[P]lease note, IDOC does not have a contract with Viapath, they are subcontractors to ICS, with whom IDOC does have a contract with [sic]. We are providing you the latest amendment to that contract which will address all the new changes. — IDOC Transparency Team
C014–017 AMENDMENT SEVENTEEN
THIS AMENDMENT SEVENTEEN to Agreement CO14-017 for Inmate Communication and Kiosk-Based Technology Access, is made by and between Inmate Calling Solutions, LLC d/b/a ICSolutions (“ICS”) and the Idaho Department of Correction (“IDOC”), collectively herein referred to as the “Parties”.
WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority provided in Idaho Code 67-5717 and 67-5732 (recodified at and superseded by Idaho Code 67-9205 (2016) and Idaho Administrative Procedures Act (IDAPA) Rule 38.05.01.032, IDOC entered into the Agreement for the provision of inmate telephone an kiosk-based services in correctional Facilities within the State of Idaho; and
WHEREAS, the Agreement was originally entered into between IDOC and CenturyLink Public Communications, Inc. (“CenturyLink”), which was acquired by ICS in August, 2020 as a wholly-owned subsidiary and all rights and obligations of CenturyLink under the Agreement were subsequently assigned to ICS; and
WHEREAS, through Amendments 1 through 16 the Parties made various changes and modifications to the Agreement, all of which are incorporated herein and made a part hereof; and
WHEREAS, the Parties desire to upgrade certain resident communications technology and further extend the Agreement term by three years.
NOW THEREFORE, for valuable consideration the Parties hereto mutually agree as follows:
1) The Agreement is hereby renewed for the period of January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2027. Thereafter, the agreement may be further extended by mutual consent of the Parties.
2) ICS shall transition away from the current JPay Electronic Communication Services (ECS) program and provide each resident with a free Bridge 8™ tablet on which subscription-based entertainment can be purchased through ICS’ licensing contract with ViaPath Technologies.
o Tablets come with a one-year manufacturer’s warranty.
o ICS will fully cover the replacement costs of broken tablets up to 10% annually.
o Non-working tablets not covered by warranty, more than 10% annually or intentionally damaged by residents may be replaced at a cost of $250 each.
o IDOC staff will open a ticket for broken tablets and ship them back to ICS. ICS will provide a return merchandise authorization along with a prepaid shipping label to return to broken tablets.
o Each resident will also be provided with a tablet charger and set of earbuds with a microphone at no cost. Replacement chargers and earbuds will be available for purchase through commissary sales.
o ICS will be responsible for the procurement, installation, ongoing maintenance, and replacement of all tablet related hardware to include tablets, switches, servers, firewalls, and all infrastructure and network equipment and upgrade(s).
o Rolling site by site phased transition allows for existing tablets to work until cutover of the new tablet program.
o Tablet functionality to include but not limited to:
i. Secure phone calling through ICS’ Enforcer® platform with standard rates and controls applicable
ii. On-Demand Video Visitation (fees apply)
iii. Electronic forms when IDOC launches this service at a facility or statewide
iv. Messaging — resident to and from friends and family (message fees apply)
v. Friends and family photo sharing — inbound only (fees apply)
vi. Unlimited access to the Free Profile which will at a minimum include the following services at no cost to IDOC, residents, or residents’ family or friends, unless otherwise indicated: access to the messaging application (message fees apply), secure phone calling application (standard rates and controls apply), staff messaging, contacts, electronic forms, education resources, PREA resources, documents/facility information, commissary ordering, eBooks, radio, access to non-legal mail scanning, trust transfer requests, a wallet application to access resident trust account balances/usage, calculator and dictionary. IDOC reserves the right to approve or deny any and all of content that residents have access to view or listen [to] as part of this service.
vii. Access to the Premium Entertainment Profile will be provided with a rate of $0.05/minute and include access to the entire catalog of acuity games, puzzles, movies/television, music, audiobooks/podcasts, newsfeeds as well as Free Profile content. IDOC reserves the right to approve or deny and and all content that residents have access to view or listen [to] as a part of this service.
