Address:
101 West Market St
Columbia City, IN 46725
Phone:
260-244-7119
How does HomeWAV phone system work?
1. Sign Up.
2. Complete both steps of the registration process
3. Add ‘Talk to me Funds’ to your account using your credit or debit card.
4. Start your phone calls.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you add funds to your Homewav account?
Does Homewav offer other services?
What is the cost to use Homewav?
Can I get a refund if something goes wrong?
How does your inmate know that there is a balance on the account and the account is available to use?
What does it mean to "schedule a visit"?
“Schedule a visit” is a feature on the app that allows you to schedule an on-site visitation. This reserves your visitation station at Whitley County Jail. It cannot be used to schedule a video call because you do not schedule video visitations in advance, similar to phone calls.
You can add funds to your inmate's HomeWAV account via the website, on their mobile apps ( iphone, android ), through PayNearMe at a local store, or through their automated phone payment system.
Go the the Solutions Page for full video tutorials and answers to your questions.
Use Homewav for voice calls at Whitley County Jail
How does HomeWAV phone system work?
1. Sign Up.
2. Complete both steps of the registration process
3. Add ‘Talk to me Funds’ to your account using your credit or debit card.
4. Start your phone calls.
There are dozens of third-party for profit companies working with Whitley County Jail and other jails in Indiana to provide a way for inmates to phone friends and families at rates that are much less than what jails have been known to charge in the past.
The lower rates come at a cost to inmates though, as most of the profit from these calls pay for other benefits such as television and both indoor and outdoor recreational services from board games to sports and workout equipment.
To find out what phone service is being used for inmates housed in Whitley County, call 260-244-7119, or if the phone service is not noted above, click on one of these companies below, each of which provide service for jails in the state of Indiana:
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How does an Inmate make a phone call from Whitley County Jail?
Once you have created and funded your account with Securus, please allow up to 24 hours to start receiving calls.
Your inmate should be able to dial your number directly and be connected.
You will hear an introduction stating:
1. "You are receiving a call from "inmate Name" from Whitley County Jail.
2. Then you will hear prompts that will ask you to select a number to accept or block the call.
3. Please listen to the prompts carefully so that you can correctly connect to your inmate.
**If your inmate is using a prepaid calling card, the phone number that should appear on your caller ID is 972-777-9396.
No, you cannot call an inmate in the Whitley County Jail. You can however call 260-244-7119, or search online to see if your inmate is in custody.
When an offender is first arrested and is being booked into jail, they are allowed one or two free phone calls to notify friends or family of their situation. If they are unable to notify someone at that point, they can try again, this time it will be a collect call that you will have to pay for if your phone service allows you to receive collect calls, once they are classified, processed, dressed and brought to their unit.
However, if the phone they call is a cell phone, which normally do not allow the receipt of collect calls, or your phone service does not allow for collect calls, then you will not be able to receive any phone calls from them until you purchase phone credits from the Whitley County Jail’s inmate calling system.
The information for this is located above, at the top of this page. If that information is missing, it is because the facility recently changed companies and you can get the details by calling 260-244-7119.
It is rare that a jail (or prison) will accept messages for an inmate. Of all the thousands of jails in the United States there are probably less than one hundred that have a message line.
There are two exceptions to this rule:
1. Whitley County Jail will accept a message if there is a family emergency such as a death in the family. In a case like this the message will be conveyed by a jail chaplain or someone that is very high ranking in leadership. Inmates are already under a lot of stress and emotion, and the staff realizes this. It is for this reason they will be very careful how they pass the message along and being watchful afterwards.
2. Many of the inmate phone systems used by jails allow for messages to be left for a small fee, usually less than $1.00 for a minute. It is done in the form of a voicemail from you. To see if Whitley County Jail offers that service call the phone company at the top of this page or call the jail at 260-244-7119.
Yes, an inmate in the Whitley County Jail can call you using any of the following three ways:
1. The inmate can call you ‘collect’ if your phone service accepts collect calls.
2. The inmate can call you using a prepaid calling card that they can purchase from the jail’s inmate commissary.
3. The inmate can call you using credits or money that you or someone else purchases from the jail’s inmate phone service. This information can be found at the top of this page.
If you can’t find the jail’s phone service, it means that they may have recently changed it. Call the jail at 260-244-7119 to get the information you need.
