Does anyone have any experience with county jails?

Question

What is the phone policy in jail? Are inmates allowed to use the phone whenever they want?

Answer 1

it varies from place to place my husband has been in 4 differant places within the past few months and they have all had diff rules about phone use

Answer 2

No you can't use the phone whenever you want. Not sure exactly about county jails. You have what they call Phone time, and some inmates have free phone usage, but it's never longer than a few minutes 15 at the most and I think that is per day.

Now if you find an inmate willing to give up their phone time, then you can get more....

You can't use three way when talking to inmates or call waiting.

Answer 3

Not quite certain about county jails but the phone is considered a privilege. And with the population in a jail or correctional facility calls are limited in time and perhaps times a day an inmate can sign up to use the phone. And there are time restrictions as to when the inmates can sign up. Usually restricted while clean up is going on and counts of course, and then after lock down at night. If you are getting annoying calls from a jail, call the jail and tell them you don't want said inmate calling you.

Answer 4

Answer from "his champ"s best friend: I've had way too many unfortunate visits to Los Angeles County Jail, the biggest county jail in the nation and this is how the phones work when you're inside: Whatever race has got the highest population gets half of however many telephones are there, and the second highest gets two phones, and the other races get 1 phone. L.A. County usually has the phones open from 12noon to maybe 7pm but sometimes they're shut off for days to a week at a time, depending on how the deputies feel at the time. But since its their own phone system (L.A. Sheriff Departmentt) and they make a profit of 10million dollars a year, you pay three times higher the price to use them than a regular payphone. Because of that profit, the sheriff dept does try to keep them open most days. Most fights in county jail are over the telephone. All calls are collect calls--asbsolutely no other options, so its essential that you have someone on the outside who is willing to accept your call and pay these high charges. When you call someone on the outside, their Caller ID display will read "Jail."

Answer 5

It depends on the county.
Here inmates have access to phones from 8am to 930pm.
All calls are made COLLECT, so the recipient will be paying for the call.
Generally, local collect calls are very expensive, and often the municipality has contracted with the phone company to receive a portion of the charges back into county coffers.

Answer 6

I think inmates are allowed to use the phone maybe once a day. I know for sure they can't use it whenever they want. If they screw up and end up in the hole I think the phone can be taken away. I would say, don't sit by the phone waiting for it to ring.

Answer 7

Typically no, there are set days for each block with each inmate give X amount of time. In prison, it typically is up to the correctional officer as to whether or not the prisoner uses the phone.

Answer 8

Surely, it depends on the jail. The one I got to 'visit' had a phone in every cell block. Collect calls only.

Answer 9

No one can use the phone whenever they want. Even if they have made it to Trustee, they still have to get permission. Whoever told you that is pullin' your leg.

Answer 10

No, there are certain times, and they get to talk for so many minutes each time.. It is a strict rule--
John