4025.1.
(a) Telephone, communications, or information services rates and other service rates shall comply with the following:(1) Rates charged to a consumer for telephone communications shall not exceed five cents ($0.05) per minute.
(2) Rates charged to a consumer for video communications shall not exceed twenty-five cents ($0.25) per minute.
(b) This section applies only to contracts entered into or renewed on or after January 1, 2021.
(c) A company providing communications or information services as specified by this section shall be prohibited from
taking funds from consumers’ accounts after periods of inactivity. Funds remaining on accounts after 90 days of inactivity shall be returned to consumers at no additional cost.
(d) The following fees shall be prohibited for any of the goods or services identified in this section:
(1) Fees to be charged for depositing money into incarcerated people’s trust accounts for commissary services.
(2) Fees to open, maintain, fund, or close an account with a communications or information service provider.
(3) Fees to receive a refund from a communications or information service provider.
(4) Fees to receive a paper bill with communications or information service providers.
(5) Fees charged for third-party payments through companies including, but not limited to, Western Union and MoneyGram, consistent with subdivision (e).
(e) This section shall not be construed to prevent probation and sheriffs’ departments from disallowing any additional fees charged to consumers for these services as they deem appropriate.
(f) As used in this section:
(1) “Commission or other payment” means any payments made to provide an incentive for the procurement of contracts, but does not include grants and other payments that do not increase the cost of telephone calls or communications or information services billed to consumers.
(2) “Information services” means the offering of a
capability for generating, acquiring, storing, transforming, processing, retrieving, using, or making information available via telecommunications system or the management of a telecommunication service.
(3) “Communications services” means telephone services, electronic mailing and messaging services, and video visitation services. “Communication services” includes Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, as defined in Section 239 of the Public Utilities Code, and any technology that is developed after the operative date of the act adding this chapter that is made available to incarcerated people and their loved ones to facilitate their communication.
(4) “Commissary services” means any goods sold inside county facilities to people confined therein.
(5) “Fees” means an amount of money charged to consumers
for the use of communications, information, or commissary services. Fees include hidden or undisclosed fees, including extra fees charged for opening an account, having an account, funding an account, closing an account, getting a refund, or receiving a paper bill.
(6) “Rates” means a predetermined cost for use of communications, information, or commissary services set by the contracted companies providing services. The rates shall be determined by pricing agreements detailed in the contracts with sheriffs’ and probation departments or any other county entity entering into contracts applicable to county juvenile facilities. A rate for communications services shall be calculated on a per-minute basis.