Colorado taxpayers' bill for inmate phone calls soars to $5M
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From their prison cells, Colorado inmates can make unlimited phone calls on state-issued tablets with taxpayers increasingly footing the bill.
By the numbers: The cost of cellphones for inmates is $579,000 over budget in the current fiscal year and estimated to run the state $5.4 million by July 2026 — five times the original projections.
Why it matters: The overruns represent a microcosm of the problem the Democratic-led Legislature faces this session: The policies and programs created in good times now cost too much in a year with tight spending limits.
State of play: Before 2023, inmates covered the cost of phone calls from prison. That year, the cost matrix shifted gradually to taxpayers under a new law authored by Democrats to lessen the burden on inmates and encourage family connections.
- Starting that July, the state planned to pay the full cost of the calls. The state's phone contract covered the tablets.
Yes, but: Now they can't afford it. The number of calls and inmates both exceeds initial projections.
The latest: The supplemental budget package that debuted this week would add more than half a million dollars into the program to erase the existing deficit and cover 35% of the cost.
- Next year, the state is planning to pay 50% of the bill for inmate calls. Free phone calls won't start until July 2026.
What they're saying: State Sen. Judy Amabile (D-Boulder), an original bill sponsor and budget writer, OK'd the extra spending but lamented the spike in costs to the state and suggested a new phone contract is needed.
The other side: The overspending exemplifies the problem Republicans on the legislative budget committee continue to highlight.
What's next: The legislative budget committee is expected to end or gut other new Democratic-led programs to save money in the fiscal year starting July 1, all small pieces in their attempt to close the roughly $1 billion budget shortfall.