Federal caps on prison and jail phone rates have changed twice in two years — first down, then back up. If you've seen headlines about the FCC and inmate calling and aren't sure what you should actually be paying in 2026, here's the whole story in plain English: the current legal rate caps, what the late-2025 reversal changed, and what it means for your monthly bill.
The short version
- Since April 6, 2026, phone calls from prisons and jails are capped at roughly 11¢–19¢ per minute depending on facility size, and video calls at about 19¢–44¢ per minute — all-in, including a 2¢-per-minute allowance the FCC added for facility costs.
- These caps are higher than the ones the FCC adopted in 2024 under the Martha Wright-Reed Act. The FCC voted 2–1 in late October 2025 to relax its own rules.
- Most facilities were already charging below the new ceilings, so most families saw no change in April — but the deeper cuts scheduled under the 2024 order are gone.
- Caps are ceilings, not prices. What you actually pay depends on your facility's contract — and a flat-rate plan can still beat per-minute billing entirely.
How we got here: a two-decade fight
The rules are named for Martha Wright-Reed, a Washington, D.C. grandmother who spent years paying enormous long-distance bills to speak with her incarcerated grandson and petitioned the FCC to intervene back in 2000. Congress finally gave the agency clear authority with the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022, which ordered the FCC to cap rates for all calls — including in-state calls and video — from correctional facilities.
The FCC's 2024 order did exactly that, slashing caps to 6¢–12¢ per minute for audio and largely ending the "site commission" kickbacks that had inflated rates for years (a system we break down in why inmate phone calls are so expensive).
What the FCC changed in late 2025
Before the deepest 2024 cuts fully took effect, the FCC — under new leadership — voted 2–1 in October 2025 to replace them with higher "interim" caps. The majority argued the 2024 caps didn't let facilities recover safety and security costs, like call monitoring, and warned that some jails might drop calling service altogether. The dissenting commissioner called the reversal "indefensible." The new caps were published in December 2025, and providers had to comply by April 6, 2026. The FCC also opened a proceeding on permanent caps, so these numbers may move again.
The current rate caps (and what they replaced)
Per-minute caps, including the 2¢ facility-cost additive, based on the Prison Policy Initiative's analysis of the order:
| Facility size | Audio, 2024 order | Audio, now | Video, 2024 order | Video, now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prisons | $0.06 | $0.11 | $0.16 | $0.25 |
| Large jails (1,000+ beds) | $0.06 | $0.10 | $0.11 | $0.19 |
| Medium jails (350–999) | $0.07 | $0.12 | $0.12 | $0.19 |
| Small jails (100–349) | $0.09 | $0.13 | $0.14 | $0.21 |
| Very small jails (50–99) | $0.12 | $0.15 | $0.25 | $0.25 |
| Extremely small jails (under 50) | $0.12 | $0.19 | $0.25 | $0.44 |
Two details worth knowing. First, the caps apply to interstate, in-state, and international audio and video alike — that part of the Martha Wright-Reed Act survived. Second, the era of junk fees stacked on top of the per-minute rate is largely over: the price you see per minute is supposed to be the price, though deposit-processing fees when you fund an account can still apply. If a bill looks wrong, compare it against the table above.
What this actually means for your bill
Counterintuitively, most families felt nothing in April 2026 — regulators noted that only a few state systems (Florida, Kentucky, and Oklahoma) were charging above the new ceilings when the order passed, so almost everyone else's rates simply stayed put. The real cost of the reversal is the future that didn't arrive: under the 2024 order, a 15-minute call from a typical prison was headed toward roughly 90¢; under the current caps it can legally run about $1.65, and video visits can cost several dollars a session. Providers like Securus, ViaPath (GTL), NCIC, and Pay Tel each publish facility-specific rates — our provider directory explains who serves what and how their accounts work.
States that went further than the FCC
Federal caps are a floor of protection, not the whole story. Six states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New York — have made calls from state prisons free, and Missouri capped its rates at 12¢ a minute. We keep a full, current list in which states have free prison phone calls. Remember the fine print: "free" laws generally cover state prisons, not the county jail where most people are held right after an arrest.
How to pay less no matter what the caps say
Rate caps limit the per-minute price; they don't stop per-minute billing from adding up. The most reliable way to control the cost is to stop paying by the minute: through our discounted phone calls service, we offer the facility provider's calling plan at a flat $10 a month for 500 minutes — the same phone system your loved one already uses, billed at a predictable rate. For the other legitimate tactics (and the ones to avoid), see our guide to lowering the cost of jail and prison calls.
What happens next
Two things to watch. The FCC is still taking the record it gathered in early 2026 toward permanent rate caps, which could raise or lower today's numbers. And the 2025 reversal has drawn legal and congressional pushback, since the Martha Wright-Reed Act instructs the FCC to set "just and reasonable" rates. We'll update this page as either moves. In the meantime: check your facility's current per-minute rate against the table above, compare it with a flat plan, and know that in a growing list of states, the right answer is that the call should cost you nothing at all.
Quick checklist
- Current legal ceilings: about 11¢–19¢/min audio, 19¢–44¢/min video (all-in)
- Compliance date for the current caps: April 6, 2026
- In a free-call state? State prison calls should cost $0 — check the list
- Paying per minute anyway? A flat $10/500-minute plan usually wins
- Bill doesn't match the caps? Ask the provider for an itemized statement