Address:
1050 Carl Griffin Drive
Savannah, GA 31405
Phone:
912-652-7700
How inteleMESSAGE Works
Cost to send messages
Paytel App Download
Check to see if Tablets are Available in Chatham County Detention Center for rent to your inmate. Tablets can be used for phone calls, messaging, education, and entertainment.
Once you sign up with Jail ATM instant Messaging you can you can send texts from the cell phone associated with the mobile number you provided at sign-up, and receive text messages from the inmate on the same cell phone. You can only use the phone number you signed up with or it won't work.
Viewing Texts and Sending Replies:
Each text message sent to the inmate is converted to an email prior to delivery. The resident will view your text message just like he or she would view an email (for instance, on a kiosk within the housing unit); however, the resident will be alerted that the message came in as a text. The resident’s reply is converted back to a text message after sending, and delivered to your cell phone. Everything you send and receive will be viewed by the Chatham County Detention Center first.
Emails:
After you sign up for the SMS Texting Program, all of the inmate's emails and other electronic messages are delivered to your cell phone as a text message – you will no longer receive emails from the resident. You can still send an email to the resident after you sign up for the SMS Texting Program. However, the resident’s reply comes back to you as a text message. You can access your messaging account on the JailATM website to see a full record of all electronic messages sent and received.
Cost:
Once you sign up, the fees will be outlined and are subject to change, however Chatham County Detention Center typically charges $1.00 per text message sent and received.
Almost all jails and prisons have adopted a messaging system which allows inmates to communicate with their friends and family using an electronic messaging system. It’s neither email nor text, it’s something in between.
The inmate and their contacts do not use their regular email accounts or phone numbers, but account numbers that are set up with the company providing the service.
All communication goes through them. Think of them as a middleman.
Once a contact of the inmate is approved, like the approval process a visitor goes through, an account is set up, using a credit or debit card to fund the account.
To start, the inmate’s contact can send a message that has a limit of so many characters, usually about one page of text.
The message is then reviewed by a computer that scans the message for certain keywords or phrases that are not allowed, almost like a censoring service. If the machine scanner finds problems with the message it sends the message to the Chatham County Detention Center staff to review, and if they find no issues, will then forward it to the inmate’s account so that they can read it.
If there are problems with the message, it is possible the message will not be sent. The sender will be notified of the decision and will not get a refund.
Once the inmate receives the message, should the account holder have funded the account allowing replies, the inmate can respond with a similar length message.
The cost to use the electronic messaging service, which is like texting or emailing, costs between $0.50 and $1.00 per page; a page being about 500 characters.
Photos can be sent by the inmate’s contact that is not incarcerated, but not by the inmate due to security concerns. There is an extra cost, usually about $0.50 for each photo attached.
The photos must go through a security screening where nudity, violence and other things are checked before the photo can be delivered. If the photo is rejected, the sender will be notified, but no refund will be given.
The inmate does not have the ability to print out the photos that make it past the screening, but the photos will stay in their account so that they can view them at their leisure.
No. Because this is a closed system, the inmate has no access to the internet, thus the inmate will have no access to any links that you send them.
Yes, just as you can send text and photos, you can send a video message, or if not a message, then a video of your children or yourself. Every company has a limit on the length of the video, usually no more than one minute, and at a cost of approximately $2.00 to $3.00 per video.
The video will first be screened for any nudity, excessive vulgarity, violence, etc. If it is rejected on any of the grounds the sender will not be given a refund.
As with the policy of photos, the inmate cannot reciprocate. They cannot send videos of themselves or anything in jail.
The jails that contract with the electronic messaging service is given a certain number of kiosks within each unit for inmate use. Inmates can log on as they might with a public computer terminal.
In addition to the public terminal kiosks, inmates are given (or can rent) access to individual tablets like a bulky, almost indestructible ipad. These allow an inmate to use them to access your messages, photos and videos in a more private manner.
Should the inmate damage the tablet, they will be responsible for replacing it. The money will be deducted from their commissary account.
The electronic messaging system used by Chatham County Detention Center, if there is one, can be found at the top of this page. If there is no information about the ability to text or email with an inmate, it is possible that the facility has recently changed companies or does not have this service available. Call 912-652-7700 to confirm.
This is a list of all the companies in the United States that work with jails and prisons, providing text and email messaging between inmates and their friends and families:
Access Corrections
CIDNET
City Tele Coin
Correct Pay
Corrlinks
Ctel
Edevo
Express Account
Gettingout
GTL
Homewav
IC Solutions
Inmate Canteen
Inmate Sales
JailATM
J Pay
NCIC
Paytel
Pigeonly
Prodigy Sales
Reliance
Securus
Smart Communications
TBE
Visitel
You fund the messaging service with credit and debit cards. All of them take Visa and MasterCard, most also take Discover, and just some take America Express.
There is no limit to the amount of texting and email that an inmate can have with their family and friends.
