30:4-8.12 Telephone service contracts for inmates.

2. a. All telephone service contracts for inmates in State or county correctional facilities shall be subject to the procurement provisions set forth in chapter 34 of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes and chapter 11 of Title 40A of the New Jersey Statutes; provided, however, the State Treasurer or appropriate person on behalf of the county or private correctional facility shall contract with the qualified vendor whose rate shall not exceed 11 cents per minute for domestic debit, prepaid, and collect calls and who does not bill to any party any service charge or additional fee exceeding the per minute rate, including, but not limited to, any per call surcharge, account set up fee, bill statement fee, monthly account maintenance charge, or refund fee.

b. A State, county, or private correctional facility shall not accept or receive a commission or impose a surcharge for telephone usage by inmates in addition to the charges imposed by the telephone service provider. For the purposes of this section, "commission" means any form of monetary payment, in-kind payment requirement, gift, exchange of services or goods, fee, or technology allowance. A commission or surcharge shall not include any product or the like that is related to the completion of voice-only calls, inmate telephone service maintenance, the analysis of telephone records and related financial data for investigative or other purposes, or security enhancements, including, but not limited to, voice recognition software, text analytics, or aggregate data analytical software.

c. Telephone services made available through a prepaid or collect call system established pursuant to section 3 of this act may include international calls; provided however, that if international calls are included in the telephone services made available for inmates, those calls shall be made available at reasonable rates subject to Federal Communications Commission rules and regulations, but not to exceed 25 cents per minute.

L.2016, c.37, s.2.