CountyJail.net

Find Allen County Jail inmates...

Leisure Time

Interview with Seth, Clark and Lisa

JM: What types of facilities were available to help pass the time?
Seth: none they had a couple classes but they were so full with a waiting list so long that unless you had a long county sentence you would not make it in in time nothing on the blocks to pass time except cards phones tv and to walk laps around the day room
Clark: None. There was no gym or workout facility, they did not allow us to go outside, all time was spent on the block or in your cell. Inmates would workout by running up and down the block stairs or doing pushups, mainly. Once a week you could go to the church chapel for a sort of inmate service and there was also substance abuse class that could be attended twice a week. These were the only ways one could get off the block with the exception of court/visitations.
Lisa: We had substance abuse class three times a week I think we had chapel once or twice a month. Women would come in and do bible study every week. I think we only had recreation 8 or 9 times the whole of my sentance. There was not much else to do

JM: Did you have regular access to the entertainment or was competition fierce? Give details.
Seth: no the same people controlled the tv and it was on the same programs most days not to mention the cops put a severe restrictions on what channels we got due to complaints by certain inmates so theres a monopoly on the tv and the phones are used by the same group usually
Clark: There was a TV on the block but there was nowhere near enough chairs near it. Most of the time, all of the chairs were full and people were just standing or sitting on the ground as well to watch the TV and this was particularly true around meal times. I did witness arguments over chairs multiple times but nothing ever too severe.
Lisa: Yes we had accsess to the news paper and the tv. I didn't watch tv because it was so chaotic. The news paper was always a sruggle we only had one. We as the women would try to stay in line as to who was next. We were not alloewd to take them to our cells

JM: Did you have a hard time staying in shape while in jail?
Seth: yes in county jail they feed you worse than most animals and have no place to work out or exercise and don't allow you to
Clark: Yes and no. There were no workout facilities to use so one really had no means of exercising much, but they also severely under-fed everyone so that one did not need to exercise much. I would say most jail meals accounted for only 1500 calories a day, at most.
Lisa: I di I was in a weelchair and did ot receive physical therapy. My legs were losing muscle tone and had repoted this

JM: How often did you get to go outside? What did you do outside if you were allowed to? If you were not allowed to go outside what could you do for exercise?
Seth: the only time you saw outside is on your way to court they have a outside rec. yard but its never used and inside rec. is only a room to pace in
Clark: Noone was allowed to go outside of the jail facility so I cannot comment on that. For exercise the only thing inmates could do was run up and down the set of stairs on the block or do pushups. Some inmates had fashioned a sort of make-shift pullup area on an old air conditioning unit hanger, but it dug into your hands and hurt quite a bit.
Lisa: We rarley went outside. Sometimes we went to the gym. I wasn't allowed to walk or excersise my legs. My legs became weak and I was tired alot

JM: Did the jail offer church services? If so, what were they like and when were they held?
Seth: yes they offered church it was every other week in the chapel they took two blocks at a time and the jail had its own chaplain
Clark: Yes they did offer a sort of church service once a week for qualified inmates, and this was held in the jail chapel. I only went to it once and found it very lacking, although I am not a religious person myself. They were held around dinner time.
Lisa: Yes we did. They were very uplifting.. they were held in the chapel. We had them every two weeks. Differant churches would volunteer there time

Read about visitor policies in the Allen County Jail