sheriff Richard Fuller. None of it is designated for jail operations, safety, or rehabilitation programs.
The in-person visitation room at the Kalamazoo County Jail has been physically converted into a virtual visiting room with wall-mounted tablets. The county banned most in-person visits in 2013 — seven years before this contract was signed — leaving families with no free alternative to paid video calls. Only a single phone line remains on-site, reserved exclusively for attorney calls.
When NowKalamazoo asked ViaPath what the bare minimum cost is to provide phone and video services to a jail the size of Kalamazoo County's, the company declined to answer. ViaPath's on-record explanation of how rates are set: "Rates for contracts are established through competitive procurement processes that take into account the requirements set forth by the procuring agency." That statement is worth reading closely: it says rates are determined by what the county asks for — not by what the service costs to provide.
What Families Actually Pay
The following rates come directly from the FOIA-obtained Master Services Agreement published by NowKalamazoo in September 2025.
| Service | Rate | 15-Min Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone call (standard) | $0.18/min | $2.70 | County receives 80% of gross revenue |
| Video call (remote) | $0.25/min | $3.75 | County receives 25% of gross revenue |
| Written message | $0.25 each | — | Per message sent |
| Photo attachment | $0.50 each | — | Per photo |
| Kiosk deposit fee | $3.95–$5.95 | — | Flat fee + 3.5% of deposit if using credit/debit |
| Automated payment fee | $3.00 | — | Per transaction |
| Live operator fee | $5.95 | — | ViaPath retains 100% — not revenue-shared |
The CFPB confirmed that ViaPath failed to fully disclose its fee schedules based on payment method — meaning families often didn't know these fees existed until after they were charged. Deposit fees, transaction fees, and the live operator surcharge are retained entirely by ViaPath and are not part of the revenue-sharing arrangement with the county.
Where a $2.70 phone call goes (15 min)
The county receives more per call than the company providing the service. ViaPath makes its margin on fees — not call rates.
Add a transaction fee — same call
A single $3.00 transaction fee more than doubles the effective cost of the call. The county receives nothing from this fee — ViaPath keeps 100%.
Dominic "Kobeany" Deere and his family spent approximately $7,700 over nine months in 2023–2024 to maintain contact during his stay at the Kalamazoo County Jail — roughly $3,100 on phone calls and $4,600 on video calls.
— NowKalamazoo, September 2025$7,700 over 9 months — broken down
~$100/month — for unlimited calls to anyone
The Deere family spent roughly 8x a typical household phone bill every month — for access to one person, through one vendor, with no alternative.
Same calls — commission-free rate
The same volume of calls — phone and video — would have cost the Deere family approximately $2,140 under New York's commission-free rate structure. The technology is identical. ViaPath operates in both places.
Rate Comparison by Jurisdiction
ViaPath operates across more than 2,300 correctional facilities. The price families pay varies significantly by jurisdiction — not because the cost of the technology differs, but because commission structures differ. A typical 15-minute call from a Michigan jail costs about $12 on average, and as high as $22. The same vendor charges $2.40 from Michigan state prisons, and $0.75 from New York state prisons where commissions are banned.
| Jurisdiction | Phone Rate (per min) | 15-Min Call | Commission Policy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kalamazoo County Jail | $0.18 | $2.70 | 80% revenue share to county + $325K bonus |
| Michigan State Prisons (avg) | $0.16 | $2.40 | Commission structure in place |
| New York State Prisons | $0.05 | $0.75 | Commissions banned by state law |
| New York City Jails | FREE | $0.00 | City-funded free call program |
| Massachusetts (prisons + jails) | FREE | $0.00 | State law — covers all facilities incl. county jails |
| Connecticut State Prisons | FREE | $0.00 | First state to pass free-call law (2021) |
Michigan is not an outlier: 33 out of 40 Michigan jails surveyed have banned in-person visits entirely. At least one Michigan county canceled in-person visits specifically at the request of its video calling vendor. Paid digital communication is not filling a gap — in most cases, it replaced free access that existed before these contracts were signed.