Also, it is becoming standard that when an inmate is booked in jail, they must make a list of a limited number of people that they will allow to visit them and/or make phone calls to. If the Whitley County Jail requires this, then you will have to be on their list to receive phone calls.
Yes. If a person is on the inmate’s approved phone contact list and the person accepts a collect call or the inmate has funds on their prepaid card or phone account, there are no restrictions based on whether the person and inmate are related or not.
The only exception to that is if you, as the person who funds their inmate phone account, puts restrictions on the account, so that the account can only be used to communicate with you and not other people. This allows you and not the Whitley County Jail to control who the inmate can speak with.
When you receive a collect call from a jail, you will first hear a recording that the call is a collect call and coming from a jail and the person’s spoken name. You will then be asked to respond with a prompt or by voicing “yes” that you agree to accept the call. At that point you can either accept it or refuse it.
If you continue to get calls from the jail and don’t want to receive them anymore, you can contact your phone service and request that that number be blocked.
The cost of a collect call is the most expensive call that you can make (or take). In fact, the cost (per minute) for a collect call can exceed the cost of an international call.
Expect to pay about $1.00 to 1.50 per minute for a collect call. Compared to the cost of a call going through the inmate phone service that the jail contracts with, ‘collect calls’ can be five to ten times more expensive.
If you are having difficulties receiving collect calls from the Whitley County Jail contact your own phone service. Keep in mind that your land line service provider is not the same as your sell service provider.
The federal government limits the cost of a phone call from a jail in the United States to $0.21 per minute. This is true whether the inmate is using a prepaid card or one of their friends or family members have contracted with a phone service that the jail recommends.
In general, most of these companies are honest and trustworthy. The complete list can be found by scrolling down this page further.
There are independent companies that you can find and purchase phone time from that have fees as low as $0.05 to $0.10 per minute. They usually accomplish this by selling you blocks of time that you may never use, or they have exorbitant fees in other areas. Be a smart consumer and study these offers carefully.
In general, inmates in the Whitley County Jail can make phone calls between the time when breakfast ends until ‘lights out’ at the end of the evening.
They will not allow phone calls to be made during meals, head counts or during shift changes.
Inmates who are workers (trustees), are on work release or have other responsibilities are also limited to when they can make phone calls, as their schedules take priority over personal time.
In general, other than during the scheduled events noted above, you can communicate by phone between the hours of 7:30AM and 10:00PM.
There is no limit to how often an inmate can make phone calls. They are limited only by how much money you are willing to give them to add phone time.
When and if there are limits, the limits never apply to phone time with their lawyer or legal matters related to their criminal court case.
There are some jails and prisons that limit how much an inmate can spend on phone calls, specifically inmates in the United States Bureau of Prisons, which limits federal prisoners to a $300 spend every month.
The inmate telephone service for this facility can be found at the top of this page. If the information is missing that means that the facility recently changed carriers and has not updated the information. In that case, call the jail at 260-244-7119 to get the answers to your questions.
Each of these phone companies provide similar services, and each cannot charge more than $0.021 per minute for domestic calls, however it is a very competitive industry due to the size of the market in which their customers are literally ‘captive’ in every sense of the word.
Amtel Phones
CIDNET
City Tele Coin
Correct Solutions Group
Correct Pay
Ctel
Gettingout
GTL
Homewav
ICSolutions
Inmate Canteen
Inmate Sales
Lattice (nexus telephone)
NCIC
Paytel
Prodigy Solutions
Reliance
Securus
Smart Communications
Tiger
No. Inmates in the Whitley County Jail cannot text from the phones, but more and more jails are bringing in a text service for inmates that can work from kiosks and tablets in their units. For more information, check out this jail’s email and text page.
Almost every jail gives inmates and their contacts to either purchase calling cards from commissary or buy phone credits and time online from a phone service. There remain a few jails that still only allow collect calls which is an unfair financial burden on inmates and their families.
To see if Whitley County Jail allows the purchase of phone cards, check the information at the top of this page or call the jail at 260-244-7119.
There is no limit to how often an inmate can make phone calls. They are limited only by how much money you are willing to give them to add phone time.
There are some jails and prisons that limit how much an inmate can spend on phone calls, specifically inmates in the United States Bureau of Prisons, which limits federal prisoners to a $300 spend every month, however during the holiday months that number is increased to $400 per month.
Of the dozens of phone companies listed above that do business with the jails and prisons, there are only a few that have a way for you to use cash to purchase phone credits or phone time from them, usually in an ATM machine at check cashing outlets, and only a couple that have a way for you to fund an inmate phone account by mailing them a money order or cashier check.
