By Barbara Laboe
The Daily News Online
COWLITZ COUNTY, Wash. —
Inmate visitations are on hold at the Cowlitz County Jail this week while workers install a new system that will enable friends and family to speak and visit with inmates through a video, Skype-like system, corrections officials said Monday.The system also will allow family members to deposit money into inmate accounts.
Wisconsin-based TurnKey Corrections is installing the new system, which involves building kiosks in the inmate housing areas from which inmates will be able to connect with friends and relatives. Inmates already use a similar system for video meetings with people in the visitor rooms at the jail.
The new system goes a step further. It allows families to visit inmates from home, using a Skype-like system, said Corrections Director Marin Fox Hight. Families will be able to log on through the Internet and video-chat from home.
Families with several young children will find the new system especially convenient, and relatives from afar can use the on-line system to visit inmates they normally wouldn’t have a chance to see, Fox Hight said.
Full story: County jail tech upgrade forces suspension of inmate visitations