L.R. NO. 2927-01
BILL NO. SB 618 with HCA 1 & 2
SUBJECT: Inmate Telephone Service
TYPE: Original
DATE: April 11, 2000
Net Effect on All State Funds* * Does not include unknown cost of Women Offender Program services and probation
supervision - assumed to be more than $100,000
Net Effect on All Federal Funds Numbers within parentheses: ( ) indicate costs or losses This fiscal note contains 8 pages. ASSUMPTION INMATE TELEPHONE SERVICE Officials from the Office of Administration (OA) - Division of Purchasing and Materials
Management assume the proposed legislation would require contracts for collect call telephone
service for correction institutions to be awarded to the lowest and best bidder based on the costs
to recipients of the calls. In addition, it would allow the Division of Purchasing to renegotiate
existing contracts for collect call telephone service for these institutions. This proposal would
eliminate the revenues generated by the state for collect call telephone service for correctional
institutions. The state has received approximately $47,000,000 from July 1995 through November 1999 for
prison inmate telephone services contracts. The existing contracts generate revenue for the state
since the contractor pays the state a certain percentage of the cost of each collect telephone call
made. OA assumes that if these contracts are awarded based on call costs to called parties,
bidders would have no incentive to offer a percentage commission to the state for these calls. In
order to offer the lowest call cost, bidders would no longer offer a commission to the state, but
instead would offer the lowest cost per call since that would be the sole factor in evaluating the
lowest bid. Under current contracts, the rates charged for collect calls are limited and the revenues received
by the state are capped at $10,500,000 for FY2000. The current contracts expire on June 15,
2000. OA further stated that the total minutes of collect calls for correctional institutions has been
growing at a rate of 9% for the past four years and the number of calls has grown at a rate of
3.8%. If the contracts were awarded with commissions offered to the state considered in
evaluating the lowest and best bid, OA estimates that the commission to the state would be
approximately 25%. Using the growth rates above and an estimated commission of 25%, the
fiscal impact of this proposal would be a loss of $6,700,000 for FY2001; a loss of $7,200,000 for
FY2002; and a loss of $7,700,000 for FY2003. Officials from the Office of the Attorney General assume this proposal would have no fiscal
impact on their agency. Officials from the Department of Corrections (DOC) assume this proposal may provide a ASSUMPTION (continued) savings for DOC. The contract may require that the contractor pay the state an amount for
wiring, equipment, and call-monitoring staff for inmate telephones that DOC currently pays for. The costs for monitoring of inmate calls at the institutional facilities can be estimated at 850.5
hours per week according to DOC. In order to cover a 40-hour week, salary reimbursement for
twenty-two Correctional Officer I's would be necessary. It is unknown whether fringe benefits
would be covered. To cover salaries only for an annual period, DOC estimates that $559,680
would be saved. This is a minimum amount, as new facilities are scheduled to come on-line in
the near future and new equipment may be added to existing facilities. DOC stated the expense
reimbursement for wiring and equipment is unknown. Oversight assumes that any prison inmate telephone services contract could contain provisions
requiring that the state retain a certain percentage for the cost of each telephone call so as to
minimize the loss of revenue to the state. SCA 1 allows the state to require that the contractor
pay the state for costs associated with wiring and equipment and staff salaries for call-monitoring. This would result in a cost savings and an offset to the lost revenue. Oversight has
ranged the fiscal impact from $0 to the identified loss of revenue per fiscal year. WOMEN OFFENDER PROGRAM Officials from the Department of Health assume the proposed legislation would have no fiscal
impact on their agency. Officials from the Department of Corrections (DOC) assume they would require that a Women
Offender Program Specialist be hired to direct this program, as well as a Clerk IV to perform as a
support staff person. Also included are the related janitorial ($160) and utility ($320) expenses
per each FTE. The advisory committee expenses are estimated to be approximately $100 per
meeting per each of the six board members, or $600 per meeting, and it is anticipated that
meetings would be held quarterly. Program-related expense and equipment necessary to provide
the various programs would also be necessary, but those costs are unknown at this time and are
not included in this estimate. The total fiscal impact as it relates to the DOC is unknown, but
estimated to be significant, or in excess of $100,000 per year. The unknown costs that may result
due to passage of this legislation would be requested through normal budgetary request
procedures for the time periods affected by passage of this legislation. ASSUMPTION (continued) INSPECTION OF CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES Officials from the House of Representatives, Senate, Department of Social Services, and
