Nevada Department of Corrections will provide free phone calls for inmates
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Mon, 03/23/2020 - 3:57pm
The Nevada Department of Corrections is providing eligible inmates up to two free phone calls per week thanks to a partnership with inmate telephone system vendor Securus.
NDOC is providing the free phone calls as a way to mitigate the impact of its March 7, 2020 suspension of visitation, a precautionary measure designed to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Nevada and protect inmates, staff and their families.
“We recognize the importance for inmates to stay connected with their families and friends,” said Charles Daniels, NDOC Director. “These connections are essential to the support needed for an inmate to successfully reenter the community upon their release from NDOC.”
The free phone call designation applies to a call which would normally have been used from an inmate’ s phone time account. Call durations are subject to the standard call length of the institution and to an inmate’ s phone access limitation.
Additionally, calls that are normally free to exempt numbers, such as to the Nevada State Public Defender’s Office, will not be counted as one of the free calls. The Nevada Department of Corrections is committed to building a safer community by striving to incorporate progressive best practices in all aspects of corrections.
NDOC houses nearly 13,000 persons with felony convictions in 18 facilities statewide. For more information visit www.doc.nv.gov.
“During this time of global crises, it is important that we don’t neglect the necessity of keeping incarcerated individuals connected with their family and friends,” said Dave Abel, President and CEO of Securus Technologies. “We at Securus have an unwavering commitment to keeping facility staff and the incarcerated population safe, as well as connected. Partnering with NVDOC to make free communication options available is just one example of that collaborative effort.”
The free phone call tally will be refreshed each Thursday night and Friday morning.
“The program began the morning of Friday, March 20, 2020 and will run for 30 days,” said John Borrowman, Deputy Director of Support Services. “NDOC will evaluate its effectiveness and determine if it should be renewed.”
