York County Jail Phone Calls. Provider & What to Ask

What a 2021 Investigation Found

The Maine Monitor, an independent nonprofit newsroom, published a detailed investigation in 2021 into phone contracts at Maine’s county jails and state prisons. That reporting specifically named York County as one of 13 Maine counties with a phone contract with Securus Technologies, one of the two largest prison telecommunications companies in the country. According to that investigation, York County received 95 percent of the revenue from collect and debit calls completed from the jail, and had accumulated over $465,000 in unspent Inmate Benefit Fund money as of the time of reporting.

Why We’re Not Stating This as Certain Today

That Maine Monitor investigation is several years old, and phone contracts at county jails do get renegotiated or switched to new vendors over time. Some third-party inmate-lookup and aggregator sites currently name a different provider, GTL (Global Tel Link), for York County Jail. Because we can’t confirm from the Sheriff’s Office’s own current website which company holds the contract today, we’re presenting both possibilities instead of picking one. Call (207) 324-1113 and ask directly which company currently provides phone service before you try to set up an account or add money to what might be the wrong platform.

How Jail Phone Systems Typically Work

While the specific vendor isn’t confirmed today, most county jail phone systems, including at York County Jail, generally follow this structure:

• Inmates can only place outgoing calls. You generally can’t call in directly.
• Two ways to receive calls: a prepaid account you fund in advance, or an established phone line that accepts collect calls billed through your regular phone carrier.
• Calls are billed per minute or in per-call increments, with connection fees and deposit fees that vary by vendor and jail contract. The Maine Monitor’s reporting found deposit fees at other Maine county jails ranging from about $3 for a kiosk deposit to nearly $12 for a $300 online deposit.
• Calls are typically monitored and recorded, standard practice at correctional facilities, with attorney calls usually treated as an exception.
• Video visitation and tablet messaging may also run through the same phone vendor’s platform, depending on the jail’s contract.

Confirm each of these specifics for York County Jail when you call, since rates and fees vary widely even among facilities using the same vendor.

What to Ask When You Call

Call (207) 324-1113 and ask:

1. Which company currently provides phone service for York County Jail?
2. How do I set up an account to receive calls, prepaid or collect?
3. What’s the current per-minute rate, and is there a separate connection fee?
4. Are there deposit fees, and do they vary by deposit method (online, phone, kiosk, money order)?
5. Is there a way to access tablets, secure messaging, or video visitation, and through which vendor?
6. Are calls monitored or recorded?
7. Who do I contact if calls stop connecting?

If Calls Aren’t Connecting

Since the exact vendor isn’t confirmed today, general troubleshooting steps apply:

• Confirm any prepaid account is funded and the phone number on file is correct.
• Check with your cell carrier. Some carriers block calls from correctional facility numbers by default and may need to allow it manually.
• Confirm the person hasn’t transferred. See the inmate search guide to confirm your family member is still at York County Jail.
• Call the jail directly at (207) 324-1113 for anything specific to the phone system itself.

Leaving a Message for an Inmate

Correctional staff generally don’t pass along routine messages, but most jails, including York County Jail, will handle genuine emergencies such as a death in the family or a hospitalization. Call (207) 324-1113 directly and be ready to provide names, the funeral home or hospital involved, and contact information.

Where the Phone Revenue Goes

Under Maine’s own detention standards, money a jail earns from phone contracts must be deposited into an Inmate Benefit Fund and spent on things that benefit the incarcerated population. York County’s own county manager has said publicly that the county’s phone commission revenue funds things like cable and newspaper subscriptions, chaplain services, commissary bags around the holidays, seasonally appropriate clothing for people being released, haircut tools, and law library access. This is worth knowing if you’ve ever wondered where the money from expensive jail calls actually goes.

Video Visitation and Tablets

Whether York County Jail currently offers video visitation, tablet messaging, or secure email as an alternative or supplement to phone calls isn’t confirmed from the Sheriff’s Office’s current website, though the jail’s December 2023 shift to a kiosk and tablet system for mail suggests tablet infrastructure is already in place for at least some purposes. Ask about this directly when you call.