Department of Corrections stated that the proposal would not have fiscal impact on their
agencies. OFFENDER INFORMATION Officials from the Department of Mental Health, Department of Health, and the Department
of Social Services assume the proposed legislation would have no fiscal impact on their
agencies. Officials from the Office of Cole County Sheriff assume the proposal would require them to
gather and make copies of medical and mental histories for each offender transported to the
Department of Corrections (DOC). These added duties would require 300 hours per year of
jailer time at $10.00 per hour plus $25.00 per year in copy costs. Officials from the Office of Boone County Sheriff assume their jurisdiction transports
approximately ten inmates per week to the DOC. This proposal would require two hours per
inmate to properly organize and summarize the various files, obtain the necessary release forms,
and prepare the enclosures for DOC. Therefore, .50 FTE Medical Service Aide would be
required at a cost of approximately $15,000 per year. HOUSE ARREST PROGRAM Officials from the Department of Social Services assume the proposed legislation would have
no fiscal impact on their agency. Officials from the Department of Corrections (DOC) assume the proposed legislation
authorizes DOC to permit certain class A and B felons (other than those sentenced as dangerous
and sex predators) to be released on inmate status to the Electronic Monitoring Program (EMP)
for up to one year prior to their parole date. This will increase the number of inmates eligible for
"house arrest" and earlier release from confinement. To estimate the potential positive impact of this change, DOC compared the percentage of
sentences served by class C felons that were placed on EMP to those class C felons who
remained confined until released on their parole date in 1999. The comparison showed that those
placed on EMP served 5% less than those released to parole. DOC also determined that 24% of ASSUMPTION (continued) all class C felons released in 1999 were placed on EMP. DOC reviewed the number of class A and B felons with a presumptive release date in 2000 (819)
and 2001(666) who would be considered eligible under provisions of this proposal. However,
since additional inmates meeting the criteria will receive release dates during the year, these
figures may understate the potential totals for each year. To compensate for this potential, DOC used the actual number of eligible class A and B felons released in 1999 (1,080) as the basis for
the estimate, assuming this figure will remain relatively constant over time. Based on the analysis of releases in 1999, DOC estimated the average duration of successful
releases to EMP to be 3.74 months for class C felons. Accounting for the longer sentence length
for class A and B felons, DOC applied an averaged 4.5 month's reduction to the average time
served for those 1,080 inmates. The estimated impact is equivalent to a reduction of 93 inmates during the course of a calendar
year ($1,208,628 = $12,996 per inmate x 93 inmates) offset by an increased period under
community supervision ($100,440 = $1,080 per month for EMP x 93 inmates). As the reduction
in confinement period is less than one year for each inmate, the fiscal impact is not cumulative
but constant over time. It should be noted that the impact will be affected by the actual number of eligible class A and B
felons that can be considered each year and the actual number released to EMP. PROBATION FOR CRIMINAL NON-SUPPORT Officials from the Office of State Courts Administrator, Office of Prosecution Services,
Office of State Public Defender, and the Department of Social Services assume the proposed
legislation would have no fiscal impact on their agencies. Officials from the Department of Corrections (DOC) assume they cannot predict the number of
new supervision cases which may result from the creation of the language in this proposal, but
assume it to be a small percentage. Passage of this bill would require Probation and Parole
(P&P) to supervise non-support misdemeanor cases. P&P currently supervises over 900 felony
child support cases. The Division of Child Support Enforcement advises that over 300 child
support cases were filed in 1999. An increase in supervision depends on the actual provisions
imposed by the court. If additional persons are sentenced to the custody of the DOC due to the
provisions of this legislation, the DOC will incur a corresponding increase in operational costs
through supervision provided by the Board of Probation and Parole (average of $2.47 per ASSUMPTION (continued) offender, per day). However, it is assumed that providing one year of supervision for those
offenders as misdemeanors will impact the number that are consequently elevated to felony
status each year. Supervision by the DOC through probation or incarceration would result in some additional
costs, but it is assumed that the impact would be $0 or a minimal amount that could be absorbed within existing resources. Oversight assumes, based on information obtained from the Office of State Courts
Administrator, that there were 1,770 misdemeanor non-support charges disposed with a guilty
outcome during FY 1998. It should be noted that this number represents charges, not cases or
defendants; therefore, there may be more than one charge per case. Oversight assumes that a
fraction of these charges would result in a defendant being placed on supervised probation.