If you don’t have a credit or debit card from a bank, you can always get a prepaid one at thousands of check cashing locations across the country.
Most jails also have a way for inmates to purchase prepaid phone cards from their commissary. These jails usually allow the inmate’s trust account to be funded with postal money orders, negating the need for having a credit or debit card altogether.
Call 260-244-7119 to see if your Whitley County Jail’s commissary has prepaid phone cards.
A video call is no different than a video visit. It allows both the inmate and their approved contacts to see each other during the conversation. This is becoming the preferred method for inmates and their friends and family members to communicate, as visual contact communicates on a different level than just the voice.
Jails and prisons that have the option of video calls and video visits also most likely have handheld tablets for inmate use. This gives the inmate the ability to communicate from their cell or a remote corner of the unit, which adds a level of privacy that a kiosk on the wall does not offer.
To see if Whitley County Jail offers video calls, go to the top of this page or the Visitation page for information. If you can’t find it there, it may be because this facility recently changed companies, so you can call them at 260-244-7119 for details on how to arrange video calls.
No, they cannot use their cell phone.
Inmates have their cell phones taken from them when they are initially booked into jail and will not get them back until they are released, provided the phone is/was not kept by the arresting agency as evidence in a criminal investigation.
Cell phones are considered contraband and a security risk to a jail or prison. All communication: Written, spoken or video, other than an inmate’s communication with their lawyer, are monitored by the facility.
If an inmate is caught with a cell phone that has somehow been smuggled into a jail, the inmate will be charged with a crime. It is considered more serious than being caught with drugs, as a cell phone can be used to intimidate potential witnesses, arrange an escape or run a criminal enterprise outside of the jail’s walls.
It is unlikely that you can get charged with a crime for communicating with an inmate using a cell phone while incarcerated in the Whitley County Jail.
That said, if it is found that you knowingly were doing it, you could have your visitation or phone privileges suspended, or even permanently terminated by the jail.
If you were involved in the smuggling of the phone, that is a criminal offense, as it may be if you were adding ‘minutes’ onto a prepaid phone that you knew was smuggled into the jail and was being used for illegal purposes.
Leave a Video Message for an Inmate at Whitley County Jail
Friends and Family can leave Video Messages for Inmates using HomeWAV Video services. The cost is $1.00 per message. In addition, there is a $1.00 fee for any purchase.
How does HomeWAV video messaging (email) work?
1. Sign Up.
2. Complete both steps of the registration process
3. Add ‘Talk to me Funds’ to your account using your credit or debit card.
4. Send your video message.
Important Tips About Jail Phone Calls
Many jails and prisons restrict the amount of time that an inmate can use the phone by placing daily and monthly limits, so try to pace yourself and not use up all your time at the beginning of the month.
Jails limit an inmate's phone time to certain hours of the day, so it is important you keep a regular schedule that works for both you and your inmate.
If your inmate does not call you during the time you both have scheduled, don't panic. There are often long lines for phone use. When a jail is on lockdown due to a fight or other security issue they do not allow the phones to be used.
Phones are the only way for an inmate to hear your voice and temporarily 'escape' the loneliness of incarceration, so use your time well. Arguing about anything will leave you both feeling empty and guilty, so avoid it at all costs.
All phone conversations are recorded. Whatever you talk about, can and will be used against your inmate in court. Never discuss their pending criminal case!
Also, be warned that some phone providers are collecting voice prints for a database which law enforcement agencies are building.
Sign up with Securus to connect with your inmate at Whitley County Jail by clicking the banner below.
The tablets can be rented on a monthly basis and while not directly connected to the internet, the inmates can use them for phone, visits, messages, education, self-help and entertainment.
Questions:
To learn more about Homewav tablets, the dozens of features, cost and how to get one delivered to your inmate, check out our Inmate Tablet page.
To set up a phone account so that your inmate can call you from Whitley County do the following:
1. Enroll in an account with Securus Technologies.
2. Choose one of three account types, Securus Debit, Advance Connect or Direct Bill.
3. Choose [facility_name_1}, then connect with your inmate.
4. If you have any questions, call Securus: 972-734-1111 or 800-844-6591.
To find out fees, how to's, calling times, limits on phone calls and other systems Securus has do that you can communicate with your Whitley County inmate, check out our Inmate Phone Page.
