GTL Prison Phone Failures are Undermining Rehabilitation in Michigan. Here’s the Quick Facts:
ViaPath (formerly GTL) is the private vendor contracted to provide phone and messaging services for incarcerated people in Michigan prisons. When its systems fail, families lose reliable contact and rehabilitation goals are undermined.
They may. The MDOC contract requires services to meet performance and operational standards and to be maintained in a professional and workmanlike manner. Calls that consistently cut off after seconds can indicate functional downtime and equipment non-compliance.
The state can enforce contract remedies, including requiring repair or replacement of defective equipment and using liquidated damages provisions when service levels are not met. Oversight bodies can also investigate systemic failures without requiring incarcerated people to risk retaliation by filing individual tickets.
The call logs are not just heartbreaking.
They are evidence.
Across multiple Michigan correctional facilities, families are documenting calls that last 12 seconds, 17 seconds, 23 seconds, one minute before abruptly cutting off. This pattern repeats day after day, across inside and outside phone systems, with wait times exceeding an hour for a few seconds of contact.
Data from St. Louis Correctional Facility:
| Date | Day | Time | Call Duration | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 11 | Sunday | 8:53 a.m. | 38 seconds | Call cut off |
| January 14 | Wednesday | 8:34 a.m. | 12 seconds | Call cut off |
| January 14 | Wednesday | 8:49 a.m. | 23 seconds | Call cut off |
| January 17 | Saturday | 8:53 a.m. | 32 seconds | Call cut off |
| January 17 | Saturday | 9:14 a.m. | 17 seconds | Call cut off |
| January 17 | Saturday | 9:16 a.m. | 1 minute 6 seconds | Call cut off |
| January 17 | Saturday | 9:35 a.m. | 32 seconds | Call cut off |
| January 18 | Sunday | 8:45 a.m. | 32 seconds | Call cut off |
| January 25 | Sunday | 1:30 p.m. | 4 minutes | Call cut off |
| January 28 | Wednesday | 9:15 a.m. | 1 minute | Phone cut off |
| January 30 | Friday | 9:10 a.m. | 2 minutes | Phone cut off (inside phone) |
And that is data from ONE family.
Families at St. Louis, G. Robert Cotton, and Newberry all report poor phone connection and quality, and have done so for months now. From a technical standpoint, this is not random inconvenience. It meets the functional definition of a denial of service caused by system failure.
And under Michigan’s own contract standards, that matters.
What the MDOC–ViaPath (GTL) Contract Requires
Michigan’s inmate telephone services are governed by Contract No. 180000001124, originally executed in 2018 and extended multiple times. As of February 1, 2026, the contract remains active through August 8, 2026.
Under that contract, ViaPath (formerly GTL) is legally obligated to:
- Meet or exceed all performance and operational standards
- Perform services in a professional, safe, and workmanlike manner
- Adjust, repair, or replace equipment that is defective or not performing in compliance
- Maintain system availability consistent with Actual Uptime requirements
These obligations apply regardless of whether an individual incarcerated person submits a trouble ticket; suggesting anything else is a cop-out.
“Available” Is Not the Same as “Functional”
The MDOC contract defines Actual Uptime as the total minutes the service is available during a service period. While detailed Service Level Agreements often live in non-public technical schedules, the core concept is clear.
A system that produces a dial tone but cannot sustain a call beyond a few seconds is not functionally available.
The documented call logs show a recurring pattern:
- Calls disconnecting well before the standard 15-minute limit
- Repeated cutoffs at irregular intervals
- No correlation with policy-based time restrictions
That points to technical malfunction, not rule enforcement.
In contract terms, this is functional downtime, even if the system claims to be “up” on paper.
Maintenance and Repair Obligations Are Being Deferred
Earlier versions of the MDOC–GTL agreement required the contractor to provide a fully integrated, statewide, turnkey system. In the event of a service breach, the State retained the right to demand immediate correction or replacement of equipment or personnel.
Yet families report that ViaPath refuses to act without a trouble report submitted by the incarcerated person, despite clear evidence of a systemic issue.
That requirement, effectively creates two problems:
- It shifts the burden of enforcement onto people with the least power and the greatest risk.
- It contradicts the contract’s requirement that services be maintained in a workmanlike manner regardless of individual complaints when failures are widespread.
Fear of retaliation, including segregation or loss of privileges, is not speculative. It is a known deterrent. A system that requires complaints under those risk conditions is not meaningfully accessible.
TL;DR: They’ve created a system where the people using the service are not allowed to complain about how expensive or bad that service is or how it is failing.
Automatic Disconnects vs. Technical Failure
The system is designed to automatically end calls at 15 minutes (or 20 minutes for attorneys). Calls ending at one or two minutes are not policy-driven. They are malfunction-driven.
That distinction matters because it opens the door to financial overcharge concerns.
Under Schedule B of the contract, calls are billed at $0.0735 per minute. If families are charged connection fees or full-minute rates for calls that last seconds, ViaPath may be profiting directly from its own technical failures.
That is not just poor service. It is potential non-compliance with pricing and operational standards.
Liquidated Damages Exist for Exactly This Scenario
The MDOC contract includes liquidated damages provisions that allow the State to fine the contractor for service failures.
Relevant categories include:
- Failure to meet uptime requirements, even when the system is nominally “on”
- Delays in repair or replacement of defective equipment
- Unauthorized disconnects that violate service specifications
- Failure to support essential communication, which the MDOC recognizes as part of rehabilitation and reentry
Persistent call failures across multiple facilities meet the threshold for triggering these provisions.
The contract allows the State to:
- Assess financial penalties
- Withhold payments
- Require corrective action
- Terminate the contract for cause if breaches are not cured
None of that requires a single incarcerated person to risk retaliation to file a ticket.
