Sedgwick County Jail

Telephones

Interview with Roderick


JM: Did you have regular access to telephones?
Roderick: Yes, the ag pods have 2 phones in each section and the regular pods have 10 phones along the back wall. Phones are turned on between 9a.m to 9pm except for Friday and Saturday when they stay on until 10. You have to get permission from the guard to use the telephone.

JM: What types of charges applied for calling people?
Roderick: There is a $4.70 charge for accepting calls from an inmate and that allows you to talk for twenty minutes but isn't reduced if you talk for less than that. And unfortunately you are still charged if the call is accepted but fails to connect or there is something wrong with the phone. Sedgwick County Jail doesn't allow any one number to except more than $50 in calls from an inmate in a seven day period. When a specific telephone number reaches $50 the phone system automatically blocks the calls and you have to call Global Tel Communications to make arrangments to begin receiving calls again.

JM: Did you need to buy phone cards to call out?
Roderick: No phone cards in Sedgwick County. Just your average, ordinary collect call system.

JM: Did the jail screen your calls?
Roderick: All calls are monitored and recorded. Somebody can call the jail and complain that somebody who is incarcerated is harrassing them and they can pull the call and listen to it. Also, they don't allow any 3 way calling anymore. They never really did but you could get away with it on the old system. TTY telephones are offered to the hearing impaired and are free for the inmate to use as well as the receiver of the call.