Madison County Jail Inmate Phone & Email

Madison County Jail

Address:
2005 E Main Street
Madisonville, TX 77864

Phone:

936-348-2755

Madison County Jail - Inmate Phone Services

Madison County Jail 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:

  • Register here, or by phone 800-943-2189
  • Choose Texas.
  • Choose Madison County Jail
  • Select your Inmate.
  • Enter the phone number your Inmate will be calling.
  • Fund your Account. ($10-$100 at a time)

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 Madison County Jail, families can also leave secure voicemails for inmates to listen to.

Fees

  • Adding funds to your account - $3.00 
  • Cost of phone call of a Prepaid Collect Account - $0.21 per minute
  • Cost of an interstate (ex. Texas to a different state) phone call NOT Prepaid - $0.25 per minute
  • Cost of an intrastate (ex. Texas to Texas) phone call NOT Prepaid - $0.25 per minute
  • Cost if you set up your account (or fund it) by phone using a live agent, you will be charged a one-time fee of $5.95.

NCIC Customer Service
Phone - 800-943-2189 or 903-247-0069
Email – [email protected]
Full list of participating jails.

Inmate Phone Calling Services - Third Party Vendors that work with Jails

There are dozens of third-party for profit companies working with Madison County Jail and other jails in Texas 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 Madison County, call 936-348-2755, 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 Texas:



 

How does an Inmate make a phone call from Madison County Jail?

To make a phone call to you from Madison County Jail, your inmate will phone you direct from the jail.

If you haven't set yourself (and your phone number) up in the NCIC system, the call will not go through, however you will receive a notice that someone using the phone number 800-943-2189 attempted to phone you.

Once you register yourself (and your phone number), AND prefund the account with NCIC you will have the option of accepting, denying or blocking any phone call coming from 800-943-2189.

When you accept the call, you will be billed at a rate of $0.21 per minute.

Can I call an inmate in the Madison County Jail?

No, you cannot call an inmate in the Madison County Jail. You can however call 936-348-2755, 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 Madison 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 936-348-2755.

Can I leave a message for an inmate in the Madison County Jail?

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.    Madison 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 Madison County Jail offers that service call the phone company at the top of this page or call the jail at 936-348-2755.

Can an inmate in the Madison County Jail call me?

Yes, an inmate in the Madison 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 936-348-2755 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 Madison County Jail requires this, then you will have to be on their list to receive phone calls.

Can an inmate in the Madison County Jail call their friends?

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 Madison County Jail to control who the inmate can speak with.

How do I accept collect calls from an inmate in the Madison County Jail?

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.

How much am I charged for accepting a collect call from Madison County Jail?

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.

Who should I contact if I’m having difficulty receiving collect calls from the jail or prison?

If you are having difficulties receiving collect calls from the Madison 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.

How much does it cost for an inmate in the Madison County Jail to call me?

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.

What times are inmates in the Madison County Jail allowed to make phone calls?

In general, inmates in the Madison 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.

How often can inmates in the Madison County Jail make phone calls?

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.

What is the inmate telephone service for the Madison County Jail?

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 936-348-2755 to get the answers to your questions.

What are the phone companies that facilitate phone calls with jails and prisons? 

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

Can an inmate text me from the phones in the Madison County Jail

No. Inmates in the Madison 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.

Can an inmate in the Madison County Jail buy calling cards?

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 Madison County Jail allows the purchase of phone cards, check the information at the top of this page or call the jail at 936-348-2755.

What is the most that an inmate in the Madison County Jail can spend on phone calls?

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.

Do I need a credit card to purchase phone credits for an inmate in the Madison County Jail?

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 936-348-2755 to see if your Madison County Jail’s commissary has prepaid phone cards.

What is the difference between a phone call and a video call?

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 Madison 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 936-348-2755 for details on how to arrange video calls.

Can inmates in the Madison County Jail use their cell phone?

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.

Is it illegal for an inmate to use a cell phone in the Madison County Jail?

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.

Can I get in trouble for accepting a call from an inmate using a cell phone in the Madison County Jail?

It is unlikely that you can get charged with a crime for communicating with an inmate using a cell phone while incarcerated in the Madison 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.

Madison County Jail - Emailing / Texting your Inmate

Madison County Jail uses CIDNET for Digital Mail Messaging between inmates and their friends and family.  
Register here.


Frequently Asked Questions
Instructions on How to Use CIDNET
CIDNET Instrucciones
Contact Customer Support

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 NCIC to connect with your inmate at Madison County Jail by clicking the banner below.

How to send a text or email to an inmate in Madison County

To send and receive secure texts or emails from an inmate housed in Madison County follow these instructions:

  • Register and create an account with CIDNET.
  • Choose a Security PIN and Password.
  • After logging in, from the Menu, choose the state of Texas, then the Madison County Jail, then your inmate's name.
  • Once you have completed this, the Madison County Jail will have to give final approval for you to communicate by email with your chosen inmate.

