Houston County Jail Remote Inmate Video Visits

Houston County Jail

Address:
304 South Marshall Street
Caledonia, MN 55921

Phone:

507-725-3379

Video Calls from an Inmate at the Houston County Jail

Houston County Jail uses the services of Reliance Telephone for video (visit) phone calls and for emailing/texting to inmates.

Note: This option may not be available for your inmate. When registering, check to see if devices are available.

  • 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. 
  • The cost of this is $4.00 per month for rental of the Reliance Tablet Phone + $0.25 per minute for video and voice calls.

What is a video visit?

Video visitation, also known as remote visitation, is quickly becoming the preferred method for visiting an inmate in jail or prison for the following reasons:

•    It requires little to no staff, versus the staff required to move inmates to and from the visit and watch over the visit. It saves the Houston County Jail money.
•    It removes any opportunity for contraband (drugs) to enter the facility.
•    It can become a profit center for the facility, given that the revenue generated by visits is shared with the jail.
•    While inmates prefer to see family and friends in person, video visitation allows them to visit with them more often, and on a whim.
•    Video visitation gives the inmates and their visitors the feeling of more privacy.

Video visitation from the perspective of the visitor allows them to visit from their home, their car, at work, and even allows them to take their device to a family or religious gathering. It allows them to give their inmate the feeling of belonging and not being forgotten.

Video visitation can take place on a computer, a tablet or a phone. 

Video visitation saves time. Instead of spending hours driving to the jail, checking in, filling out paperwork, potentially being searched, waiting, and then having a 15–30-minute visit, if it isn’t cancelled at the last minute, the visit can be done from anywhere during a short break in the visitor’s day.

If the visitor does not have access to a phone or computer, they can make an appointment ahead of time and use terminals in the lobby of the jail.

You must also be on the inmate's approved list, even for a video visit.

What are the companies that work with the jails and prisons that allow video visits?

There are several different companies that contract with all the jails and prisons that allow video visitation:

These are the companies in alphabetical order:

CIDNET
City Tele Coin
Correct Solutions Group
Correct Pay
Ctel
Gettingout
GTL
Homewav
IC Solutions
Inmate Canteen
Inmate Sales
iwebvisits
JailATM
Jpay
Gettingintouch (netvisit)
NCIC
Prodigy Sales
Reliance
Securus
Smart Communications
Tiger Services
Visitel
In addition, some jails use Microsoft Meeting and Zoom.

Visitation Options, Hours, Schedules & Rules

Visitation times and schedules for remote visitation with an inmate at Houston County Jail with GTL are available to you after logging in and selecting the inmate you wish to visit with.

* Visitation schedules are subject to change.
* The actual visiting hours vary depending on the following factors:

  • Whether or not there are restrictions in place due to COVID or other factors such as security issues.
  • The day of the week.
  • Where the inmate is housed.
  • The inmate's sex.
  • Whether or not it is a Holiday.

* Each inmate is allowed one or two visits (or unlimited visits!), ranging from 15 minutes to one hour in length each week.
* Inmates with special privileges may be allowed additional visits.
* If you are visiting from another state or traveling a great distance, Houston County Jail may allow you an extended visitation. Call 507-725-3379 to ask for special consideration.
* Call 507-725-3379 to ask about normal visiting hours at the jail, and procedures for scheduling a visit other than video visitation.

How to Arrange Video Visitation with Houston County Jail Inmates

Follow these instructions to schedule and then visit an inmate using GTL.

  • Register yourself and all visitors.
  • Select Houston County Jail
  • Select your inmate.
  • Schedule your preferred time for the visit.

For all the information you need to know regarding scheduling, cost, rules, tips and guidelines of inmate visits at the Houston County Jail, check out our Visit Inmate Page.


 

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

To send a commissary carepack (food, snacks and goods) directly to an inmate in Houston 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 Minnesota, then Houston 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: Houston 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 Houston County Jail, or to see how deposit money so that your inmate can purchase their own commissary, check out our Commissary Instructions Page for Houston County.


 

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

To set up your Houston 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 Houston 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.


 

How Do Inmates in Houston County Jail Make Phone Calls?

To set up your Houston 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 Houston 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 You Schedule and Visit an Inmate in Houston County Jail?

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

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

For all the information you need in order to schedule and visit your Houston 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.