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Dane County Jail

115 W Doty St # 2002
Madison, WI 53703-3232
(608) 284-6100

Interview with Todd, Katie and Burl

JM: How long was your sentencing for?
Todd: This was a probation hold. Eventually I served 6 months
Katie: I was arrested on a Friday afternoon had to stay the weekend. Was released Monday evening at 6pm
Burl: nintey days orginally but got in a fight and a lot of trouble and got nine months

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?
Todd: A holding cell is a terrifying place for a deaf person if you are the only person there.
Katie: Yes, it was a small holding cell about the size of a small closet with one toliet. There were one bench on each side with a door to enter the courtroom and a door to enter the jail hallway.
Burl: Holding cell was nasty.cold its a lot of female in one room. You are in that room until you get classified into a pod where you would serve your sentence

Life On The Inside
If you know someone going into the Dane County Jail they might end up in one of three separate facilities that are operated by the Dane County Sheriff's office. These are the City-County Building Jail on MLK Blvd which houses the maximum security inmates who are waiting for their trial to begin or don't have a work release.

The Public Safety Building Jail on West Doty Street holds medium security prisoners and those inmates who are available for work release. Finally, there is the William Ferris Center on Rimrock Road that holds the minimum security inmates who also have work release programs. You can find the inmate you're looking for by starting with their classification.

Passing the time in Dane County Jail
To keep busy, inmates are allowed television time, but this privilege can be taken away from the entire group if just one person acts up. A former inmate found that most of the inmates tend to separate themselves along racial lines, but overall the biggest complaint was one of noise as opposed to fights.

Three meals are provided to the inmates each day and they can supplement these meals with snacks and sodas which can be purchased from the canteen. In order for an inmate to buy anything money first has to be added to their individual account. For those inmates who were on prescription medications, there was a medication deliver three times a day.

Good Behavior Policy
Throughout the state, county jails have their own discretion to set good time policies for their inmates. The only distinction is that the good time can't exceed 33% of the inmate's sentence. Not only would fighting mean this good time would be taken away but it would also mean an automatic felony charge being added to the sentence which might result in more time (even time in prison rather than a county facility).

Visitor and Phone Policy
To visit with an inmate at Dane County Jail means that the inmate first has to set up the appointment. They can do this every Sunday. Each inmate is allowed two visits of forty-five minutes each for the week. There is no such thing as a "walk-up" visit; you can only see an inmate by appointment. If a visitor is as much as ten minutes late for their visit, it can be cancelled on the spot.

Phones are made available to inmates during the day for them to make collect calls. An inmate can purchase a prepaid phone card to pay for these charges.

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