NOTE: All of your inmate's phone calls are recorded and stored. It is advised not to discuss their pending case.
To Bail out or Post Bond for an Inmate in Whitley County Jail follow these steps:
For complete Instructions on How to Bail or Bond an Inmate in Whitley County Jail, check out our Inmate Bail page.
How to Make a Deposit for Phone, Email or Visitation using GettingOut.com
Whitley County Jail uses GettingOut for some or all of its communication services with an inmate.
If you want to deposit money using this company for your use or your inmate's account, there are four ways to do it:
For all the information you need to know, including tips, guidelines and warnings about depositing money in a Whitley County Jail inmate's account for communication services, check out our Send Money page.
To mail or email an inmate in Whitley County follow these steps:
When mailing a letter or postcard to an inmate, please follow these instructions:
Emailing Messages & Photos
Facility_name_1} contracts with GTL GettingOut, the same service that handles iInmate Phone Systems and Video Visitation, for sending secure messages and photos between you and your inmate.
If you are not already registered, do so here, or Log in.
Then use the Facility Finder to:
1. Select Whitley County Jail,
2. Add your inmate to your list of contacts,
3. Add a credit or debit card to cover your costs.
Customer Service Questions
'Online' Contact Form, or
Call 866-516-0115
Go here to this FAQ to get answers to how the transition to ViaPath from GTL and gettingout will affect your account.
All the information you need to understand mail and email policies for Whitley County can be found on our Inmate Mail Page and our Text/Email an Inmate Page.
To visit an inmate in Whitley County, whether by video or in person 'at the jail', follow these steps:
Other than 'at the jail' visits between you and your inmate, which is explained and outlined in detail on our Visit Inmate Page, Whitley County remote video inmate visitation can be done using the services of GettingOut.
There are three ways to remotely visit your inmate in Whitley County Jail:
1. Using the GettingOut Kiosk at the jail.
2. Using your computer from home.
3. Using your phone on the GettingOut apps.
To remotely visit an inmate in Whitley County follow these steps:
1. Start by confirming that Whitley County Jail's Video Visitation is working correctly by looking up Whitley County here.
2. The next step is to create an account here for GettingOut.
3. Then add funds to your account.
4. Last, select Whitley County Jail, and then the inmate you wish to communicate with.
Other Whitley County Services provided by GettingOut:
- Phone Calls & Voicemail
- Email, Photo & Video Sharing
- Inmate Tablet Rental
- Deposits
Customer Service
If you have any questions about the Whitley County Jail Visitation Services you can call them at 866-516-0115.
Frequently Asked Questions
* All the information you need to have complete knowledge about inmate visitation; policies, rules, fees, schedules, tips, dress codes, and children, lawyers and clergy visitation in Whitley County, can be found on our Visit Inmate Page.
Whitley County Jail Phone: 260-244-7119
To receive phone calls from inmates in Whitley County, or to assist them in making phone calls to other people, follow these steps:
For all the information regarding phone calls with Whitley County inmates; rules, policies, phone calling times, video, messaging, time limits and more, visit our Inmate Phone Page.
To visit or email an inmate in Whitley County follow these steps:
Who do you contact if you are having any problems arranging the remote video visit, phoning or emailing of an inmate in Whitley County?
Call HomeWav support at 314-764-2872, or toll free 844-394-6639.
Monday – Friday
9:00AM to 6:00PM EST
Saturday – Sunday
8:00AM to 6:00PM EST
NOTE: All communications between you and your inmate at Whitley County Jail will be recorded and stored. Do not discuss your inmate's case or other sensitive information as it can be used against them (or you) in court.
For full instructions on all the benefits of using Homewav to visit a Whitley County inmate, visiting an inmate at the jail itself, email and texting an inmate, rates, policies, rules, dress codes, bringing children, attorney and clergy visits and more, go to our official Visit Inmate Page.
To send commissary money to an inmate in Whitley County Jail follow these steps:
For all information on how to Send Money to an inmate's account, what the fees are, how long it takes to hit their account and more, check out our full money and commissary guide for Whitley County Jail.
To send commissary money to an inmate's account in Whitley County Jail follow these steps:
You can deposit money four different ways:
24/7 Customer Service - 855-836-3364
Frequently Asked Questions
For all information, tips and available items for send money and for shipping Commissary packages to an inmate in Whitley County Jail check out our Commissary Instructions Page for Whitley County.
