Lyon County Jail Emailing An Inmate

Lyon County Jail

Address:
410 South Boone Street
Rock Rapids, IA 51246

Phone:

712-472-8300

Inmate Emailing & Texting at Lyon County Jail

Lyon County Jail uses the services of Reliance Telephone for emailing/texting to inmates.

Known as the 'Reliance Inmate Wallet', it makes funding jail communication easy. 

  • Payments made into an 'Inmate Wallet' account are linked to a dedicated telephone number for inmates who rent one of their Reliance Tablet Phones.
  • Inmate Wallet funds can be used for personal inmate text messaging, voice calls and video calls.  
  • Cost of texting is $4.00 per month for rental of the Reliance Tablet Phone + $0.09 per message sent or received up to 160 characters.

Can inmates send and receive texts and emails?

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 Lyon County Jail 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.

How much does it cost for an inmate to use a text or email service?

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.

Can inmates send and receive photos through their messaging system?

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. 

Can I send an inmate a link to a video to watch?

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.

Can I send the inmate a video?

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.

What device does an inmate use for texting and emailing?

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.

What is the inmate text and email system in Lyon County Jail?

The electronic messaging system used by Lyon County Jail, 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 712-472-8300 to confirm.

What are the companies that provide inmate electronic messaging services?

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

How do I fund the inmate’s messaging system?

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.

How often can an inmate text and email?

There is no limit to the amount of texting and email that an inmate can have with their family and friends.

Can inmates’ text any time of the day or night?

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.

Can inmates email other inmates in other jails or prisons?

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.

How to Send a Carepack Commissary Package Directly to an Inmate in Lyon County

To send a commissary carepack (food, snacks and goods) directly to an inmate in Lyon County Jail follow these steps:

  • Register to create an account, or Log in to your account at Inmate Canteen if you already have one.
  • Select Iowa, then Lyon County Jail, and then the inmate you wish to purchase commissary items for.
  • Select the "Purchase Commissary Items" option.
  • Follow the prompts on screen to purchase items for an inmate.
  • Maximum spend is $125.00.
  • NOTE: Lyon County Jail may at times only allow online deposits for your inmate to purchase their own commissary locally. 

For all information, tips and to see the hundreds of available items for shipping Commissary packages to an inmate in Lyon County Jail, or to see how deposit money so that your inmate can purchase their own commissary, check out our Commissary Instructions Page for Lyon County.


 

How Do You Schedule and Visit an Inmate in Lyon County Jail?

To set up an account to schedule and visit your Lyon County inmate, follow these instructions:

  • Register and set up a new account with RELIANCE, or log in if you already have an account.
  • Select Lyon County Jail, then select your inmate who you will be visiting.
  • Your identity will have to investigated and approved by the Lyon County staff.
  • Once approved, you can schedule a visit.

For all the information you need in order to schedule and visit your Lyon County inmate, or to assist them in visiting with others, including instructions, fees, cost of each visit, requirements for free visits, tablet rentals that can be used for visits, payment methods and times that your inmate can have a visit, check out our Visit Inmate Page.
NOTE: All of your visits with your inmate will be monitored and recorded. Use discretion when discussing sensitive information about their pending case.


 

How Do Inmates in Lyon County Jail Make Phone Calls?

To set up your Lyon County inmate to make to make phone calls to you and others, follow these instructions:

For all the information you need in order to receive phone calls from your Lyon County inmate, or to assist them in making calls to others, including instructions, fees, cost of calls, payment methods and times that your inmate can use the phone, check out our Inmate Phone Page.
NOTE: All of your communication with your inmate will be monitored and recorded. Use discretion when discussing sensitive information about their pending case.


 

How Do Inmates in Lyon County Jail Send and Receive Texts and Emails?

To set up your Lyon County inmate to make to send and receive texts and emails to you and others, follow these instructions:

For all the information you need in order to send and receive texts and emails from your Lyon County inmate, or to assist them in sending and receiving secure messages to and from others, including instructions, fees, cost of each message, tablet rentals, payment methods and times that your inmate can send messages, check out our Text/Email an Inmate Page.
NOTE: All of your communication with your inmate will be monitored and recorded. Use discretion when communicating sensitive information about their pending case.