SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Unlike many law enforcement agencies, the philosophy of Jones County Sheriff’s Office has never been to make money on the backs of the families of inmates residing in its jail.
Sheriff Butch Reece said in an April 17 interview that, when the county’s contract for inmate communications was due to renew, the pitches from most of the vendors was about how much profit the department could make.
Reece said that was not what they were looking for.
Inmate communications include phone calls and video visitations. The sheriff said in-person visitations have become rare. He said the JCSO charges for calls and visits have remained low.
Reece said the pitch from Paytel was different because the focus was education for the inmates.
“If you break the law, you are going to jail. But while you are here, we try to help you improve,” he said.
Chief Deputy Earl Humphries said the whole point of the Paytel Pathway to Achieve program is learning. He said that is accomplished by courses available on tablets the inmates now have access to at no charge to them.
He said the program is also without added costs to taxpayers.
Humphries noted that there is approximately one tablet for every two inmates.
The courses include parenting, addiction recovery, self-control, anger management, career exploration, spouse and partner, changing your thinking, college prep, alcohol and drug and mental health.
Ten courses are also available that include programs with GED credit.
Reece said the response from the inmates has exceeded all expectations.
Humphries said inmates receive credits for each course they accomplish, which earns them time on the tablets for music and movies that have all been approved by the sheriff.
The chief said another unexpected benefit since the tablets have been available to the inmates is the common areas are both quieter and calmer.
“They are not just sitting there. If they want to improve themselves, they can,” he said.
Humphries said the whole point is to keep recidivism down. In the first month of the program from March 13 to April 13, 153 inmates have taken advantage of the opportunity and earned 212,487 credits from a total usage time of 2,082 hours.
The number of courses completed have been 22,807 with the average number of credits earned per learner 1,389. The total learning time spent completing GED course is 307 hours.
In a Facebook post about the program, Reece said the main goal at the Jones County Sheriff’s Office is to ensure the safety of the community. He said Paytel has taken things beyond communication to provide access to education resources while inmates are incarcerated.
“Having this available ensures that those in our custody are able to do something productive while they are here, hopefully decreasing the chances that they’ll have to come back,” he added.
