Technology Replacing In-Person Jail Visits In Some Texas Counties
If you are planning to visit your friend or family member in county jail, you may be surprised to learn there is a fight underway in some county jails to preserve in-person visits. Several counties have recently spent thousands of dollars upgrading their video conferencing technology in an effort to stream-line jail visits, and save money on prisoner transfers and supervisory personnel. Nearby counties such as Tarrant, Collin and Denton have implemented such programs that require visitors to talk to their loved ones over a phone while looking at a TV or computer monitor instead of in-person through plexiglass, or programs that allow “visitors” to pay a fee to communicate over the computer from their own home.
This year some members of the Texas Legislature attempted to preserve in-person visits through legislation that would standardize the frequency and length of time for such visits. The original language of House Bill 549 by Dallas Representative Eric Johnson required the Commission on Jail Standards to “adopt reasonable rules and procedures establishing minimum standards for prisoner visitation that provide each prisoner at a county jail with a minimum of two in-person, noncontact visitation periods per week of at least 20 minutes duration each.” However, after it was apparent the bill wouldn’t pass, the following language was added by amendment to “grandfather” the counties that had already incurred significant costs for new technology: “A county jail that as of September 1, 2015, has incurred significant design, engineering, or construction costs to provide prisoner visitation that does not comply with a rule or procedure adopted…, or does not have the physical plant capability to provide the in-person prisoner visitation required by a rule or procedure adopted…, is not required to comply with any commission rule or procedure adopted….”
The Dallas Morning News has additional information including counties that have adopted the new technology. The struggle is underway as the Commission attempts to decide which counties fall under the exception, and the struggle continues for prisoners and their loved ones as they are confronted with the new technology.
