Those wishing to visit inmates of Limestone County Jail will soon use a video call system to conduct their visits.

Sheriff Mike Blakely spoke with Limestone County Commissioners during their Wednesday work session about establishing a portal for video visitation at the county warehouse, adjacent to the jail on Cherry Street in Athens. Commissioners said they supported converting the warehouse to a visitation office and added the measure to the Dec. 19 meeting agenda.

“We’re kind of a bit late — the technology is out there,” Blakely said about video calling, adding many jails across the state and even as close as Giles County, Tennessee, utilize video visitation.

The reason for switching from traditional in-house visits to video calls is two-fold, the sheriff said. Mainly, corrections officers are put at risk when they escort an inmate from a cell block to the visitation area. Officers must also search visitors for contraband, which also takes time away from monitoring the inmates. With the video visitation system, an inmate can use a digital kiosk to make their call while the visitor is off-site.

Secondly, the current visitation system is restricted to a small window of time two days each week and visitor parking at the jail is limited.

“It’s a scheduling nightmare,” LCSO Communications Supervisor Tammy Waddell said of the current system.

By converting space at the Cherry Street warehouse, jail officers can schedule more visits during weekdays and take advantage of more parking space. Waddell said the video system will also allow for visitors to pay for off-hours remote visits through a mobile app to allow visitors who can’t physically come to the jail the opportunity to see and speak to inmates. A big benefit to the Sheriff’s Office will be that the digital scheduling system keeps record of visits in case an inmate has a question about their right to visitation.

“It eliminates a lot of problems,” Blakely said.

County Administrator Pam Ball said it will take some “housekeeping” measures to set up the system at the Cherry Street warehouse, but the move is not expected to cost the county anything as most of the hardware needed for the system was installed during the recent jail expansion and the Sheriff’s Office paid for fiber optic cables to be installed between the jail and the warehouse.

Pending commission approval, the contractor can install the hardware at the visitors’ portal before the end of the year, Waddell said.

 

Other business

Elsewhere Wednesday, the commission suspended the rules of order and appointed the following to the Parks & Recreation Board: Jim Moffat (to replace Jackie Greenhaw), Richard Martin, Trisha Black, Doug Gates, Glendon R. Easter, John Witt, Carl Hunt, Keith Hinkle and Kelvin Davis.

The following items are also up for discussion or approval at the Dec. 19 meeting:

• Approve reimbursable agreement with Limestone County Water & Sewer Authority for relocation of utilities on Quinn Road over Beauchamp Branch in District 4;

• Approve reimbursable agreement with Athens Utilities for relocation of utilities on Thach Road over an unnamed branch in District 1;

• Approve reimbursable agreement with Limestone County Water & Sewer Authority for relocation of utilities on Thach Road over an unnamed branch in District 1;

• Approve the transfer of $15,000 from the budgetary fund balance to the R&M Building fund for courthouse;

• Reappoint Tom Norton and Pat King to the Healthcare Authority of Athens Limestone County Hospital Board, with terms ending Dec. 31, 2022;

• Appoint Henry Pollitz to the E-911 board, Place 3 to fill the vacancy of Billy Knight, with a term ending June 8, 2018;

• Award a bid for tag registration forms for the License Commission;

• Approve Family Medical Leave for Connie Moore and Matthew Williamson;

• Employ Kristian King as deputy;

• Transfer the following from temp-agency to part-time county employees (Litter Patrol drivers): Phil Woodruff, Mark Zirbel and Gary Turner;

• Employ an engineering assistant II (bridge inspector);

• Award merit increases to Rebekah Davis, Matthew Dean, Martin Evans, David Hargrove, Andrew King, Jamie King, Gil Moore, Johnny Morell Jr., William S. Rogers, Shannon Thrasher and Matthew Williamson; and

• Approve a change order in the amount of $106,839.51 for renovations to Limestone County Courthouse: $1,943 to Comfort Group of Alabama for rerouting two toilets that were not draining properly; $104,896.51 to VEEP Electrical Service for materials for new pole lights at street and wall wash lighting (portion of this amount contributed by Athens Rotary, Spirit of Athens and Athens-Limestone County Tourism).

The Limestone County Commission will meet at 10 a.m. Monday, Dec. 19, at the Clinton Street courthouse annex.