York County received more than $415,000 in inmate telephone and communications commission payments during 2025, according to monthly Global Tel*Link/ViaPath records released to RTK Media.
Those records also document a major change in 2026. An amendment effective April 6 eliminated traditional phone and video-visitation commissions after a Federal Communications Commission rule change, replaced part of that revenue with a $0.02-per-minute facility-cost rate additive, and preserved a separate revenue stream tied to paid tablet content.
What RTK Media requested
RTK Media filed Right-to-Know request R000405-082726 on August 27, seeking York County Prison's current inmate telephone agreement and records showing all commission, revenue-sharing or other payments received from the provider beginning January 1, 2025.
York County invoked a 30-day extension and responded on October 5 that responsive records had been identified. The County stated that personal identifying information in the records had been redacted.
York County received $415,251 in 2025 commission payments
The twelve monthly payment records for 2025 total $415,251.36, an average of $34,604.28 per month.
| Month | Payment |
|---|---|
| January 2025 | $33,036.62 |
| February 2025 | $29,451.34 |
| March 2025 | $35,989.88 |
| April 2025 | $34,694.52 |
| May 2025 | $43,698.64 |
| June 2025 | $34,566.36 |
| July 2025 | $33,127.88 |
| August 2025 | $33,668.00 |
| September 2025 | $32,718.24 |
| October 2025 | $36,803.80 |
| November 2025 | $34,342.20 |
| December 2025 | $33,153.88 |
| 2025 Total | $415,251.36 |
The smallest 2025 monthly payment was $29,451.34 in February. The largest was $43,698.64 in May.
The first three months of 2026 looked much like 2025
January through March 2026 payments totaled $99,355.96, averaging $33,118.65 per month.
Then the payment structure changed.
| Month | Payment |
|---|---|
| January 2026 | $34,965.72 |
| February 2026 | $29,924.98 |
| March 2026 | $34,465.26 |
| April 2026 | $13,847.29 |
| May 2026 | $10,427.92 |
| June 2026 | $11,570.34 |
| July 2026 | $13,018.10 |
Amendment #12 changed the economics of the contract
The document released with the payment records is Amendment #12 to an inmate calling agreement originally dated November 17, 2003. The amendment became effective April 6, 2026 and extended the agreement for two years, with automatic one-year renewals unless either party provides notice.
The amendment states that changes were made to comply with the FCC's 2025 order implementing the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act. Under the new terms, compensation to York County for inmate phone and video communication services is listed as "Removed, Not Allowed." The minimum annual guarantee from Amendment #11 is also deleted.
At the same time, the agreement establishes a $0.02-per-minute facility-cost rate additive for both inmate telephone service and video visitation. Effective rates in the amendment are $0.10 per minute for interstate and intrastate phone calls and $0.19 per minute for remote video visitation.
April 2026 shows the transition in a single payment
The April 2026 payment record is particularly useful because it contains both the old and new structures.
The $13,847.29 April payment includes $5,604.60 in lines labeled phone/video commission and $8,242.69 in lines labeled rate additive. That is consistent with a transition during the month in which Amendment #12 took effect.
Beginning in May, the payment records no longer show the same monthly phone commission amounts seen throughout 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. May's payment was $10,427.92. June was $11,570.34. July was $13,018.10.
Those three months total $35,016.36, an average of $11,672.12 per month. That average is about 65% lower than the January-through-March 2026 average. Compared with May through July 2025, the three-month total is about 69% lower.
The contract still contains a potentially much larger tablet revenue provision
The amendment separately lists an annual $600,000 commission for paid inmate content and premium content access passes on tablets.
That number requires an important qualification. The agreement says total commission payments cannot exceed the tablet content revenue generated during the period. Each month, York County is to receive the lesser of the fixed monthly commission payment or actual content revenue, with a true-up permitted if later revenue supports it.
In other words, the contract's $600,000 figure is not proof that York County actually receives $600,000 per year. It is a contractual commission structure subject to the amount of paid tablet-content revenue generated.
RTK Media did not identify a payment in the monthly records through July 2026 that is plainly labeled as a $50,000 monthly tablet-content commission. Determining how much York County has actually received under that new tablet provision is an obvious follow-up records question.
Other inmate-facing prices remain in the amendment
Amendment #12 also lists a $12.99 premium-content pass for 180 minutes to be used within 72 hours, $0.50 messaging for written messages, photo attachments or video messages, a $1.99 monthly administration and infrastructure charge upon first use of a paid profile, and a $255 tablet replacement cost.
The document also allows certain transaction fees, including automated payment processing fees of up to $4.95 and live-agent fees of $5.95.
What the records show, and what they do not
The payment records clearly document the revenue York County received from the provider during the period released. They also show that the compensation model changed sharply after the April 2026 amendment.
They do not establish how much families and incarcerated people paid in total for all services, nor do they establish the County's actual facility costs associated with providing the communications system. Those would require additional records.
The records also should not be read as showing that all 2025 payments and all post-April 2026 payments are economically identical. Before the amendment, the records are labeled primarily as commissions. After the change, the agreement expressly prohibits phone/video commissions and uses the facility-cost additive model instead.
RTK Media is publishing the source records
The full Right-to-Know request history, Amendment #12 and all monthly payment records provided for January 2025 through July 2026 are being published so readers can review the source documents directly.
Open all 19 monthly GTL/ViaPath payment records
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