Children and Video Visits
ViaPath maintains a platform-wide policy that its services are intended for users age 18 and older. This applies across all of ViaPath's consumer-facing products and means a child cannot independently create an account or initiate a video call. Children can appear on video visits only when supervised by and on-screen alongside an adult account holder.
This is a ViaPath company policy, not a Michigan state law. Michigan has separate rules governing minor visitors at state prisons, but those apply to state facilities only — county jails like Kalamazoo's operate under county and facility-level policies. There is no Michigan statute setting a minimum age for video visitation at county jails.
With the in-person visiting room physically converted and in-person visits banned since 2013, children whose parents are incarcerated at the Kalamazoo County Jail have no free path to contact with their parent at all. The upcoming contract process is an opportunity to address this directly — not only on rates, but on how family visits involving children are structured and supported.
ViaPath's Legal Record
ViaPath Technologies — formerly Global Tel*Link (GTL), rebranded in 2022 — is the largest prison telecom company in the United States, serving over 2,300 correctional facilities. The violations below are documented against the company directly. They are not attributable to Kalamazoo County or local officials, but they are directly relevant context for evaluating this vendor as the county enters a new procurement process.
$67 Million Settlement — Seizure of Inactive Accounts
$67M + $18.7M feesBeginning in 2011, GTL implemented a policy of seizing all funds in accounts inactive for 90–180 days. Over a decade, the company confiscated $96 million from prisoners and their families nationally. GTL also removed the audio disclosure of this policy in 2014, then submitted doctored documents denying it — earning judicial sanctions for "significant gamesmanship." Final approval: U.S. District Court, N.D. Georgia (Githieya v. Global Tel Link Corp.).
CFPB Consent Order — Account Retaliation, Hidden Fees
$3 millionThe Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found GTL/ViaPath illegally: (1) froze incarcerated people's accounts when family members filed charge disputes — even disputes GTL employees had instructed them to file; (2) seized funds from approximately 575,000 inactive accounts without adequate notice; and (3) failed to disclose complete fee schedules. CFPB Director: "Global Tel Link took advantage of people who are incarcerated and their families, taking their money and preventing them from receiving money transfers needed to pay for basic necessities."
FTC Data Breach Order — 650,000 Customers Exposed
Mandatory reformsA 2020 data breach exposed personal information — names, birthdates, criminal offense data, driver's license numbers, account balances, and private messages — of over 650,000 customers. GTL waited approximately nine months before notifying anyone, then only notified ~45,000 of those affected. The FTC found GTL had "repeatedly and falsely claimed in marketing materials" that it had never suffered a data breach.
Mississippi Bribery Settlement
$2.5 millionMississippi AG Jim Hood filed a RICO lawsuit accusing GTL of channeling bribes through a paid "consultant" to state corrections commissioner Christopher Epps in exchange for prison phone contracts. Epps received a nearly 20-year federal prison sentence. The consultant received 60 months. GTL paid $2.5 million without admitting wrongdoing — and kept its Mississippi contract.
Price-Fixing Settlement with Securus Technologies
$21.3 millionThe Human Rights Defense Center alleged GTL and Securus illegally coordinated to raise single-call rates to $14.99 per 15-minute call under a patent-transfer scheme — violating the Sherman Antitrust Act and RICO. The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the RICO claim in May 2023 after a lower court dismissed it. GTL/ViaPath's share of the settlement: $17 million.
Questions About the Contract?
If you have questions about what's documented here, want to share your own experience with jail telecommunications in Kalamazoo County, or want to get involved with this campaign, reach out.
Email us at [email protected]
The Research
What peer-reviewed studies, federal data, and state-level outcomes say about family contact, reincarceration rates, and the documented effects of communication costs during incarceration.
What this page covers: Three bodies of evidence — (1) peer-reviewed research on family contact and mental health during incarceration, (2) reincarceration rate data from states that have adopted free-call or commission-free policies, and (3) the fiscal math specific to Kalamazoo County. Where the evidence has limits, we say so. The research on the underlying mechanism is well-established; the data on new free-call programs is still early.
