California Prisons Roll Out New Tablets Amid Delays

California's prison system is undergoing a major transition in communication technology, replacing tablets for nearly 90,000 incarcerated individuals with devices from a new provider amid delays, billing disputes and concerns over lost personal data.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation awarded a four-year, $189 million contract to Securus Technologies last year, following a legal battle and competitive bidding process that ousted the previous vendor, Viapath, also known as Global Tel Link. The switch aims to lower costs for services like electronic messages, shared photos and video calls, while the state continues to cover the expense of outgoing phone calls, a policy in place since 2022 that makes California one of only five states offering free calls to incarcerated people. However, the rollout has fallen months behind schedule, with most facilities still using Viapath tablets and full implementation not expected until later this spring.

At the California Institution for Women in Chino, the first site to complete the changeover, incarcerated individuals and their families encountered unexpected higher fees for text messages. Under the contract, messages...