3) Scanning/Replication of Non-Legal and Legal Mail — ICS will work with IDOC to identify a scanning or replication solution for incoming non-legal and legal resident mail (“Mail”), or other similar situation for incoming legal resident mail, that meets IDOC’s needs. This solution could entail either digital delivery of a scanned copy of the resident’s Mail on the resident’s tablet or by providing residents with a printed replication of their Mail. There will be no additional cost to IDOC, reisdents, or resident friends and family for this service. ICS will contribute up to $1.89 per resident per month to offset the cost of this service. If the cost of this service exceeds $1.89 per resident per month, ICS and IDOC will renegotiate the commission payments provided in section 16.1 of this Agreement.
4) ICS will continue to provide all existing phone functionality at no cost to IDOC.
5) Exhibit 1 to the Agreement is hereby amended to reduce the domestic calling rates from $.08 per minute to $.06 per minute and the international calling rate is amended to be Cost plus $.06 per minute. For the purpose of the foregoing, “Cost” shall mean ICS’ underlying carrier cost based on an average rate per minute per destination calculated quarterly pursuant to 47 CFR [section] 64.6030 (e). No commission shall be payable on domestic or international calling.
6) Exhibit 2 to the Agreement is hereby amended to read as follows:
Other Service Fees
Remote Video Visitation (per minute) . . . . . .$0.16 No Commission
Streaming Tablet Content (per minute) . . . . . . $.05 Commission: 25%
Tablet Messaging (per message) . . . . . . $0.25 Commission: 25%
Staff Messaging (per message) . . . . . . . Free — No Commission
Resident Voicemail (per message) . . . . . . $1.00 No Commission
All other service fees free or waived.
7) ICS shall provide one additional trained and qualified field technician dedicated to supporting the services for IDOC. Increased from 3 to 4.
8) Section 16.1 to the Agreement is hereby replaced, in its entirety, with the following:
16.1 ICS agrees to pay IDOC a one-time commission of $1 million dollars [sic] due within fifteen (15) business days following full execution of Amendment Seventeen. ICS also agrees to pay IDOC, on a monthly basis, 25% of any service fees collected with respect to Streaming Tablet Content and Tablet Messaging. Each monthly payment shall be due by the 15th day of the month following the month in which it is earned and shall be accompanied by a summary report of the applicable service fees collected for such month.
9) The changes set forth in this Amendment Seventeen were based on FCC Order 24-75, released July 22, 2024, (the “FCC Order”), which, among other things, reduces cap limits on calling rates, sets new cap limits on video visitation rates, eliminates service fees and limits commissions. Should the FCC Order be overturned, the parties agree in good faith to renegotiate the terms of the Agreement.
10) Except as expressly modified in this Amendment, all other terms and conditions of the Agreement remain in full force and effect. All of the terms herein shall have the same meaning as contained in the Agreement, except as specifically defined otherwise in this Amendment.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties have caused this Amendment Seventeen to be executed by their respective Authorized Representative.
Inmate Calling Solutions, LLC
d/b/a ICSolutions, by
[Signed]
Barry E. Brinker, Vice President
12/20/2024
The State of Idaho
Idaho Department of Correction, by
[Signed]
Josh Tewalt, Director
12/20/2024
Since Idaho inmates make paltry sums of income at whatever job or occupation they may have, and in some cases that income is basically stolen from them for “room and board,” without their consent, then the burden of providing entertainment, education, and other services through exorbitant fees charged by this new subcontractor Via Path will have to be shouldered by the friends and families of inmates. Some who have no family will have to go without these expensive services. There will be “kickbacks,” as already mentioned in your previous articles and wrtings of other inmate advocate organizations. It is recommended(and probably no one will have the guts) to boycott the new streaming services until this Via Path offers those services free of charge. Five cents a minute to play a game that the inmate makes no profit from is beyond outrageous and anyone reading this should be duly incensed. DOGE is definitely going to be apprised of this and changes will be made, I am certain.
IDOC has already been warned by President Trump during his previous term to “stop hoarding inmates.” Now he has to take action as that warning has been explicitly ignored and the overcrowded Idaho prisons just keep taking more inmates in.