Bartholomew County Jail inmates will soon have more visitation options for family and friends.
On Monday, the Bartholomew County commissioners approved a four-year contract and service agreement that will result in the installation of a new phone and video visitation system at the jail.
The Virginia-based HomeWAV (Home Web Access Visitation) system will replace the existing system provided by the Texas-based Securus Technologies after the current contract expires in February, jail commander Maj. John Martoccia said.
Besides basic telephone communication, the existing system requires a visitor to physically come to the jail and conduct their visit through a kiosk system, Martoccia told the commissioners.
“This new system is phones and video visitation that allows an inmate to visit remotely with someone from their home computer,” Martoccia said. “They can see more people more often, as well as send emails, instead of a letter.”
More visitation may have a positive impact, jail officials said. The HomeWAV website cites a four-year study that concludes that inmate visitation reduces criminal recidivism. The Minnesota study cited a 13% reduction for another felony conviction when inmates are allowed to visit with family and supporting friends.
In addition, the new system has other features intended to keep the public and other interested parties happy.
There is no cost to taxpayers in having the HomeWAV system installed, Martoccia said. The entire cost is funded through inmate commissary funds to use the system.
In fact, it actually saves money because no operator assistance is needed for scheduling and overseeing visits, according to the company’s website.
Those who work in the judicial system, as well as investigators, are assured that HomeWAV records and monitors all correspondence, the website stated.
As part of the HomeWAV contract, all mail addressed to a person in the Bartholomew County Jail will be scanned by an outside company before it is sent on to the inmate, Martoccia said. The only exception is direct legal correspondence from the courts or attorneys, the jail commander said.
This remote scanning is just the latest part of a larger effort to keep contraband out of the jail, Martoccia said.
During discussions on Monday, commissioner Larry Kleinhenz recalled when multiple people filed complaints with the county because a family member in jail was allowed to keep calling them and reversing the charges, which resulted in skyrocketing telephone bills.
“But we looked into this with HomeWAV, and there’s no way that can happen,” Kleinhenz said.
Martoccia agreed, explaining that the only money an inmate can spend with this communication system are the funds he or she has accumulated in their jail commissary account.
