What You Get Free Each Month at Sugar Pine: Securus Video Minutes and E‑Messages

Securus includes a built-in monthly allowance at Sugar Pine. Each month, the incarcerated person gets 30 free video minutes and 20 free e‑messages. These are the two numbers to know first - they can cover plenty of quick check-ins before you spend a dime.

The biggest practical difference? How free time and messages are counted. Securus at Sugar Pine uses monthly allowances: 30 video minutes and 20 e‑messages per month. That's easier to work with - you can batch your calls early in the month when schedules line up, instead of squeezing everything into a weekly or two‑week window.

• ✓ Watch the calendar month - the 30 free video minutes and 20 free e‑messages are monthly allowances.
• ✓ Use the free minutes first - plan your video sessions around the 30 free minutes before paying for extra time.
• ✓ Stretch e‑messages - if you send a lot of short updates, keep an eye on the 20 free e‑messages so you don’t burn through them early.
• ✓ Coordinate with your loved one - agree on the best days to use the free time so you’re not scrambling at the end of the month.
• ✓ Schedule through Securus - video sessions are scheduled and attended using Securus on the web/app, a computer, or a tablet.

Sugar Pine is a Fire Camp, and Fire Camps have completed the switch to Securus. Your video visits and e‑messages now run through Securus, not ViaPath. So when you're figuring out what's free, the Securus monthly allowances are the ones that apply.

A simple approach: treat the free allowance as your monthly baseline - 30 video minutes and 20 e‑messages. Want a longer video session? Schedule it earlier in the month so you're not waiting for a reset. And since Securus handles scheduling and video sessions (via web, app, computer, or tablet), set up your account before the day you want to talk.

Once you use up the free allowance, Securus video costs $0.10 per minute at Sugar Pine. E‑messages run $0.03 each. Those are the rates you're budgeting against after the free 30 minutes and 20 messages are gone.

1. Check what you’re trying to cover - decide whether you mainly need extra video minutes ($0.10/min) or extra e‑messages ($0.03 each).
2. Confirm you’re using the right platform - Sugar Pine uses Securus for scheduling and participating in video sessions through the web/app, computer, or tablet.
3. Add funds only after your plan is clear - once you know you’ll go beyond the free monthly allowance, fund your Securus account based on how many minutes/messages you expect to use.
4. Double-check your session details before the day of - verify that the video session is scheduled correctly in Securus so you’re not paying for minutes you can’t use.