The Baxter County Sheriff’s Office announced it will discontinue the inmate phone system at the county detention center due to new federal regulations set to take effect April 1.
According to Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery, maintaining the current phone system, provided by SECURUS, will no longer be feasible under the new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations. While inmate phone systems are commonly offered in detention facilities, they are not legally required.
As a result, Montgomery says the SECURUS system will be deactivated on March 30. Inmates and individuals with pre-paid phone time are advised to use any remaining minutes before that date. To help offset the impact of this change, the sheriff’s office plans to expand in-person visitation opportunities and increase the frequency of local news and community information broadcasts for inmates. Details on additional visitation times will be announced later.
Montgomery stated, “We regret that the federal government took this step last year, as we know it will place a hardship on families. If the FCC reverses its decision, we will revisit the feasibility of reimplementing the inmate phone system.”
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