For all the information you need to know, including instructions, policies, tips and solutions to possible issues with Texting and Emailing an inmate in Madison County, visit our full page guide


 

How to Both Schedule a Visit and Have Remote Video Visitation with an Inmate incarcerated in Madison County

To register and sign up for a visitation account with CIDNET Video Visitation Service, follow the instructions below:

  • Register and create an account with CIDNET.
  • Type in your Email, Time Zone and First & Last Name of your Madison County Jail inmate.
    1. Click the Create Account button.
    2. Agree to the terms.
    3. Login to your email and open the verification email sent by CIDNET. Click it.
    4. Choose a Security PIN and a Password.
    5. Click the Sign In button.
  • After logging in, from the Menu, choose the state of Texas, then the Madison County Jail, then your inmate's name.
  • Once you have completed this, the Madison County Jail will have to give final approval for you to set up a video visitation account with your inmate.

For all the information you need to know, including instructions, special links, policies, rules, tips and solutions to possible issues regarding regular visitation and remote video visits with an inmate in Madison County, visit our full page guide

NOTE: All visits 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 CIDNET may be collecting voice prints for a database which they may be sharing with law enforcement agencies.


 

How Do I put Money on an Inmate's Commissary Account in the Madison County Jail to Purchase Phone Cards?

There are FOUR options for putting money on an inmate's books:

Option 1 - Dropping Money at the Madison County Jail
Bring money to the jail in person. 
Either the jail personnel will process the Inmate Account payment or you will use the NCIC self-serve kiosk in the lobbies that accepts cash, debit or credit cards.

Option 2 - Deposit Inmate Money Online
Madison County Jail uses NCIC to process all online deposits to an inmate's account. NCIC charges you a small fee for doing so, but the fee probably isn't as much as gas and parking would cost to take it to the jail in person.



Option 3 - Mail the Inmate Deposit to the Jail
Mailing a deposit takes more time to process than the other methods but can be done if you live too far away to bring it in person and you don't have a debit/credit card for online deposits. Never send cash. Always send a Money Order from the US Post Office, a reputable bank or Western Union.
Make the Money Order out to the inmate's name and put their Inmate ID# in memo section of the Money Order.  Mail it to the Madison County Jail address on this page, or to the address below if it is different than the facility address.
2005 E Main Street
Madisonville, TX 77864

Option 4 - Make an Inmate Deposit over the Phone by calling 800-943-2189

For more information about sending an inmate money for phone cards or other commissary sundries, check out our Inmate Money Page.


 

How to deposit money in an inmate's account in the Madison County Jail

  • To deposit money online go the NCIC website
  • To deposit money over the phone call 800-943-2189
  • To deposit money at the jail use the NCIC Kiosk in the Madison County Jail lobby.
  • Call the jail at 936-348-2755 to confirm lobby hours for depositing inmate funds.

For complete information on depositing money in an inmate's account, check out our Inmate Money page.


 

How to Deposit Money Online for an Inmate in Madison County

To deposit money online for an inmate in Madison County Jail follow these steps:

  • Register to open an account, or Sign In to JailATM, a service that acts as a bank for inmates in Madison County.
  • After registering and signing in, select 'Send Money Now'.
  • Choose Texas, then choose Madison County Jail
  • Type in your inmate's last name or their Inmate ID.
  • Select your inmate.
  • Input an amount to deposit to your inmate in Madison County Jail, and then input your payment method. 
  • NOTE: There may be a limit on how much money you can send your inmate in Madison County at any one time.
  • If you need to phone customer support, call 877-810-0914.

For all information, tips and procedures for sending money to an inmate in Madison County Jail, or depositing money at the jail, over the phone or by mail, check out our Send Money Page for Madison County.


 

How Does an Inmate Make Phone Calls in Madison County Jail?

To receive phone calls from an inmate in Madison County follow these instructions:

Madison County Jail 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:

  • Register here, or by phone 800-943-2189
  • Choose Texas.
  • Choose Madison County Jail
  • Select your Inmate.
  • Enter the phone number your Inmate will be calling.
  • Fund your Account. ($10-$100 at a time)

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 Madison County Jail, families can also leave secure voicemails for inmates to listen to.

Fees

  • Adding funds to your account - $3.00 
  • Cost of phone call of a Prepaid Collect Account - $0.21 per minute
  • Cost of an interstate (ex. Texas to a different state) phone call NOT Prepaid - $0.25 per minute
  • Cost of an intrastate (ex. Texas to Texas) phone call NOT Prepaid - $0.25 per minute
  • Cost if you set up your account (or fund it) by phone using a live agent, you will be charged a one-time fee of $5.95.

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 Madison County inmates; rules, policies, phone calling times, fees, limits and more visit our Inmate Phone Page.


 

Photos of this facility
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