Family Contact & Mental Health
The research base on family contact and mental health outcomes during and after incarceration is consistent and well-established across multiple independent sources.
More family contact predicts better post-release mental health. More frequent contact with family during incarceration predicts increased family connectedness, which predicts better mental health outcomes in the first year after release. The effect holds whether contact is by phone, letter, or in-person visit — and applies equally to jail and prison settings.
Consistent calls reduce anxiety and depression. The Urban Institute links regular phone contact with family to lower anxiety and depression among incarcerated people, better behavior during incarceration, improved self-esteem, and stronger family bonds upon release.
Higher call costs independently worsen mental health. A Georgetown study found a statistically significant relationship between the cost of prison phone calls and prisoner mental distress — higher costs correlate with measurably worse outcomes, independent of other factors. Cost itself is the variable.
Children of incarcerated parents are already at elevated risk for mental health problems and substance use disorders. Research documents that children who maintain contact with an incarcerated parent report better personal and professional outcomes. Affordable communication access is one of the evidence-based tools for mitigating that risk — and in Kalamazoo, children have no free path to contact a parent in the county jail at all.
"Removing financial barriers reduces feelings of isolation and fosters positive relationships with family members, which are critical for successful reentry."
— New York DOCCS Commissioner, on the state's free-call policy (July 2025)Recidivism in Free-Call & Reform States
The following figures include general 3-year reincarceration rates for states that have passed free-call laws, states that have capped or significantly reduced rates, and Michigan for context. These reflect broad criminal justice trends, not phone policy in isolation — but the direction is consistent among reform states, and several are now among the lowest in the nation.
The following table has the full detail — policy status, effective date, and notes on methodology for each state.
| State | Policy Status | In Effect Since | Approx. 3-Year Recidivism Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Average | Varies | — | ~43–45% | No single official figure — states measure differently |
| Michigan | Commission model in place | — | ~30–33% | MDOC 3-yr return rate; county jails like Kalamazoo have no separate tracking |
| New York | Free calls — state prisons | Aug. 2025 | 18.9% | Historic low; state targeting 17% by 2030 |
| Massachusetts | Free calls — prisons AND county jails | Dec. 2023 | ~32–33% | Only state covering county jails — most comprehensive law in U.S. |
| Minnesota | Free calls — state prisons | Jul. 2023 | ~35–37% | Families had been spending $4.5M/yr on calls before the law |
| Connecticut | Free calls — state prisons | Oct. 2022 | ~34% | First state in the nation to pass a free-call law |
| California | Free calls — state prisons only | Jan. 2023 | ~39% | State prisons only; county jails not covered |
| Colorado | Free calls — state prisons | Jul. 2025 | ~44.9–50% | Fully free only since July 2025; too early for outcome data |
Pattern across reform states: States that have eliminated commissions or moved to free calls are consistently at or below the national average for reincarceration — though it's important to note these programs are recent, and other criminal justice reforms are running in parallel. The research on the underlying mechanism — that family contact improves outcomes — is well-established independent of these specific programs.
States & Jurisdictions That Have Significantly Capped Rates (Not Yet Free)
Beyond the states that have gone fully free, a growing number of jurisdictions have imposed meaningful rate caps that have reduced costs for families. These show that reform short of "fully free" is both achievable and impactful:
Federal facilities (BOP): The FCC's 2021 interstate call rules capped rates at $0.21/min for prisons and $0.14/min for jails — the first binding federal rate caps. Many states with federal prisons saw immediate drops in what families paid for interstate calls.
Illinois: State legislation has capped intrastate jail and prison call rates, resulting in significant reductions in cost for families. The Illinois Department of Corrections has also moved toward reduced-cost video services.
Washington State: The Legislature passed HB 1412 (2021), capping intrastate rates and prohibiting new site commissions at county jails, reducing rates statewide to a maximum of $0.14/min — a significant drop for many facilities that had been charging $0.20–$0.25/min.
