NEW MEXICO PUBLIC REGULATION COMMISSION
COMMISSIONERS
DISTRICT 1
DISTRICT 2
DISTRICT 3
DISTRICT 4
DISTRICT 5

PRC CONTACT:

JASON MARKS
PATRICK H. LYONS, CHAIRMAN
DOUGLAS J. HOWE
THERESA BECENTI-AGUILAR, VICE-CHAIR
BEN L. HALL

Arthur D. Bishop, PIO
Office: 505-827-4446
Cellular: 505-467-9116
arthur.bishop@state.nm.us

CHIEF OF STAFF
Johnny L. Montoya

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 9, 2012

New Mexico Families Benefit Under New Prison Phone Regulations
SANTA FE, N.M. —Families of New Mexico’s incarcerated will be protected from exorbitant phone
bills charged in the state’s penal institutions following the Public Regulation Commission’s (PRC)
unanimous vote Thursday to enforce price caps.
Under new rules, charges for 15-minute prepaid calls are capped at $2.25, collect calls are capped at
$3.25 and convenience charges for funding prepaid accounts are capped at $3 with no other fees or
surcharges allowed. Per-minute charges will be only 15 cents per call.
Since 2007, the PRC has worked with input from the telecom industry and groups like the Criminal
Defense Lawyers Association to curb telephone abuse in New Mexico prisons where Institutional
Operator Service Providers (IOSP’s) have been charging families as much as $8 for a 20-minute call.
In October, the PRC passed a resolution asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take
action on a petition to protect consumers of interstate inmate phone services. Commissioner Jason Marks,
who sponsored the new rules at the PRC, is speaking at the National Association of Regulatory Utility
Commissioners annual meeting on Monday to ask the group to get behind similar reforms.

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Visit the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission on the web at: www.nmprc.state.nm.us or call
the PRC toll-free at 888-427-5772.

About the NMPRC
The NMPRC regulates public utilities, telecommunications companies and motor carriers operating in
New Mexico. It also administers the State Fire Marshal’s Office, the New Mexico Firefighters Training
Academy, the state's Pipeline Safety Bureau, and its Corporations Bureau. The NMPRC is also
responsible for overseeing the New Mexico Division of Insurance and the DOI's superintendent.