Board President Toni Preckwinkle is signing a contract Tuesday that will drastically reduce the cost of phone calls for jail detainees and their families.
Preckwinkle says she and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart are trying to figure out how to eliminate "extraordinary and exorbitant" phone charges at the jail.
A prison watchdog group in Chicago says Cook County isn't doing itself any favors by charging inflated phone rates to inmates in the jail. Inmates pay about $7 for 15-minute phone calls.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Sheriff Tom Dart say they're reviewing a controversial phone contract at the jail that charges inmates inflated phone rates.
Cook County government is making money off people who are locked up in the county jail. It sounds conspiratorial, but it’s true. People who are arrested pay substantial fees to support the system that is detaining and prosecuting them.
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