Inmates in Texas prisons will soon have access to secure tablets that are able to deliver educational, vocational, religious, and legal materials along with messaging and numerous other programs.

At the Friday meeting of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, it was announced that the competitively bid contract was awarded to Securus. The company will provide each eligible inmate a tablet at no cost to them or the state. In addition to installing the infrastructure, the agency will also receive command control tablets for correctional staff.

“Tablets will fundamentally change the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s ability to deliver information and services to the inmate population,” said TDCJ Executive Director Bryan Collier. “The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the need for greater connectivity and ways to deliver information to inmates. With this secure system, the agency expects to be able to streamline everything from the delivery of programs, to the ability to search for pre-release information, to enhancements in mail delivery.”

The tablets are managed through a secure internal network and they will be unable to access the internet. They will have the ability to deliver a range of information and reduce paper waste. Users will also have access to legal materials, forms, books, music, and other approved material.

35 of TDCJ’s 98 units already have the infrastructure to accommodate the new tablet system. All remaining units will receive infrastructure upgrades over the next several months at no cost to the agency as a part of this contract.

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