CountyJail.net

Find Clackamas County Jail inmates...

Leisure Time

Interview with Lisa, Bill, Ron, Cindi and Holly

JM: What types of facilities were available to help pass the time?
Lisa: The newspaper and used books. In the evening women played cards.
Bill: Donated books, cards and dominoes were available to play. No TV.
Ron: Other people and books. You can purchase cards. NA & AA & Church one hour a week...Maximum 4 of the 26 to a cell block go, so unless you've done some time, those spots are claimed. The "rec" was simply a square room instead of a rectangular room, and access to one blue handball sized ball. Apparently somebody escaped the outdoor one, so they shut it down...He tied some sheets together, tied that to a pillow with some books, and scaled the wall...Was caught though after 30 minutes and was sentenced, according to lore, for 20 months, when he was originally facing 4. So that didn't work out for anybody. You also get visiting two hours a week, through a phone and window...But they were installing monitors and phones, to make visits like video court.
Cindi: they have church, AA/NA meetings and rec time. There are also books. And you can go to the law library. One can also apply to be in school, and one can apply to be a trustee, which means you are working to pass the time as opposed to just sitting in the cell or dorm.
Holly: There is an 'outdoor' recreation area, which isn't really outdoors because there are walls and an open ceiling, but you can walk around the outdoor block and we were given certain times to be able to do this. There was also an AA meeting that we attended once a week that was in a different room away from the cell block, but still in the jail. I also attended chapel with the inmates, which is also in another room in the jail.

JM: Did you have regular access to the entertainment or was competition fierce? Give details.
Lisa: No
Bill: I had regular access
Ron: I was somewhat the kingpin of my pod...Not through violence or aggression, but everybody got along with me, and I also had tons of food each week that I bought. I also let it be known that if you f*d with me, I would snitch, and you would go to the hole, there was 14 emergency buttons in the place, 1 like every 6 feet...but since everybody liked me, they respected what I said...It was like I'm doing only this much time, I'm not going to do anything to make it worse.
Cindi: There was no TV, but there were books we could read. You can buy cards from comissary, so some people had decks of cards and we kind of shared those around. And we all traded books after we were done reading them. But mostly we sat and did nothing all day long.
Holly: There are no radios or televisions in the Clackamas County jail. There is one newspaper for the cell block, and it was sometimes hard to be able to read that as people were constantly using it. Some people play cards and that is hard to get a spot to play because a lot of people are wanting to do that.

JM: Did you have a hard time staying in shape while in jail?
Lisa: No
Bill: I wasnt in long enough to know
Ron: I don't work out. It's the 21st century, The only point in benching 150 pounds, is that it will make it easier to bench 160. I'm in good shape, it's boring as hell.
Cindi: Most people just paced back and forth from wall to wall in the dorm. We guessed on how many "laps" it took to make a mile and walked that.
Holly: Not really, i didn't eat much of the food so I never gained weight and I walked around the cell block and the recreation area when we got the time.

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?
Lisa: Not at all for a weekend stay.
Bill: 1-hour per week each cell block was allowed to go out in the yard.
Ron: Never, unless you are transported to court or another jail.
Cindi: I did not go outside as I enjoyed the quiet in the dorm while everyone else went to rec time. I walked alot inside the dorm and did crunches and push ups.
Holly: Recreation time for going 'outside' was given 2-3 times a week. I would walk back and forth between the rec area and touch the wall and talk to another inmate. We weren't allowed to run in the recreation area.

JM: Did the jail offer church services? If so, what were they like and when were they held?
Lisa: Unknown
Bill: Yes but I hadnt attended
Ron: Never went, but once a week for one hour...Though only 4 of the 26 possible inmates to a block could go...So basically just people who have been there for awhile.
Cindi: They offer church. Every Sunday and I believe every other Tuesday. But it was contingent on the churches showing up. There were a couple times when the groups did not show up which meant no church.
Holly: It offered bibles and chapel. I attended the chapel which was given once a week and it was held in a seperate room in the jail and it was nice because the women that run it were not judgemental and they gave us lots of good information and it was a nice break from the monotony.

Read about visitor policies in the Clackamas County Jail