This Is an Oversight Issue, Not a Customer Service Issue
At this point, the problem is no longer technical support. It is oversight.
Michigan has mechanisms designed for exactly this type of systemic failure, including the Legislative Corrections Ombudsman, whose authority is still the subject of expansion efforts in Senate Bill 493.
The core issue is simple: a private vendor is hand over fist failing to deliver a service the State has already paid for, and the people harmed by that failure are structurally prevented from reporting it safely.
Where This Evidence Should Go Next
The call logs documenting repeated failures to sustain phone calls beyond 12–23 seconds are not merely anecdotal. They are exactly the type of system-wide performance data that the Michigan Legislature’s oversight mechanisms are designed to review, but seem to be failing on.
This is no longer a customer service issue. It is a compliance and accountability issue.
1. The Legislative Corrections Ombudsman
The most direct oversight pathway is the Office of the Legislative Corrections Ombudsman.
Michigan previously considered Senate Bill 493, which would have explicitly expanded the Ombudsman’s authority to receive complaints and supporting documentation from family members and advocates, not just incarcerated individuals.
That expansion exists for situations precisely like this one. There is no excuse for that bill dying on the vine other than incompetence, negligence, or both. Especially when you consider the built-in roadblocks.
ViaPath/GTL has asserted that it cannot act without a “trouble ticket” submitted by the incarcerated person. That requirement effectively shifts risk onto the person least able to complain safely and abdicates their responsibility entirely. The Ombudsman has authority to investigate systemic administrative acts that conflict with MDOC policy, regardless of whether an individual prisoner files a ticket.
Legislative Corrections Ombudsman
Phone: 517-373-8573
2. Legislative Oversight Committees
For contract enforcement and political accountability, the following committees control MDOC funding, compliance, and vendor oversight during the 2025–2026 legislative term:
- Michigan Senate – Oversight Committee
Chair: Sen. Sam Singh (D) - Michigan Senate – Civil Rights, Judiciary & Public Safety Committee
Chair: Sen. Stephanie Chang (D) - Michigan House – Appropriations Subcommittee on Corrections
Chair: Rep. Timmy Beson (R) - Michigan House – Oversight Committee
Chair: Rep. Bradley Slagh (R)
Evidence-based documentation such as call logs showing repeated technical failures should be routed to these offices, not filtered through vendor customer service channels.
Notably, Sen. Stephanie Chang has been a consistent advocate for prison communication access and vendor accountability. I admire and appreciate her work beyond words. Her office has historically been responsive to documented evidence of systemic service failure in MDOC contracts, and is a perfect point of contact for concerned families.
3. Why SB 493 Is Directly Implicated
Any formal complaint or article addressing these failures should explicitly reference Senate Bill 493; a bill that the Legislature completely dropped the ball on and desperately needs to revisit. This is a policy gap that is potentially costing Michigan millions in contract breaches.
The core argument is straightforward:
ViaPath/GTL’s refusal to address system-wide failures without a prisoner-initiated ticket creates a safety risk for incarcerated individuals and a barrier to family communication. SB 493 is designed to eliminate that barrier by allowing advocates and families to report systemic failures without exposing incarcerated people to retaliation.
The current situation illustrates exactly why the bill needs to be revisited sooner rather than later.
So How Do We Fight This? We Start Using Contract Language, Not Complaints.
When raising these issues with oversight bodies, the most effective approach is no longer to say “the phones don’t work.” It’s time to hit them where it hurts, and cite the contract itself.
Specifically:
- Section 3.5 (Performance Standards):
Repeated call drops after seconds demonstrate that the system is not operating in a “professional and workmanlike manner.” - Section 3.2 (Equipment):
ViaPath is responsible for repairing or replacing equipment that is not performing in compliance. System-wide failures across multiple facilities indicate a breach of this obligation. - Billing and Connection Fees:
If families are charged for incomplete calls lasting only seconds or assessed connection fees for failed calls, that raises a legitimate concern that the vendor is profiting from its own technical malfunction. Oversight bodies should demand an audit of connection fees and per-minute billing during documented outage periods.
These are enforceable contract provisions, not policy preferences.
Why This Matters
I cannot make this any clearer: communication is NOT a privilege add-on.
It is a stabilizing force tied directly to mental health, family cohesion, and successful reentry. When phone systems fail, people do not just lose minutes. They lose motivation, trust, and connection. Over time, they stop trying.
Michigan and specifically MDOC leadership cannot credibly claim rehabilitation while maintaining systems that make communication unreliable and complaints dangerous.
The data already exists.
The contract already provides remedies.
What is missing entirely and without explanation, is meaningful enforcement.
Tips for Contact
Based on the current Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget (DTMB) and Department of Corrections (MDOC) procurement records for February 1, 2026, the primary contact for Contract No. 180000001124(Global Tel Link/ViaPath) is:
Contract Administrator Contact
- Name: Kristine Mills
- Title: Buyer Specialist, DTMB Information Technology
- Email: MillsK11@michigan.gov
- Phone: 517-242-6402
Additional Accountability Contacts
Since this contract involves the Department of Corrections directly, it is often effective to copy the MDOC Program Managers who oversee the daily operation of the phone systems:
- David Enslin (DTMB): enslind@michigan.gov | 517-930-6332
- Bernard G. Scott (MDOC): ScottB4@michigan.gov | 517-241-8414
- Lisa Lehnert (MDOC State Contract Administrator): LehnertL@michigan.gov | 517-335-4904
Submission Advice
When emailing Kristine Mills, be sure to include the Contract Number (180000001124) in the subject line. Mention that you are reporting a systemic service failure regarding call stability and uptime, and attach call logs as evidence of “non-workmanlike performance” under Section 3.5 of the contract.
