Colorado is moving to make phone calls free for prison and jail inmates, as a new law goes into effect on Friday.

The Colorado Department of Corrections currently charges 8 cents per minute for phone calls to and from prisons. If an inmate makes a 15-minute phone call everyday, that adds up to $438 each year. House Bill 1133, signed into law in June, will gradually require the department to cover those costs itself. 

Beginning on Friday, 25% of call costs will shift to the Department of Corrections, making calls cost 6 cents per minute for inmates. In July 2024, it will increase to 35%, and then to 100% in July 2025. 

Colorado will join Connecticut and California in making prison calls free, with Minnesota following after Colorado. Several municipalities have also made jail calls free, such as New York City, San Francisco, San Diego, Miami, Louisville and Milwaukee. 

“Maintaining meaningful connections with friends and family helps incarcerated people envision a full life outside of the carceral system,” said bill sponsor Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver. “Eliminating the costs of prison phone calls for incarcerated people and their loved ones will help restore hope for those in our corrections system.” 

The bill passed the Colorado legislature entirely along party lines, with all Democrats in support and all Republicans in opposition. 

Many Republican opponents raised issue with the bill’s price tag. The law is expected to cost the state $230,000 the first year, $386,000 the second year, and $1.1 million each subsequent year.

“I’ve got folks in my community that I’ve had conversations with and they’re talking about, ‘We’re working two or three jobs to try to make ends meet, and we didn’t commit a crime,'” said Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Fort Lupton, during the House debate on the bill. “‘I’m a good citizen trying to do the right thing and nobody’s throwing money at me.'” 

Proponents argued the law would save the state money in the long run and benefit all Coloradans by reducing the likelihood that inmates will reoffend when they are released from custody. 

“No cost prison phone calls will help incarcerated Coloradans stay connected to resources that can help them succeed outside of prison,” said bill sponsor Sen. Robert Rodriguez, D-Denver. “Data shows that people who are able to maintain connections with their support system are more likely to succeed and less likely to return to the prison system.”

When it goes into full effect, the law will save families of incarcerated Coloradans over $8.8 million each year in call costs, according to the advocacy organization Worth Rises. The organization said around 50% of these families struggle to meet basic housing and food needs and 33% go into debt to communicate with their incarcerated family members. 

The new law will also extend to youth offenders, requiring the Division of Youth Services in the Department of Human Services to provide free phone calls for minors detained in juvenile detention facilities.  

In addition to Gonzales and Rodriguez, the bill was sponsored by Democrats Rep. Judy Amabile of Boulder and Rep. Mandy Lindsay of Aurora.