Forums » Smalltalk » AMA - County Jailer

This wasn't a job I ever expected to have for myself. The only reason I took it was because of covid and these are necessary jobs that are hard to keep filled.

I surprised myself. Most people are afraid of inmates and confrontation. I ended up being a natural. In about a year I went from part time to full time then to a supervisor. It's now my goal to work my way up to being an Administrator and I am more than capable of running a Jail, even at this point in time.

So I specified county jail because most people think jail and prison are the same thing with the same rules. They are completely different! No, I will never work in a prison.

Okay I'll admit when I saw this thread I also had 'prison' in mind. Can you please explain the difference?

I don't know how it is for all states but in mine prison (A.K.A DOC) pays for healthcare whereas regular jail (before you are convicted and sentenced) you are responsible for all bills. There are different rules for visitation, mail, food, etc. Where I work we are trying to cut down on physical contact as much as possible. We have a new phone system so inmates can video call instead of having in person visits (like DOC allows), mail is scanned onto their accounts instead of given to them.

Basically jail is short term and they're more strict because people are not sentenced yet. It's also less dangerous because people are trying to get their charges dropped. Prison is more dangerous since most have long term sentences so at that point they don't care about additional charges.

our county / sheriffs were some of the sweetest, most professional branch of law enforcement, and kept more in common with our social care departments than our state or municipal.

where you live (in the world) does yours hire more civilian / local, rather than ex-military or ranked transfers? just wondering if that could be the difference in how professionals within the justice system interact with their communities, with a foundation of civil service (toward the innocent until proven guilty) instead of a foundation of punitive vigilance (prison guarding).

I bet you have some funny stories. I'd like to hear a funny story. I admit that I imagining scenes from Barney and the Andy Griffith show, but....well, restricted conditions make for comedic moments.

How do people who are jailed and thus unable to make an income pay for their own bills?

Also, why are things more strict before being sentenced/convicted? That sounds backwards, did I misunderstand?

There's a lot of discussion right now about the large number of people and in particular minority groups who are charged and unable to pay bail. What are your thoughts on this, and do you see this occurring in your jail?

Also, many prisons across the US had a high death toll from lack of care provided to inmates, as well as staff with a high antivax sentiment. How did your jail handle COVID, and does it require staff to vaccinate to further protect both staff and inmates now?

I actually live in a small county. We're pretty country. We hire whoever we can get. It should be 21+ but we hire 18+. All civilians with no experience for this sort of thing. One of our staff was 18 and still in high school. We're too small of an area so it's hard to keep fully staffed. You can't have a record and majority of people that live here do have one.


I have a lot of stories but the humor depends on the person, I guess LOL

So people will do anything to get out of jail. I mean anything. They try to fake mental illness so they can get sent to a mental hospital instead. But that is a very lengthy process. It's not "Oh no, you have schizophrenia. We better send you out immediately." You have to be evaluated through mental health and the court if there's no record of mental illness.

I've had someone throw themselves down the stairs thinking a broken bone would get them out on a medical bond. Another one shoved an object in his foot and caused a massive infection. He actually got sent out to a hospital but because he didn't follow his conditions and ran, they revoked his sentence and upped his bond to one million. All of his charges were dismissed except for one so he originally had one year in prison. Now he has to do 20+. He's an old man too.


They don't have to pay right away. It gets added in with their court costs so they can make payments on it. We have a thing called "indigents" which are people with no way to pay for things. They can get letters to write and a few snacks once a week.


From my understanding (aside from it being the law) is that jail has a high turnover rate with people being bonded out. Plus we have municipals which is basically a 12 hour hold. We don't put them in jail clothes and they're set aside by themselves. We've had a riot before so I'm sure it's strict here to help keep them in line since most people try to find ways to get out of jail. Once they've been sentenced they've pretty much accepted that this will be their life.


I don't really have an opinion on that. In my area the 'minority' is the majority here. I'm in the minority. What I see about people not being able to pay bail is from their own doing. They've burned bridges with family and friends and the bad company they keep don't want to help out. Most of the people that come in are dealers and substance abusers. It's usually the substance abusers that are alone and I understand why. They have to hit rock bottom to see the error of their ways, essentially.

I didn't work here until after the covid mess. Masks weren't required or anything like that. But the Sheriff I work for is a good man. He pays thousands of dollars for a medical program so the inmates can have better care and to keep lawsuits out. I think the law states 100 or more people employed you need to be vaccinated. We don't even reach 50 for jailers and sheriff's department so it's not required. Most people (that I know of) have been vaccinated. We've had one "outbreak" since I've worked there and it was just 3 people sick. All were in the same pod and all were mild. It was nothing more than a cold for them. They had congestion, a little coughing, runny/stuffy nose. It lasted a week at most for them. Feed them during covid times really suck though. Instead of bringing out one food cart with trays we had to use styrofoam and sanitize between each pod. The usual 30 minute serving time turned into an hour then staff wouldn't be able to have their lunch.

Do you think that greater availability of mental health care in your community would have an impact on people ending up in jail in the first place? I'm thinking particularly about studies from the Netherland, like https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/12/why-are-there-so-few-prisoners-in-the-netherlands

Definitely. The town I live in is actually small. For good mental Healthcare people need to travel 3-4 hours in state. Our closest mental hospital had half of it shut down due to funding.

Most people come in here with mental health issues are not medicated for a variety of reasons. Mostly because a lack of availability. Personally I don't think that matters because so many of them decide to stop taking them even if they're free (such as DOC paying for them or family/insurance).

The judge here is a good man though. People with severe mental needs he pushes for help. One person is schizophrenic and instead of sentencing him on an assault charge, he court ordered him to stay on his medication (where he's deemed harmless). His sister has it too and she likes to run around naked and break into homes. Her disorder makes her like a 3year old. She has to be helped daily to shower and wear diapers. The judged pulled some strings to out her in a permanent home for special needs adults. Unfortunately these people are in jail because that is safest for them and others. Another person set homes on fire and was shooting because his hallucinations were violent.

I feel like if we changed Healthcare, got rid of the stigma and started things at early ages then a lot of this could be prevented. These adults show signs as young kids and teenagers and it goes ignored until they committ a crime that forces them on medication.

Anyway, majority of the people that come in here are drug related. They're selling or using. Only some of the users develop a mental illness from frying their brain.

Just wanted to say hello and commend you for your work! It’s not an easy job and I know firsthand. I put myself through the police academy in Colorado and started my career in our county jail. Four years later, I’m a deputy on the road. But mad respect. I am where I am today because of my time in the jail. It taught me a lot.

Thank you! We have several people here that do the same. The jail really does teach you a lot! The Sheriff and several deputies want me to join them since I interact so well with these type of people. Props to yall because that is not a job I could mentally or physically handle 😅 I just help with the fun stuff like fixing up a unit for a doggo or helping out for cops for kids or any other event they do.