Virginia - Lawmakers opt for study over elimination of jail, prison fees

1srelluc

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Nov 21, 2021
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RICHMOND, Va. – Incarcerated people and their loved ones will continue to pay fees that advocates and some lawmakers say are too stiff.

Senate Bill 581, introduced by Sen. Joseph Morrissey, D-Richmond, initially proposed to eliminate jail fees related to the costs of an inmate’s keep, work release, or participation in educational or rehabilitative programs. Additional costs include telephone services, commissaries and electronic visitation systems.

Paulettra James, the co-founder of Sistas in Prison Reform, said she spent thousands of dollars providing funds for her son and husband, both of whom are incarcerated. Her husband is currently incarcerated at Deerfield Correctional Facility in Southampton County and her son is at Coffeewood Correctional Center in Culpeper. The fees go toward commissary expenses, phone calls, stamps and taxes, James said.

Lawmakers opt for study over elimination of jail, prison fees


I worked at Coffeewood a couple of years and they made around 5% on commissary and that "profit" went right back into the inmate fund to offset the cost of sports equipment, their TV service, the library, and such.

That said the part that got me was the whole phone call thing, most of it it provided by Securus and they really rape the convicts and their families on phone calls. Then again if you was to go back to the old way of convict phone calls you would have to hire extra staff to deal with it on the large units like Coffeewood.

Securus Technologies - Wikipedia

Otherwise this is just another in a long line of "coddling convicts" moves by the dems....One of which was locked-up himself.

Prison is not supposed to be fun and the convicts are masters of manipulation as far as getting their families to pay for things like their phone calls. They get a "free letter" every week so they should communicate that way. The state (VDOC) should have no financial responsibilities as far as a convict's family goes. If they are spending their money on some convict then that is on them.
 
RICHMOND, Va. – Incarcerated people and their loved ones will continue to pay fees that advocates and some lawmakers say are too stiff.

Senate Bill 581, introduced by Sen. Joseph Morrissey, D-Richmond, initially proposed to eliminate jail fees related to the costs of an inmate’s keep, work release, or participation in educational or rehabilitative programs. Additional costs include telephone services, commissaries and electronic visitation systems.

Paulettra James, the co-founder of Sistas in Prison Reform, said she spent thousands of dollars providing funds for her son and husband, both of whom are incarcerated. Her husband is currently incarcerated at Deerfield Correctional Facility in Southampton County and her son is at Coffeewood Correctional Center in Culpeper. The fees go toward commissary expenses, phone calls, stamps and taxes, James said.

Lawmakers opt for study over elimination of jail, prison fees


I worked at Coffeewood a couple of years and they made around 5% on commissary and that "profit" went right back into the inmate fund to offset the cost of sports equipment, their TV service, the library, and such.

That said the part that got me was the whole phone call thing, most of it it provided by Securus and they really rape the convicts and their families on phone calls. Then again if you was to go back to the old way of convict phone calls you would have to hire extra staff to deal with it on the large units like Coffeewood.

Securus Technologies - Wikipedia

Otherwise this is just another in a long line of "coddling convicts" moves by the dems....One of which was locked-up himself.

Prison is not supposed to be fun and the convicts are masters of manipulation as far as getting their families to pay for things like their phone calls. They get a "free letter" every week so they should communicate that way. The state (VDOC) should have no financial responsibilities as far as a convict's family goes. If they are spending their money on some convict then that is on them.

I have no idea about the other fees, but from what I have been told, the work release fee at the local jail is pretty up there--around $50 a day. Since a lot of these people have crap jobs like Burger King or gas station clerks, the majority of their money will go just to being able to work.
 
I have no idea about the other fees, but from what I have been told, the work release fee at the local jail is pretty up there--around $50 a day. Since a lot of these people have crap jobs like Burger King or gas station clerks, the majority of their money will go just to being able to work.
Not really, they tend to pile up the OT as they don't have much else to do. I've seen them leave with a 25K+ discharge checks after just around six months on a job.

They are paid the prevailing starting rate like anyone on the street, same with OT, and R&B is removed from that. We only required them to be on the unit for 8 hours so they could put double shifts if they wanted to.....And most did. Truth be told we did not adhere to the 8hr thing all that much due to travel times but we tried to find them jobs no more than a half hour away from the unit.

Now what can set them back a bit is if they owe court costs and back child support. A certain percentage is taken for that but I don't recall what it was.
 
Not really, they tend to pile up the OT as they don't have much else to do. I've seen them leave with a 25K+ discharge checks after just around six months on a job.

They are paid the prevailing starting rate like anyone on the street, same with OT, and R&B is removed from that. We only required them to be on the unit for 8 hours so they could put double shifts if they wanted to.....And most did. Truth be told we did not adhere to the 8hr thing all that much due to travel times but we tried to find them jobs no more than a half hour away from the unit.

Now what can set them back a bit is if they owe court costs and back child support. A certain percentage is taken for that but I don't recall what it was.
Butz I cantz work widout my R&B dog. Wurd ?
 

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