Washington County jail suspends on-site video visitation

Inmates spend time in dayroom in 2014 at the Washington County Detention Center in Fayetteville. Overcrowding in pods forces some inmates to sleep on extra mats on the floor. (File photo/NWA Democrat-Gazette/Anthony Reyes)
Inmates spend time in dayroom in 2014 at the Washington County Detention Center in Fayetteville. Overcrowding in pods forces some inmates to sleep on extra mats on the floor. (File photo/NWA Democrat-Gazette/Anthony Reyes)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Citing concern about the growing number of covid-19 virus cases, the Washington County Sheriff's Office has suspended on-site video visitation at the jail.

The suspension was announced in a news release from the Sheriff's Office on Wednesday.

"As the number of (covid-19) coronavirus cases increase, the Washington County Sheriff's Office is continuing to do everything we can to be proactive in protecting both our employees and detainees and preventing cases of the virus within our facility," the release said.

The video visitation service will be suspended indefinitely as of today.

Kelly Cantrell, public information officer for the Sheriff's Office, said family and friends will still have the option of remote video visitation. The service offers one free, 30-minute visit, per detainee each week. Summit Food Service, which provides the video visitation service, has also agreed to reduce the price of additional remote visitation from 40 cents per minute to 25 cents per minute for the next 30 days, beginning at 8 a.m. Friday.

The Sheriff's Office announced Friday it set up a screening area in the sally port, the first point of entry into the jail, to screen all detainees before they enter the facility.

Employees, visitors, contractor and vendors are also being screened.

The Sheriff's Office also added screening questions for dispatchers to ask people when taking calls for service and deputies began taking reports by phone when possible.

The Sheriff's Office said it was also working with Central Emergency Medical Services to use specialized equipment from the ambulance service to clean and sanitize the patrol and transport vehicles used by the Sheriff's Office.

The office has also suspended its public fingerprinting service and the community service program. People assigned to the community service program aren't expected to report for work until they have been contacted by the Sheriff's Office.

NW News on 03/19/2020

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