Meet JailATM.com and Tech Friends, Inc.
The new commissary vendor at the Barry County Jail is JailATM.com, owned by Tech Friends, Inc. out of Jonesboro, Arkansas. They offer multiple products specifically for the prison industry. That seems fairly normal on the surface. Until you reach their contact page.
Kiosks were moved in during the transition, with a brief blackout period between providers. While commissary kiosks themselves are standard in jail settings, what immediately raised the question was how they could offer all of this for free. Companies who offer commissary services typically provide kiosks through site agreements and termed contracts where the facility agrees to use a particular vendor for a designated period. JPay, another major provider in Michigan, works this way. So how exactly is Tech Friends doing this at no cost?
I contacted Tech Friends to inquire about their business model. I did not receive a response.
How the Business Model Actually Works
Luckily, I am not the first person to wonder. A 2016 Prison Policy Initiative report identifies Tech Friends as one of twelve companies providing correctional facilities with various services and explains exactly how the model works.
Facility pays nothing
The jail receives kiosks, software, and commissary infrastructure at zero cost. The county has no financial exposure. The contract simply requires that they use this vendor exclusively for a set period.Families pay the fees
Every transaction made by a family member depositing money for an incarcerated person carries a surcharge. The cost of the “free” kiosk is passed directly to the people least able to absorb it.No refunds. Ever.
Unused balances are non-refundable. In transfer situations, when an inmate is moved to another facility, that money is gone. There is no exception policy.BBB reviews document situations consistent with what Barry County families reported. One beneficial note: the company does respond to complaints. But a 1.7 average rating from actual customers says everything the contact page does not.
Other Michigan counties, specifically St. Clair and Genesee, were later found to have been involved in telecom kickback schemes. Both counties were prohibiting in-person visits to drive families toward paid phone call services from which the county received revenue.
Lawsuits were filed. The lawsuits were dismissed.
Sadly, and perhaps a reflection of the widespread corruption and money associated with mass incarceration, the families have no legal remedy. This is another hardship that families of the incarcerated do not deserve. Many are already struggling to make ends meet as it is.
Barry County’s commissary vendor arrangement, the St. Clair and Genesee telecom kickback schemes, the pay-to-stay jail stay fees, the charges for phone calls that sit outside — these are not isolated incidents. They are a system. The operational costs of incarceration are being steadily transferred from government budgets onto the families who had no part in any of the conduct that led to their loved one’s arrest. These families are being charged for something that taxpayers are supposed to fund. That is not an accident. That is a business model.
The hidden economy inside Michigan’s jails and prisons extends well beyond commissary. Phone calls, tablets, healthcare copays, and reentry fees all follow the same structural logic: services get funded by the families least able to pay for them. For the full picture, see the Clutch Justice investigation into the hidden prison economy.
Prison Policy Initiative — 2016 Report on Prison Commissary Vendors — prisonpolicy.org ?
2024 Update — Michigan Telecom KickbacksDetroit Free Press — St. Clair and Genesee Counties Telecom Lawsuits (March 2024) — freep.com ?
Detroit Free Press — Lawsuit Dismissed (August 2024) — freep.com ?