Costs would likely be less than $100,000 annually. FISCAL IMPACT - State Government FY 2001 FY 2002 FY 2003 (10 Mo.) GENERAL REVENUE Department of Corrections INMATE TELEPHONE SERVICE Lost Revenue - Prison inmate $0 to $0 to $0 to telephone service contracts ($6,700,000) ($7,200,000) ($7,700,000) Cost Savings - Reimbursement from phone companies $466,400 $573,672 $588,014 WOMEN OFFENDER PROGRAM Cost Personal Service (2 FTE) ($59,563) ($73,292) ($75,124) Fringe Benefits (18,316) (22,537) (23,101) Expense and Equipment (23,028) (8,586) (8,844) Total Cost ($100,907) ($104,415) ($107,069) Cost - Program Services (Unknown) (Unknown) (Unknown) FISCAL IMPACT - State Government FY 2001 FY 2002 FY 2003 (10 Mo.) HOUSE ARREST PROGRAM Cost - Community supervision ($100,440) $0 $0 Cost Savings - Reduction of inmates $1,208,628 $0 $0 PROBATION FOR CRIMINAL NON-SUPPORT Cost - Probation supervision (Unknown) (Unknown) (Unknown) ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON GENERAL REVENUE* $1,473,681 to $469,257 to $480,945 to ($5,226,319) ($6,730,743) ($7,219,055) * Does not include unknown cost of Women Offender Program services and probation
supervision FISCAL IMPACT - Local Government FY 2001 FY 2002 FY 2003 (10 Mo.) LOCAL GOVERNMENT (Unknown) (Unknown) (Unknown) FISCAL IMPACT - Small Business No direct fiscal impact to small businesses would be expected as a result of this proposal. DESCRIPTION This proposal provides that contracts for telephone service in correctional facilities shall go to the
lowest and best bidder based on costs of calls to called parties. The Office of Administration
may renegotiate existing contracts to reduce costs to called parties. The contract may require that
the contractor pay the state for wiring and equipment necessary, as well as the salaries of
personnel necessary to monitor inmate telephone calls. The proposal also creates a women
offender program within the DOC and a related advisory committee. The proposed legislation would allow the Joint Committee on Corrections to assign a designee to
inspect correctional facilities biennially (currently annually) on the committee's behalf. The
proposal also would remove any oversight authority of the joint committee regarding the Division of Youth Services. DESCRIPTION (continued) The proposed legislation requires the sheriff or other officer charged with the delivery of offenders to the Department of Corrections to provide, upon delivery, any information regarding
the offender's physical and mental condition, including currently prescribed medication and any
attempts at suicide. Copies of all medical and mental health records in the possession of jail
personnel must also be delivered. The proposed legislation prohibits any person serving a sentence for a dangerous felony or
identified as a predatory sexual offender from participating in the house arrest program. The proposed legislation requires the State Board of Probation and Parole to provide probation
services for offenders convicted for criminal nonsupport when charged as a class A misdemeanor. Currently, the board only provides probation services for criminal nonsupport
offenders when charged with class D felonies. This legislation is not federally mandated, would not duplicate any other program and would not
require additional capital improvements or rental space. SOURCES OF INFORMATION Office of the Attorney General Department of Corrections Office of Administration - Division of Purchasing and Materials Management Senate House of Representatives Department of Social Services Department of Mental Health Department of Health Office of the Cole County Sheriff Office of the Boone County Sheriff Office of the State Courts Administrator Office of Prosecution Services Office of the State Public Defender Jeanne Jarrett, CPA Director April 11, 2000
FUND AFFECTED
FY 2001
FY 2002
FY 2003 General Revenue
$1,473,681 to
($5,226,319)
$469,257 to
($6,730,743)
$480,945 to
($7,219,055)
Total Estimated
$1,473,681 to
($5,226,319)
$469,257 to
($6,730,743)
$480,945 to
($7,219,055)
FUND AFFECTED
FY 2001
FY 2002
FY 2003 None
Total Estimated
$0
$0
$0
FUND AFFECTED
FY 2001
FY 2002
FY 2003 Local Government
(Unknown)
(Unknown)
(Unknown)