![]() ![]() Aside from the possible recording, Abens said, visitors mostly are left to chat in private with their inmates. “Now, there is no taking time away from other people,” she said.Īlso, conversations now can be easily recorded through the video visitation systems - something that investigators or county attorneys occasionally request. Now, the call automatically ends when time is up. In the past, some people would try to stay longer than the allotted 20 minutes. In addition to making visits safer and more efficient, video visitation kiosks cut down abuses of the system, Abens said. Jana Abens said it requires some maintenance, but not much. Polk County spent $629,650 to install its extensive system, and Polk County sheriff's Sgt. “It did not cost the taxpayers anything,” he said. When they put money toward making a phone call, Bell said, a percentage went toward the video visitation system. Johnson County, because it's much smaller, has four kiosks for visitors - including one that's handicap accessible - and one kiosk in each of its eight cell blocks.Įach kiosk in Johnson County costs about $3,500, and Bell said they were paid for by inmates through the collect-call system. Polk County has 36 video visitation kiosks in its lobby and four kiosks in most of its 19 inmate housing units. “But now the days don't matter,” Bell said. You will begin to receive our Daily News updates. Add your contacts. Now visits are allowed every day except Sunday, although each inmate still is limited to two visits a week. In Johnson County, for example, inmates previously were only allowed visits on specific days, depending on where their name fell in the alphabet. The video visitation system also has allowed some counties to expand their visitation hours. They typically get 20 minutes to chat with an inmate over a phone attached to a video screen.īecause deputies no longer have to escort inmates out of their cell blocks, the visitation process is safer and easier to coordinate for both inmates and guests. Visitors simply sign in and receive a time to be at a video kiosk – usually within minutes of their arrival. Instead of being escorted to a secured room where phones sit behind a wall of Plexiglas, inmates now experience visits from their cell blocks. Kevin Bell, who's been working with the system in the Johnson County Jail since it debuted there in January. Those benefits have persuaded a growing number of Iowa counties to install similar systems or consider doing so - including Johnson and Linn counties. ![]()
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