FCC National Interim Caps (2024–2025): The FCC's 2024 order (since partially rolled back in 2025) set interim caps of $0.10–$0.18/min for phone calls at larger jails and prisons. Kalamazoo's current rate of $0.18/min now sits at the high end of the FCC's cap for the smallest facilities — meaning the county has the most to gain from reform.
A note on the data: The free-phone-call programs in Connecticut, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and New York are all recent (2021–2025). No peer-reviewed study yet isolates free phone calls as the direct cause of measurable recidivism changes in those specific states — the programs are too new for that data to exist. What is well-established is the underlying mechanism, supported by decades of research: family contact during incarceration improves mental health, which improves behavior during incarceration and outcomes after release. The cost of communication is a documented barrier to that contact.
A 2024 report from the Council of State Governments Justice Center found that state-level reincarceration rates are 23% lower nationally since 2008, with double-digit drops in nine states including California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The report credits broader Second Chance Act programming as the primary driver, with family connection identified as a key component.
The Math for Kalamazoo
Michigan spends approximately $49,000 per year to incarcerate one person. The county has collected nearly $500,000 from ViaPath since 2020 — roughly the annual cost of incarcerating 10 people. Every incarceration that family contact helps prevent pays back that revenue many times over.
The research is consistent: barriers to family contact correlate with worse mental health, higher in-facility disciplinary rates, and harder reintegration. The people who cycle through the Kalamazoo County Jail are members of this community — their families live here, and the county's contracting decisions have measurable effects on both those families and long-term public safety outcomes in Kalamazoo. We think that's worth weighing seriously when the next contract is written.
- Folk, Stuewig & Tangney (2019) — Family contact and post-release mental health outcomes: PubMed (PMID 30859871)
- Urban Institute — Staying Connected to Incarcerated Family Members: urban.org
- Prison Policy Initiative — Phone calls, costs, and family contact research roundup: prisonpolicy.org/phones
- Prison Policy Initiative — Peter Wagner quote on commissions (Axios, May 2021): prisonpolicy.org
- CSG Justice Center — 50 States, 1 Goal (2024): csgjusticecenter.org
- World Population Review — Recidivism rates by state: worldpopulationreview.com
- NY DOCCS — Free phone call policy announcement (July 2025): doccs.ny.gov
- CFPB Consent Order against ViaPath/GTL (Nov. 2024): consumerfinance.gov
- FTC Final Order — GTL Data Breach (Feb. 2024): ftc.gov
- NowKalamazoo FOIA Investigation, "Profits from Prisoners" (Sept. 2025): nowkalamazoo.org
- FCC Wireline Competition Bureau — ICS rate caps and commission rules: fcc.gov/ics
- Michigan Department of Corrections — Recidivism data: michigan.gov/corrections
Affected Voices
The stories of families, incarcerated individuals, and community members who have experienced this system firsthand.
Dominic "Kobeany" Deere and his family spent approximately $7,700 over nine months in 2023–2024 to stay in contact during his time at the Kalamazoo County Jail — roughly $3,100 on phone calls and $4,600 on video calls. That works out to approximately $856 per month to maintain family contact — more than many households spend on rent.
— NowKalamazoo FOIA Investigation, September 2025More Stories Coming
We're collecting testimonies from Kalamazoo-area families and community members. If you have a story to share, we want to hear from you — participation is completely voluntary and you can remain anonymous.
Reach us at [email protected]
Take Action
The RFP for the next jail telecom contract is being written right now. The Board of Commissioners holds final approval authority over the contract — and the Sheriff's Office has direct operational input into vendor selection. The criteria written into that document — and how they're weighted — are not yet fixed. Public input is being accepted now.
Email All 11 Decision-Makers
in One Click
The button below will open your email app with all 9 county commissioners, Sheriff Fuller, and County Administrator Dr. Kevin Catlin already in the To field, a subject line, and a pre-written message. You can edit anything before sending — add your name, your district, your personal story, or send it exactly as written.
The short version is more likely to be read by staff. The full version gives more context. Both work — choose what feels right for you.