If an inmate has their own tablet, then they can text any time of the day or night, however if the must use the wall mounted kiosk terminal in their unit, they are limited to using it only during the hours they are allowed off their bunks; usually 7:00AM to 10:00PM, excluding meals, head counts and shift changes.
No, inmates are not allowed to communicate with each other, nor with inmates in other institutions. There is always a way to get around it, for example if one of the inmates has access to a phone with an internet connection, but this would be the only way.
To send a secure email message to an inmate in Chatham County Detention Center follow these steps:
How inteleMESSAGE Works
For all information on rates, and how to Text/Email an Inmate in Chatham County Detention Center check out our Secure Messaging Guide for Chatham County.
Postcards
The Chatham County Detention Center allows inmates to receive pre-metered postcards like the type purchased from the post office. They may also allow certain photo postcards as long as they have not been tampered with or contain images that may be considered to be obscene or violent in nature.
Envelopes
The Chatham County Detention Center also allows envelopes to be mailed to inmates.
Postcards and envelopes MUST be mailed to the following address:
Inmate's Full Name & INMATE ID # (Defendant Identification Number/DIN)
JailATM.com – Chatham County Jail-GA
925B Peachtree Street, NE, Box 2062
Atlanta, GA 30309
Legal Mail
Send all legal Mail to this Address:
Inmate's Full Name & INMATE ID # (Defendant Identification Number/DIN)
Chatham County Sheriff’s Office
1050 Carl Griffin Drive
Savannah, GA 31405
Newspapers
Local or national newspapers may also be mailed to the inmate as long as they are mailed directly from the newspaper publisher.
Magazines
News, special interest or sports magazines may also be mailed to an inmate as long as they are shipped directly from the publisher. Any magazines that contain profanity, weapons, pornography or other content that is adult in nature will be confiscated by the jail staff and will NOT be delivered to the inmate.
Books
The Chatham County Detention Center allows books to be mailed directly to the jail from a reputable source such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million. You can order them directly from your computer and have them shipped to the inmate at the address below.
Books must NOT contain images or content that are considered excessively violent, pornographic or obscene. Any book that does not meet the Chatham County Detention Center standards will be disposed of. No more than three books may be shipped at any one time.
Hard cover books will not be accepted by the jail due to their potential to be used as a weapon.
All newspapers, magazines and books are to be shipped to:
Inmate's Full Name & INMATE ID # (Defendant Identification Number/DIN)
Chatham County Sheriff’s Office
1050 Carl Griffin Drive
Savannah, GA 31405
How can you rent a tablet for an inmate in Chatham County? Read the following:
Tablets can be used by inmates, for the following things:
Contact Paytel online, or call the Chatham County Detention Center directly at 912-652-7700 to rent a tablet for your inmate.
To find out everything you need to know about renting a tablet, what it can be used for, how much it costs, and more, check out our Tablet Page for Chatham County Detention Center.
Using Jail ATM Digital Messaging with an Inmate at Chatham County Detention Center - Sending and Receiving Messages.
How It Works:
Once you sign up with Jail ATM instant Messaging you can you can send texts from the cell phone associated with the mobile number you provided at sign-up, and receive text messages from the inmate on the same cell phone. You can only use the phone number you signed up with or it won't work.
To learn more about this email service, check out our full instructions, including fees at our emailing and texting page.
Chatham County Detention Center uses an online cash bonding company called CashBondOnline.com so you don't have to bond out your inmate at the jail or at the Chatham County Courthouse.
Here's how it works:
1. Once you find out that your inmate has been arrested, go here and select Georgia.
2. Next select Chatham County Detention Center, or if it is not listed like that, try Chatham County.
3. Next, input your inmate's name or ID Number and then click 'Find'.
4. If your inmate is elegible for a cash bond, the amount will be noted next to their criminal charges.
For full information on Cash bail and Bond Online, including how to contact them by phone and email, check out our Inmate Bail page.
To receive phone calls from inmates in Chatham County, or to assist them in making phone calls to other people, follow these steps:
For all the information regarding phone calls with Chatham County inmates; rules, policies, phone calling times, costs, limits, tablet rental and more visit our Inmate Phone Page.
To visit an inmate in Chatham County follow these steps:
For full instructions on all the benefits of using JailATM to visit a Chatham County inmate, visiting an inmate at the jail itself, rates, policies, rules, dress codes, bringing children, attorney and clergy visits and more, go to our official Visit Inmate Page.
To send a commissary carepack (food, snacks and goods) directly to an inmate in Chatham County Detention Center follow these steps:
For all information, tips and available items for shipping Commissary packages or sending money to an inmate in Chatham County Detention Center check out our Commissary Instructions Page for Chatham County.
To deposit money online for an inmate in Chatham County Detention Center follow these steps:
For all information, tips and procedures for sending money to an inmate in Chatham County Detention Center, or depositing money at the jail, over the phone or by mail, check out our Send Money Page for Chatham County.
