News

Growing list of prisons installing legal research kiosks for inmates

August 3, 2004

DAYTON, Ohio -- LexisNexis U.S. and Touch Sonic Technologies today announced that prisons in Ventura County, Calif. are the latest corrections facilities to select the companies' new legal information kiosks to provide inmates with access to the law.

The kiosks, called the TSTLL, were developed specifically to meet the safety and security requirements of prisons by Touch Sonic Technologies and feature legal research from LexisNexis, a leading provider of legal, news and business information services.

"We are changing the way prisons comply with court mandates requiring inmate access to the law," said Bill Carter, vice president and managing director for LexisNexis. "This combination of hardware and legal information is very appealing both to corrections departments for its cost-effectiveness and to inmates for its ease of use."

LexisNexis and Touch Sonic have recently installed the wall-mounted kiosks with shatterproof touch screens in two facilities in Ventura County, Calif. (East County Jail and Todd Road Jail). Previously, the companies announced the installation of kiosks in corrections facilities in Hawaii and Riverside County, Calif.

"The kiosk is very efficient for inmates to use. Some have never used a computer before, but they found it easy to conduct searches," said Indira Stelly, legal assistant for the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.

"We will eventually do away with nearly all our books because the kiosk includes almost all the information we had on our shelves."

Most prison libraries offer legal books, which can be damaged or lost, and are quickly outdated. With these kiosks, corrections departments are expected to save hundreds of thousands of dollars on costly law books, while offering comprehensive and current legal information to inmates. States also stand to save money with fewer prisoner complaints about lack of access to legal research, which comprise substantial numbers of the inmate lawsuits filed. In addition to ensuring access to current legal information, the TSTLL unit allows the correctional facility to track the usage of each inmate through a login, providing a record that can be used to defend allegations of non-access.

"Safety is a big concern in corrections environments, so we designed the TSTLL with a shatterproof touch screen. Also, the flexibility of locating the kiosks within the cellblock gives corrections officers a way to offer research time while keeping inmates secure in the facility. To compensate for inmates who are not computer literate and not familiar with legal research, the kiosk features a simple interface and a beginner and advanced set of menus," said Jack Long, vice president of Touch Sonic Technologies.

Inmates using the TSTLL have access to the same high-quality LexisNexis legal research used by the top law firms in the country. This includes access to state codes, court cases on the state and federal level, and resources like law dictionaries and guides to criminal defense. The research provided eliminates the need to offer Internet access from the kiosk.