Show Up In Person
The Board of Commissioners holds public comment at every regular meeting. You get 3 minutes. You do not need to register in advance. Showing up in person — especially as a group — has a measurably different impact than email alone.
Regular Board Meeting: 6:30 PM
Upcoming dates:
March 17 · April 1 · April 15
May 6 · May 20 · June 3
Kalamazoo, MI 49007
Introduce yourself (30 seconds): State your name, your district, and your connection to the issue — you're a resident, a family member of someone who was incarcerated, a community member who cares about families and public safety.
Present the facts (60 seconds): "ViaPath charges families $0.18/minute for phone calls at the Kalamazoo County Jail. The same company charges $0.05/minute in New York, where commissions are banned. The county receives 80% of every call as a commission. One Kalamazoo family paid $7,700 in nine months just to stay in contact."
Share what other places have done (60 seconds): "Six states now offer free calls. Washington State prohibited new site commissions at county jails in 2021. The FCC has set interim rate caps. This isn't a radical ask — it's the direction the country is moving, and the RFP is the county's opportunity to get ahead of it."
Make a specific ask (30 seconds): "I'm asking the Board to include in the new RFP: no site commissions of any kind; rates capped at or below $0.10/minute; and a path back to in-person visitation. The contract expires in November. This is the moment to make that call."
Spread the Word
The most direct thing you can do after emailing is make sure someone else does too. Share this site with anyone who has a family member in the Kalamazoo County Jail, or anyone who follows how the county manages its contracts and what the tradeoffs are.
Don't Live in Kalamazoo County?
Most Michigan counties — and most counties across the country — have a version of this contract. If you've experienced this system elsewhere, or want to find out what your own county's contract looks like, here's how you can help.
Have a Story to Share?
Your experience with jail telecommunications — whether in Kalamazoo or another county — helps build a fuller picture of how this system works and who it affects. CCJT is documenting stories from across Michigan and beyond.
Participation is completely voluntary. You can remain anonymous. Reach us at [email protected]
Want Reform in Your Own County?
Most counties don't publish their telecom contracts publicly. Here are seven questions you can bring to a board meeting, send to a commissioner, or file as a public records request to find out where your county stands:
Questions? Want to Get Involved?
If you'd like to volunteer with this campaign, have questions about the contract process, or want to share your own experience with jail telecommunications in Kalamazoo County, we'd love to hear from you.
Email us at [email protected]
Our Asks
Five policy approaches — each with documented precedent in other jurisdictions — that we are asking Kalamazoo County to consider as they prepare the new telecommunications contract.
Who Controls the Contract
Understanding who has authority over what in this process is the key to knowing where to direct your energy. Both the Sheriff's Office and the Board of Commissioners play meaningful roles — and both need to hear from the community.
Final Contract Approval Authority
The Kalamazoo County Board controls county finances and holds final approval authority over contracts that generate or commit county revenue. Because commissions from this contract flow directly to the county's General Fund, the Board has a direct financial stake in the outcome.
The December 2025 RFP announcement was made by County Administrator Dr. Kevin Catlin — not the Sheriff's Office — which reflects this shared governance structure. The Board votes to award the final contract.
Operational Input & Vendor Evaluation
Under Michigan law (MCL 51.75), the county sheriff has direct statutory authority over the operation of the county jail and the prisoners within it. This makes Sheriff Fuller the subject matter expert on jail operations and gives him meaningful input into vendor proposals on practical grounds.
In practice, the Sheriff's Office is part of the RFP evaluation process. His support — or his concerns — carry real weight with the Board.
The criteria written into the RFP — and how those criteria are weighted — will determine whether the next contract prioritizes the size of the vendor's upfront payment, or instead places greater emphasis on lower rates for families, service quality, and vendor compliance history. How those criteria are framed is among the most consequential decisions in this process.
Five Policy Approaches
Each of the following approaches has been adopted in at least one other U.S. jurisdiction. In most cases, multiple states have now gone further. We're asking Kalamazoo County to consider them as the criteria for the new RFP are written. Where we have a position, we state it directly. The evidence behind each approach is there for you to evaluate independently.