New York inmates to get free tablet computers

ALBANY - Each of the 50,300 inmates in New York's state prison system will soon receive a tablet computer to use free of charge.

Anthony Annucci, acting commissioner of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, announced this week that the state would soon launch the new tablet program, which will grant prisoners access to e-books, music and a supervised e-mail program.

Annucci made the announcement Tuesday during a state budget hearing.

The tablets will be available beginning this summer. They will not have direct access to the internet, according to the state.

“In a groundbreaking move, the department will provide each incarcerated individual a tablet at no cost with the ability to access free educational material and e-books and to file grievances," Annucci said.

The state agency took to Twitter to repeatedly insist that there will be no cost to taxpayers.

The equipment will be provided free of charge by JPay, a Florida-based jail-services company, according to the state and company.

JPay makes a tablet known as the JP5, which is specialized for prisons. The tablets will be on a secured network with access only to pre-approved apps and features and not a typical Internet browser, according to the company.

The tablets will connect to the email program through kiosks with secured lines in the prisons. The company pledged to install the needed infrastructure and perform maintenance on its own dime.

The state is not set to make any money off the tablets, according to DOCCS.

The tablets will, however, provide a potential revenue stream to JPay.

Each will come pre-loaded with certain pre-approved books and educational materials.

But inmates will be able to purchase certain add-ons, such as music, through JPay. The company didn't say Thursday how much those extras would cost.

Inmates will also have to pay to send emails on the tablets, according to JPay.

The company will keep the money; the state won't be taking a commission.

"Similar to purchasing a song on iTunes or an online game, incarcerated individuals will have the same opportunity to purchase entertainment and media products and download them onto the JP5 device," JPay said in a statement. 

"There are fees associated with those purchases, as well as sending emails."

The new program caught some lawmakers by surprise.

Assemblyman Steve Hawley, R-Batavia, Genesee County, questioned why a "luxury" like a tablet is being "handed out like candy" to prisoners.

“If it’s this easy to encourage vendors to provide free tablets to inmates, why aren’t they being provided to our students in disadvantaged school districts or to libraries across the state as a community resource?" Hawley said in a statement.

The company, however, said the tablets are specialized and specifically aimed at improving the rehabilitation process and reducing recidivism, the rate at which released inmates return to the prison system.

"Research shows that frequent communication with friends and family is proven to lower the rate of recidivism," the company wrote in its statement. "The JP5 tablets help to increase the amount of correspondence."

New York's prison system includes 54 facilities across the state.

JPay said it would provide one tablet free of charge to each inmate in the state system.

If the tablet breaks and it's the user's fault — or if it's out of warranty — the inmate would have an option to purchase a new one with their own funds, according to the company. 

JCampbell1@Gannett.com

Jon Campbell is a correspondent with USA TODAY Network's Albany Bureau.