Inside Cook County Jail, many people use a tablet, a small touch-screen device a lot like an iPad. It's how they send and read messages, make calls, have video visits, take classes and pass the time. The tablets are supplied by ViaPath, the company behind GettingOut. In 2025 the Sheriff's Office reported about 3,655 tablets in use across the jail.
Calls, messages and video visits cost money and are usually paid through family accounts. Exactly what is offered can change, and the tablet itself shows what is turned on.
What this means for you: if your loved one doesn't answer right away, they may simply not have tablet time yet. Give it a day before you worry.
Tablets are used with earphones. If a pair breaks or more are needed, extra earphones are bought from the jail store (commissary).
You don't send anything to the tablet directly. You use the GettingOut app on your own phone or computer.
Phone calls to your number work a little differently. They are paid through a GTL prepaid phone account (ConnectNetwork) at 5 cents a minute. See our Cook County Jail phone guide for steps.
The Sheriff's Office can review messages, and calls and video visits can be recorded. Never discuss the criminal case, and never use the tablet for talks meant only for a lawyer.
Your loved one does not own the tablet. Breaking it, misusing it, or using it to break jail rules can lead to losing tablet privileges or other discipline. ViaPath collects and repairs damaged tablets.
Tablet features and prices are set by the jail and ViaPath and can change. Check the GettingOut app for what is offered today.
Address:
2700 South California
Chicago, IL 60608
Phone:
773-869-7100
Does the Cook County Jail - Department of Corrections have tablets for the inmates to use?
What can the inmates use the tablets for?
Are the jail’s tablets connected to the internet?
How much do the tablets cost to use?
Why do the inmates have access to tablets if they are being punished?
Do inmates have to pay for tablets that they break?
You can find information about the Cook County Jail - Department of Corrections’s tablet program at the top of this page. If there is no information about it, it is because they either have recently changed companies or are not yet providing this service for inmates. Call 773-869-7100 to confirm.
Inmates in jails and prisons are using tablets for all the communication services available such as video visitation, video phone calls, regular phone calls, and electronic messaging – which is like texting and email.
Tablets are also used for entertainment, such as watching movies, television shows, listening to music and reading e-books. It is also used for education, self-help information, and legal research.
No, they are not connected to the internet. All the messages, visits and programming goes through a system controlled by the company that provides the tablets, and through the jail. They control what each inmate sees. All messages are carefully screened and not delivered if the sender or the inmate violates jail policy.
For accessing visits and messages, the tablets are generally free to use. Each unit has many of them, all provided by the company that has contracted with the jail. Of course, the video visits and messages have a fee and those are paid for by the inmate’s family and friends who use the service.
That’s the question a lot of people ask and don’t fully understand.
The way the jail staff looks at it, is that if they can keep the inmates busy and distracted, it makes it safer for them.
Tablets also give them a certain power over controller an inmate’s behavior. For example, if an inmate knows that they will lose the privilege of having access to a tablet if they get into a fight or violate another rule or policy, they will be better behaved.
Tablets are one of the few things that make an inmate feel as though they are free, and they don’t want to lose the privilege of having access to one.
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Yes, if an inmate breaks a tablet, then they are responsible for paying for it. The money will come out of their commissary funds, so not only do they lose access to having a tablet as punishment, but they also won’t be able to purchase snacks on commissary.