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Visitor Policy

Interview with Shawanda Miller, Jeremy, Chuck, Charles and Josh

JM: How often could you receive visitors?
Shawanda Miller: Everyday except Mondays & Fridays. When I was there, they didn't allow children, but now they do.
Jeremy: Several times a week. But the system was unusual? I mean Dakota Countys inmate handbook says that you have to REGISTER your visitors PRIOR to them coming in? That didnt make sense? I mean I guess you just cant show up there and get a visit during normal business hours?
Chuck: Twice a week.
Charles: I think it was like once a week for 45 min or something like that.
Josh: You can get visitors every day but you have to sign them up for a visit. How are you supposed to sign up visitors if you can't call them and sign them up for a visit?

JM: Was the check-in process lengthy for those who came to see you?
Shawanda Miller: Depending on the unit and how many people came to visit that inmate in the unit. The female unit the check-in was pretty quick.
Chuck: It can take up to an hour and sometimes even longer.
Charles: obviously I wasn't there but I was told that it was a very slow process usually but that on a couple occasions it went quickly.
Josh: Nobody came to visit me while I was in jail. My girlfriend wrote me letters. My brother sent me a skype which was cool and I guess it was cheaper than him having to make the drive all the way to see me.

JM: What was the visiting environment like?
Shawanda Miller: Along time ago, it use to be between glass with a phone. Now they have like a tv monitor and the visit is time and you only get 20 minutes. Before when they had glass, sometimes the visit would go longer if they weren't busy which was nicer.
Chuck: Plexiglass with phones.
Charles: The visiting environment was by way of video visits. Video visiting is where I'm placed in a tiny cell with a video screen and a phone resembling an old pay phone type of receiver but with a much shorter cord forcing me to sit at this mini desk and lean at an angle towards the phone connection to the wall.
Josh: For people that did get visits its through a computer screen and its right in front of the rest of the inmates so everybody stares at your visit and it can be hard for the inmates to pay attention. If anybody in the jail freaks out your visit is ended and the person who drove all the way to see you doesn't get to see you.

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