Key Takeaways
- Michigan prison phone call costs are high due to site commissions, creating a financial burden on families.
- Private companies profit from essential services like phone calls, emails, and food in Michigan prisons.
- Families often pay significant amounts for digital stamps and phone calls to stay connected with loved ones.
- Campaign contributions from private vendors influence contracts, impacting costs for families trying to communicate.
- The focus should shift from profit to supporting family connections for better rehabilitation outcomes.
When we talk about the justice system in Michigan, we often focus on the walls, the bars, and the sentences. But there is another side to prison life that rarely makes the headlines: the economy inside. For thousands of Michigan mothers, fathers, and children, staying connected to a loved one behind bars isn’t just an emotional challenge—it’s a financial burden.
Today, we’re taking a look at how private companies have turned basic needs like food, phone calls, and even emails into a multi-million dollar industry in Michigan, and how that money often finds its way back into the pockets of the people who make the laws.
The Digital Price Tag: Tablets and “Stamps”
In recent years, Michigan prisons have gone digital. While tablets provided by companies like JPay (a subsidiary of Securus Technologies) are marketed as a way to help incarcerated people learn and stay in touch, they come with a catch.
In Michigan, it doesn’t cost a “stamp” to send an email in the outside world, but inside, families must buy digital stamps to send a message. As of 2025, while some rates have been capped, the costs for music, movies, and “videograms” remain a significant source of revenue for these private vendors. For a family living paycheck to paycheck, the cost of sending photos of a child’s graduation or a short video of a first step can add up to hundreds of dollars a year.
The High Cost of a “Hello”: Phone Calls and ViaPath
For a long time, Michigan was known for having some of the most expensive prison phone rates in the country. This was largely due to “site commissions”—basically, a kickback where the phone company (like ViaPath, formerly GTL) would give a portion of their profits back to the state or the facility in exchange for a monopoly contract.
While the FCC’s Martha Wright-Reed Act (signed into law in early 2023 and implemented through 2024–2025) has helped lower these rates nationally, the “kickback” culture remains a point of contention. In Michigan, these contracts ensure that one company has a captive audience, leaving families with no choice but to pay whatever rate is set if they want to hear their loved one’s voice.
Food for Profit: From Aramark to Trinity
Michigan has a long, rocky history with private food vendors. In the mid-2010s, the state moved from state-run kitchens to private contracts with Aramark, and later Trinity Services Group. The transition was plagued by reports of maggot-infested food, smuggling, and inadequate portions.
Although Michigan eventually returned to a state-run food service model for many facilities to regain control over safety and quality, private vendors still provide the raw goods and manage commissary services (the “prison grocery store”). The prices in the commissary—where people buy basic hygiene items and extra food—often rise far faster than inflation, squeezing the meager wages (often pennies per hour) that incarcerated people earn.
The Money Trail: Campaign Cash and Influence
How do these companies keep their grip on Michigan’s correctional system? The answer is often found in campaign finance reports.
Large corporations like Securus, ViaPath, and the parent companies of food service giants employ powerful lobbying firms in Lansing. According to data from the Michigan Secretary of State and OpenSecrets, PACs and executives associated with these industries frequently donate to the campaigns of lawmakers who sit on the Appropriations Committees; the very people who decide how much money the state will spend on these private contracts.
When a company gives thousands of dollars to a politician’s campaign, it buys a “seat at the table” when it’s time to renew a contract, often at the expense of the families paying for those “stamps” and phone calls.
People Over Profits
Connection is one of the most important factors in reducing recidivism. When people stay in touch with their families, they are more likely to succeed when they come home. By turning that connection into a profit center, we aren’t just taxing the poor; we are making our communities less safe by breaking the bonds that help people reform.
As we look toward the future of Michigan justice, the question we have to ask is simple: Should our system be built on the profits of private corporations, or on the success and rehabilitation of our neighbors?
