Texas Inmates Will Soon Receive Free Computer Tablets

DALLAS, TX —Sure, you've heard of Toys for Tots. But how do you feel about Texas prison inmates receiving free computer tablets that will enable them to access email, apps and radio?

That's soon to become a reality according to an an announcement by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, in a story first reported by WFAA.

Computer tablets will be distributed free to some 110,000 inmates, according to the report.

The intention: to assist those in detention with their re-entry into society following incarceration.

And inmates will not have the same unfettered access to the worldwide web as those outside the penitentiary system, according the Texas Department of Criminal Justice executive director Bryan Collier. Prisoners will be able to email on a delay, not in real time.

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“We have 118,000 inmates. There will be a few categories, some of the disruptive inmates, that we may not be able to issue to… but at this point, we would have well over 110,000 tablets issued within the system,” he explained Tuesday in a symposium called “Virtual Re-entry."

The event was presented under the auspices of a non-profit called Unlocking Doors, which aims to help inmates transition from prison life to free and productive members of society.

The tablets will be provided free of charge by Carrrollton-based Securus Technologies. And, under their model, they'll make money on the back end as inmates buy subscriptions in order to purchase additional content, according to the article.

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