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Collin County Jail

900 E Park Blvd # 200
Plano, TX 75074-8849
(972) 881-3030

Interview with Lou and Cindy

JM: How long was your sentencing for?
Lou: Two years probation and 18 month out patient drug and alochol rehab. The rehad actually costs 6 grand a month but I'm lucky that I only gotta pay 300 a month. This is something I got to go through or go back to jail.
Cindy: I was sentenced to 3 years deferred adjudication in the case of the felony and in the case of my misdemeanors I was released on PR bond a few days after my incarceration.

JM: Did you spend time in a holding cell after your sentencing? If so, what was that like? If you didn't where did they they take you instead?
Lou: What they do is call you out into another room and it's basically like a makeshift court room. Never left Collin until I was bonded out. They did it all right there.
Cindy: After my sentencing I went back to my jail cell, packed up my stuff, and was released. I spent time in the holding cell only before I was sentenced, while waiting to be placed in a cell.

Life On The Inside
Much like the expansion of hospitals, you can always count on jails and prisons to be constantly expanding as well. The Collin County Jail currently holds 536 inmates. However, there are plans underway to expand this facility to triple the amount of inmates it can hold. This will mean spending close to 34 million in additional building funds.

The inmates are housed in pods which feed into a central control station. Within each pod there is a multipurpose room, a satellite medical station and a visiting area. Inmates are allowed access to the weight room and television during the day. Church services are offered twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays. There is also canteen privileges granted to each inmate who stays out of trouble. Most inmates depend on the canteen to add to the meals which are often lacking in quality and quantity.

A former inmate found one of the challenges at Collin County was getting proper medications. Even after filling out the requisite forms it was still a long wait before a prescription would be filled out.

Good Behavior Policy
The Texas policy for good-conduct time depends on when you were sentenced and what you were sentenced for. There are different levels of rewards. The basic amount of good-conduct time that a non-violent offender can receive is 15 days off per month. Keep in mind that earning this time does not mean just staying out of trouble (although that's important!), but you have to complete the work assigned to you or go through some type of education program like earning a GED or vocational certificate.

Visitor and Phone Policy
If you plan on visiting an inmate at Collin County Jail you're encouraged to arrive at least 20 minutes before the scheduled time. Every visit lasts just 25 minutes. They are very strict about this time. In fact, they will grant you just five extra minutes to walk between the registration center and the visiting room. You'll need to be on the inmate's visitation list and have to present a current driver's license or other valid form of photo I.D.

In terms of phone calls, there is one telephone in each pod for inmates to make collect calls. However, in addition to the collect charges, there is an initial charge of $15 per call just to establish the connection.


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