What You’ll Save After Mule Creek Switches to Securus: Video, Messages, Photos & Accessory Costs
Planning your monthly budget after Mule Creek switches from ViaPath to Securus? Focus on the four areas families feel most: video call minutes, e-messages, inbound photos, and replacement accessories like chargers. Here's a straightforward breakdown - old rate vs. new rate - so you can do the math for your own routine.
Mule Creek State Prison's rollout schedule puts the phone transition at 3/9, with tablets following from 3/10–3/13. Those dates mark when Securus pricing kicks in - use them as your before-and-after dividing line.
Video calls show the biggest day-to-day savings. ViaPath charges $0.16 per minute; Securus charges $0.10 per minute. If video is how you stay connected, you'll notice this drop right away.
E-messages get cheaper too. ViaPath charges $0.05 each, while Securus charges $0.03. Two cents might sound small, but it adds up fast if you send a lot of quick check-ins.
Inbound photos follow the same pattern: $0.05 per photo under ViaPath, $0.03 under Securus. Sending family pictures, kids' updates, or holiday snapshots? That's straightforward per-photo savings.
For telephone calls paid by CDCR, Securus charges $0.016 per minute compared to ViaPath's $0.019 per minute. A smaller gap than video, but still worth tracking if you watch costs closely.
Free video minutes work differently under Securus. ViaPath provides 15 minutes every two weeks; Securus provides 30 minutes per month. When you're planning, think in monthly terms so you don't burn through your free time early in the cycle.
- ✓ Decide whether you want one longer session or to break your 30 free minutes into shorter calls across the month.
- ✓ If you split it up, keep a simple running total so you know when you’ve used your free minutes.
- ✓ Coordinate ahead of time so the free minutes go to the conversations that matter most (work schedules, kids’ availability, and time zones).
Accessories are easy to overlook - until something breaks. A replacement charger runs $7.99 under ViaPath but just $3.98 under Securus. If you've replaced chargers before, that price cut helps with surprise expenses.
Note: Replacement items seem small until they pop up at the worst time. Before buying, double-check you're picking the right accessory for the device and ordering from the official store listing.
- Start with your monthly minutes - Securus is listed as providing 30 minutes of free video calls per month (ViaPath was listed as 15 minutes per two weeks).
- Calculate what 30 minutes would cost under Securus if you paid - 30 minutes × $0.10/min = $3.00.
- Calculate the same 30 minutes under ViaPath - 30 minutes × $0.16/min = $4.80.
- Find the difference - $4.80 − $3.00 = $1.80 saved for every 30 minutes of video at the listed rates.
- Price out 10 inbound photos - Securus: 10 × $0.03 = $0.30; ViaPath: 10 × $0.05 = $0.50.
- Price out 20 e-messages - Securus: 20 × $0.03 = $0.60; ViaPath: 20 × $0.05 = $1.00.
- Total the monthly difference for this example - ($0.50 + $1.00) − ($0.30 + $0.60) = $0.60 saved.
Sources for the numbers above: 96e5b7c5b1afb0a5 (rollout schedule dates), f23ecfe64f6cb585 (cost comparison chart for video and CDCR-paid phone rates), a48d56a1f1270e1b (e-message rate), b5d152c639b2b15e (inbound photo rate), ab77cfa57bff3acb (free video allocation), b30f27574135c2f2 (replacement charger pricing). Prices and allocations can shift after a transition, so double-check the current vendor pages before adding money or placing an order.
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