JPAY/IDOC RAISES COST OF IDAHO PRISONER (EMAIL) STAMPS - FAILS TO PROVIDE NOTICE OR JUSTIFICATION
On April 17, 2020 IDOC Director Josh Tewalt emailed the Idaho prisoner population that IDOC would subsidize part of the cost of calls, email stamps, and other avenues of communication. Days later, the cost of estamps dropped from (the best package price of) 32¢ to 16¢ each. According to the Director, the reduced rates were to facilitate more communication between prisoners and those in the outside world. I guess these communications are no longer a priority as once again, JPay (and the IDOC) have raised the price of estamps, without notice.
Sometime after mid-May, 2022, in the middle of the night and without a word, the price of estamps nearly doubled. Whether this increase is a result of JPay raising prices or the IDOC no longer "subsidizing" the reduced rate is unknown. (Note: "subsidizing' in this context means simply that the IDOC didn't take their full 40% commission on each stamp sold.) In either case, the result is the same.
Estamps, which have absolutely no intrinsic value, must be purchased from JPay in order to use the email or videogram services, purchase music, or rent videos.
The increasing the price of estamps not only creates more profits for JPay, the increase allows the IDOC to collect more commissions from prisoners and their families and in theory, will reduce the workload on staff by them having to process fewer emails and videograms (though it's unlikely the media will be processed any faster). This certainly seems to be a conflict of interest.
JPay has also limited where stamps can be used. If you log in to the JPay site to purchase stamps, you'll need to click on the account of a prisoner - any prisoner, but when you do, you'll only be able to use the stamps for [any] prisoners in that jurisdiction. For example, if you go to the site and purchase estamps while on my [Dale Shackelford's] account, you'll only be able to use those stamps to email Idaho prisoners (including Idaho prisoners housed in different states, like Arizona).
Used to be, you could add a random prisoner in say, Washington state, to your JPay account, purchase a bunch of estamps at a cheaper rate (than charged to Idaho prisoner accounts), delete the Washington prisoner from your account and use the stamps to email anyone, anywhere, using JPay. No longer.
I remember oh so many years ago wishing for emails and other such services offered by JPay to be available here in Idaho. I envisioned being able to send and receive emails at a reasonable price, having the ability to have instant communications with loved ones around the world. How naive I was.
If you feel cheated by the price of estamps in Idaho contact your state representative or senator, or the JPay Contract Monitor at IDOC Central Office. You can find their contact information in the sidebar of this page.