Crawford County Jail in Girard, KS introduces innovative new program to their facility.

HUDSON, Wis. - July 17, 2013 - PRLog -- July 15, 2013 – Hudson, Wis. -- Soon and at no cost to taxpayers, Crawford County Jail in Girard, KS will be introducing a state-of-the-art commissary, video visitation, and inmate e-mail program.  Not only does this extensive program come free of charge to the facility, but it will begin to grow revenue for the facility.  TurnKey Corrections, the provider of this service uses forward-looking technology that not only allows inmates to order commissary items on kiosks but; off and on-site access to funds for family and friends, inmate email, video visitation, and many other crucial services. The system which includes inmate accounting software allows staff to spend less time on commissary duties and more time on jail operations.

Turnkey manufactured kiosks allow inmates to order commissary items with touch-screen equipment; Inmates view and make their selections on the kiosk. In addition, the kiosks feature technology to submit requests to staff members (to attend programs like AA, or request a nurse appointment) electronically. The features these kiosks offer greatly reduces paper-flow at the jail and will also dramatically reduce staff time spent manually processing commissary and inmate requests. TurnKey’s commissary system will help the Crawford County to being growing their incoming revenue in an effort to support inmate programs, improvements and purchasing of supplies.

Turnkey’s software offers an easy solution for friends and family to provide commissary and communication funds to their inmate. Loved ones now have the ability to deposit funds on inmate accounts without traveling to the jail, on www.inmatecanteen.com. The public can use VISA, American Express or MasterCard through smartphones or the internet to deposit funds. In addition, there is an electronic kiosk in the lobby area of the jail that will accept cash as well as credit cards. “We are excited about the automated commissary as well as the inmate money-handling system, which will lower our staff's liability risk.  Another feature is the video visitation which we believe will lead to a marked decrease in our lobby traffic on visitation days.  This will enable our corrections staff to remain focused on their own personal safety and facility safety” said Sheriff Dan Peak.

TunKey’s off-site visitation creates the ability for friends and family to visit from anywhere, for a rate of $0.35 per minute.  Off-site visitation is one of the most frequently discussed products on the market for jails today, and TurnKey provides this service at an industry low rate of $0.35 per minute. "Our competitors charge as much as 3x this amount" noted TurnKey President Patrick McMullan, "If jails want to provide better access to inmates while improving security, the public needs to have this service priced at a level that will drive this behavior - Our rates allow this" noted McMullan. Off-site visitation has dropped on-site visitation traffic at jails for other clients as much as 70%, McMullan added, "Some sites have been so pleased with the effect that they have gone to a total off-site visitation solution."  

All visits are monitored and recorded and can be terminated for inappropriate behavior. "The key to off-site visitation, is it allows children to visit from a safe environment that they are comfortable with" noted TurnKey CEO Todd Westby; "This is one of the most important aspects of what we do. Provide jails with as many tools as possible to not only help grow revenues and control expenses, but to make a real impact on helping jails with tools that help return inmates to being citizens."  

Turnkey’s latest enhancements now free up even more time for Crawford County Jail staff.  Friends and family can send and receive e-mails to inmates at a cost of $0.25 each. This is significantly cheaper than postage rates and the program allows for jail staff to review all incoming and out-going emails on a real-time basis; by doing so in a prompt fashion, inmates receive immediate communication back and forth, a critical factor found in helping inmates trying to forge a new path while incarcerated. For jail staff, it means that communication is reviewed on a real-time fashion that can help maintain a better order of security. Combine these features with a program that TurnKey offers the facility for indigent inmates, inmates who do not have funds for such products, helps reduce postage costs to the jail and when combined with the revenue the jails earns from each e-mail, the goal is to make postage a neutral expense in the near future.

Additional services such as access to an automated law library, automation of many federal requirements for PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act), inmate e-mail, music services are provided through Turnkey’s advanced kiosks.  These services all come at no cost to the facility and put them at the front of technological advances available to jails.  

About TurnKey Corrections:  
Based in Hudson, Wisconsin, TurnKey Corrections provides superior technology for accounting software to manage inmate accounts, manage commissary transactions, video visitation, law library, inmate e-mail and other inmate communications. TurnKey Corrections has been a leader in the correctional commissary market for more than 10 years. TurnKey services clients in over 15 states. TurnKey owns all aspects of its technology, fulfillment, kiosk manufacturing, customer service and more.  All systems are copyrighted, patented and proprietary.  Learn more by calling them at 612.267.8277, visiting their website, www.TurnKeyCorrections.com, follow them on LinkedIn, Twitter (@TKCKiosk), or like their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/TurnKeyCorrections.  TurnKey also owns Three Square Market, a Micro Market company, that you can learn more about by visiting www.ThreeSquareMarket.com, following us on Twitter (@32Market), like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/32Market or follow our profile on LinkedIn.