New phone system provides information on inmates

Published Sunday, May 4, 2008

By Chris Butler

The Wise County Sheriff's Office has a new automated telephone system for information about the inmates there.

Bail bondsmen are traditionally the ones who call the jail seeking information about inmates, but deputies want them and members of the public to know about the new system, said Chief Deputy Doug Whitehead.

People called jail receptionists to get information about inmates before the automated system was introduced last week, said Ken Steel, jail administrator.

"Before the new system, many of these types of calls went directly to our jail booking room. That makes it difficult to do our jobs with other things because we book someone in and out every hour and 15 minutes here, so we're pretty busy," Steel said.

Some people have tried to bypass the automated system and call jail employees directly to get information about inmates, according to an e-mail Sheriff David Walker sent to jail employees this week.

Chief Deputy Doug Whitehead said the new system "will save many man-hours."

"Before all this, our phones were ringing off the hook and people wanted to know if Jimmy Joe or Betty Sue is in jail. Those are valid questions, and we don't want to appear indifferent to them, but they can get that information just as well from an automated system," Whitehead said.

The new automated system costs $2,000 per month and inmate funds pay for it, according to Walker's e-mail.

The inmate funds are generated from revenue from phone calls jail inmates make to their loved ones on the outside, Steel said, adding the receiver of the call is charged.

The phone number for the new system is (940) 627-5975.