Louisville's jail has a new system for phone calls with family. Here's how to navigate it.

Louisville Metro Corrections recently inked a new contract that will make phone calls free for people who are incarcerated and their loved ones.

While some details of the deal with Smart Communications Holding, Inc., have raised concerns from local and national advocates, jail leaders are hopeful the Florida-based company’s services will make it easier for people behind bars to stay connected with the outside world while also improving their mental health and safety.

Here’s what to know about the deal:

For subscribers:Free calls, Caribbean cruises, scanned mail: Inside the bid for Louisville jail's new phone deal

Will phone calls really be free?

The short answer is yes. In the past, people who wanted to receive a phone call from someone being held in jail had to create an account with Securus Technologies ― the jail’s previous provider ― and deposit money into that account. Calls were capped at 15 minutes and could cost as low as $1.85 (to a local landline) and as high as $9.99 (to a cell phone).

The new deal will still require people to set up an account, this time with Smart Communications. But now, each person held in the jail will be able to make two, 20-minute phone calls for free every day.

As a reminder, unless the phone call is between an attorney and their client, those phone calls will be monitored and recorded.

Can I still visit my loved one in the jail?

Yes, but maybe not the way you’re imagining it. You might think you’re going to sit at a table with your incarcerated loved one or pick up a phone and talk to them through plexiglass in a booth.

That kind of visit hasn’t been offered in Louisville’s jail for decades. Instead, people who head to the jail for a scheduled visit see their loved ones on a video screen.

Those onsite video visits were free through Securus and will continue to be free with Smart Communications.

If you didn’t want to go to the jail and had high-speed internet and a webcam, you could create a Securus account and schedule a remote video visit, which used to cost 25 cents a minute.

Under the new deal with Smart Communications, remote video visits should cost 15 cents a minute, based on the company’s bid documents. Only the person’s face will be shown on the camera, blocking what the company calls “backgrounds, gang signs/hand gestures, nudity and other ‘virtual contraband.’” And any time a person does not directly face the camera, the video feed will temporarily cut out and a warning sign will appear telling the user to face the camera ― another feature the company says is designed to prevent “visual contraband.”

Once again, video visits with anyone other than the incarcerated person’s attorney are monitored and recorded.

Can I email or text someone in jail?

Part of Smart Communications’ new deal with Louisville includes tablets for each person held at the jail. Those tablets can be used for video visits or for an electronic messaging system akin to email.

People in the jail will receive two free messages each week. Any other messages (minus internal messages from staff or confidential attorney messages) cost 50 cents.

Like phone calls and video visits, those messages are not private. Some privacy advocates are concerned about a feature of the company’s electronic messaging system, which, according to the company’s pitch to the city, “collects statistics, data and information on public users in the community.” That collected information includes phone numbers, IP-addresses, email addresses, credit card and bank information and GPS locations.

What about postal mail?

Since last spring, Louisville jail has copied any postal mail (minus legal mail) sent to someone behind bars, in an effort to stop drugs and other contraband from entering the jail through the mail.

That practice will continue with Smart Communications. Any piece of postal mail not from an attorney will go to the company's processing facility in Florida. There, it's scanned and sent electronically to jail staff to review. If approved, the digital mail is sent to the recipient's tablet or to a kiosk for viewing.

What are some other features of the new deal?

Smart Communications’ pitch to the city includes an array of other services that jail leaders say led them to select the company as its new provider, despite its bid being the most expensive of four telecom providers vying for the lucrative contract.

Some of those features for people behind bars include free access to a digital law library, an educational and rehabilitative video series, digital books and some entertainment options ― movies, television shows and radio stations.

Previous jail coverage:Harassment, coercion and bullying: Louisville jail officers describe a 'toxic' workplace

Jonathan Bullington is an investigative reporter. Reach him at: 502-582-4241; JBullington@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @jrbullington.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: How to use Louisville jail's new system for phone calls with family