Address:
5410 East Broad Street
Lake Charles, LA 70615
Phone:
337-491-3800
SmartMail allows inmates to communicate safely and quickly with family and friends outside of the jail, prison or detention center. Inmates send and receive electronic letters using a safe and secure computer kiosk or tablet stationed in their institution. THE COST IS JUST $0.50 CENTS; cheaper than a postage stamp and envelope.
More information on how to send and receive messages and photos with an inmate.
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 Calcasieu Parish Correctional 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 Calcasieu Parish Correctional 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 337-491-3800 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.
Postcards
The Calcasieu Parish Correctional 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 Calcasieu Parish Correctional 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# (call 337-491-3800 for this information)
Smart Communications / Calcasieu Correctional Center
P.O. Box 9169
Seminole, FL 33775-9169
Legal Mail
Send all legal Mail to this Address:
Inmate's Full Name & Inmate ID# (call 337-491-3800 for this information)
Calcasieu Correctional Center
P.O. Box 2017
Lake Charles, LA 70602.
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 Calcasieu Parish Correctional 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 Calcasieu Parish Correctional 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# (call 337-491-3800 for this information)
Calcasieu Correctional Center
P.O. Box 2017
Lake Charles, LA 70602.
Because Calcasieu Parish and Louisiana can change their bail bond procedures, it is always best to call either the Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center at 337-491-3800, or the court in the jurisdiction (i.e. Municipal Court, District Court, etc.) where the offender was charged, and do this right after an arrestee has been booked.
Ask the staff at the Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center or the Calcasieu Parish Court Clerk these specific questions:
If you feel the bail is too high and you wish to get it reduced, contact a lawyer or the defendant's public defender and get them to look into what they can do to get a bail reduction. The sooner you get working on this the quicker you will get your loved one released.
This entire process will go smoother and faster with a criminal attorney or bail agent handling it for you.
Postcards
The Calcasieu Parish Correctional 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 Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center also allows regular postcards and envelopes to be mailed to inmates as well.
Personal postcards and envelopes MUST be mailed to the following address:
Inmate's Full Name & Inmate ID# (call 337-491-3800 for this information)
Smart Communications / Calcasieu Correctional Center
P.O. Box 9169
Seminole, FL 33775-9169
Legal Mail
Legal Mail is mail from Attorneys, law enforcement, the courts, bail companies, etc.
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 Calcasieu Parish Correctional 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 above.
Books must NOT contain images or content that are considered excessively violent, pornographic or obscene. Any book that does not meet the Calcasieu Parish Correctional 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 legal mail, newspapers, magazines and books are to be shipped to:
Inmate's Full Name & Inmate ID# (call 337-491-3800 for this information)
Calcasieu Correctional Center
P.O. Box 2017
Lake Charles, LA 70602.
They may not be directly connected to the internet, but inmates at Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center are provided free tablets to use within the jail that allow them to have access to the following services and information:
The availability of tablets may seem like something that inmates who are serving time do not deserve, but here are some of the benefits for inmates in Calcasieu Parish:
For more information about Tablets and how your inmate can get one to use while he is in jail, chek out our Inmate Tablet page.
To communicate by text or email with an Calcasieu Parish inmate, follow these instructions:
For all the information you need to send and receive secure messages in the form of text or email with a Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center inmate, including how it works, how much it costs, renting your inmate a tablet, how often you can communicate and more, check out our Text/Email an Inmate Page.
NOTE: Your messages will be monitored and stored. You may want to refrain from discussing your inmate's court case.
To send a commissary carepack (food, snacks and goods) directly to an inmate in Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center follow these steps:
For all information, tips and available items for shipping Commissary packages to an inmate in Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center check out our Commissary Instructions Page for Calcasieu Parish.
To receive phone calls from an inmate in Calcasieu Parish follow these instructions:
Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center uses the services of NCIC for inmate phone calling. It is called a ‘friends & family account”.
In order to receive phone calls from your inmate, you need to do the following:
NOTE:
1. You cannot receive any calls to your phone number from your inmate until both you and your phone number are registered.
2. When you do receive a call, the number you will view on your phone from the incoming call is: 800-943-2189.
3. When allowed by Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center, families can also leave secure voicemails for inmates to listen to.
Fees
NCIC Customer Service
Phone - 800-943-2189 or 903-247-0069
Email – [email protected]
Full list of participating jails.
For all the information regarding phone calls with Calcasieu Parish inmates; rules, policies, phone calling times, fees, limits and more visit our Inmate Phone Page.
To send commissary money to an inmate in Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center follow these steps:
For all information on how to Send Money to an inmate's account check out our full money and commissary guide for Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center.
To register and sign up for a remote visitation account with correctpay.com to communicate with your Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center inmate, follow the instructions below:
Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center uses the services of correctpay.com (aka JailFunds) for you to schedule and visit your inmate via remote video visitation.
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You can ‘video visit’ your inmate one of three ways:
Begin the process to schedule a visit:
24/7 Customer Service - 855-836-3364
For all the information on remote video visits and 'at the jail' visitation for Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center, including fees, schedules, how it works and more, check out our Visit Inmate Page.
