Regulators asked to probe company’s phone rates for county jails in SC

The state’s Public Service Commission has been asked to investigate whether a company that provides phone services for inmates in South Carolina county jails is charging the inmates and their families higher rates than it is allowed.

Securus Technologies, which provides service to the Lexington County Detention Center as well as more than two-dozen other county jails, was given until Friday to provide evidence that it wasn’t overbilling families following a story published last week by The State newspaper.

The S.C. Office of Regulatory Staff on Wednesday said it could not determine from the data the company provided what rates it was charging. The ORS said it is asking the Public Service Commission to compel Securus to provide more proof.

Securus provides phone inmate services for more than 20 jails in South Carolina including the Lexington County Detention Center. The company is one of the nation’s largest phone providers for inmates. The Public Service Commission signs off on rates set by utilities in South Carolina.

Rates vary depending on where an inmate calls. Lexington County has one charge for calls made out of state, two pricing tiers for in-state calls and one for local calls. The State’s story last week, however, detailed inconsistencies concerning Securus’ rates.

According to documents filed with the Public Service Commission, Securus is charging no more than $2.50 for the first minute of a phone call and a maximum of 40 cents for every minute thereafter at every facility it services in the state of South Carolina.

But the contracts with the Lexington County jail and the York County Detention Center showed higher rates. While the Lexington County jail had a first-minute rate as high as $3.95, York County’s first-minute rate was set at $4.60.

Though Securus declined to comment for the Aug. 7 article, the company issued a written statement on Aug. 9 stating Lexington’s contract “inadvertently misstated the first-minute rate charged by Securus” for the most expensive in-state call. In the statement, Securus said it was billing first-minute rates at $2.50 consistent with the tariff approved by the Public Service Commission.

“We had a relatively short time period to renegotiate and paper thousands of contracts, and someone made a mistake in the table,” said Dennis Reinhold, the company’s vice president in a follow-up email.

But Reinhold declined to provide the newspaper documentation showing actual billed rates citing consumer privacy rules. Reinhold did not respond to a follow-up request to provide the documentation with the sensitive information redacted.

Lexington County Government spokesman Harrison Cahill confirmed on Aug. 10 that Securus had reached out concerning the contract. He said Securus was working to provide the county with an amended contract.

Meanwhile, York County jail officials reached out to Securus concerning the rates of their contract after learning of Lexington’s rate discrepancy, said Heather Mouzon, the attorney for the York County Sheriff’s Office. Securus checked their records and found York County’s rates were also wrong in the contract, Mouzon said. The jail has since signed an updated contract.

The Office of Regulatory Staff cited the discrepancy in both contracts when petitioning the Public Service Commission to step in.

If the Public Service Commission accepts the petition, Securus will have up to 30 days to respond. Regulatory staff have also requested the commission schedule and conduct a formal administrative hearing.

This story was originally published August 17, 2016 at 7:09 PM.