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After a two-year review, the Iowa Utilities Board is forcing companies that provide phone service for county jail inmates to lower rates from as high as $1 a minute to a quarter or less. Once all the new tariffs are approved, the savings to Iowa families with jailed loved ones is expected to be more than $1 million a year, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, a national nonprofit advocacy group that has been working in Iowa and other states to lower jail phone costs. “I am sure the inmates and the families will be very happy with this change,” said Bremer County Sheriff Dan Pickett. “They will be able to talk to their families longer and make more calls to talk to them.” ....