Address:
1220 West Dallas Street
Canton, TX 75103
Phone:
903-567-4133
Friends and family members can either 'deposit money in an inmates account' that they can use to:
1. Purchase prepaid phone cards from Commissary, or
2. Set up a 'prepaid collect call account' in which the inmate can only call you, or
3. Set up an PIN controlled debit account so the inmate can phone whomever they want.
There are dozens of third-party for profit companies working with Van Zandt County Detention Center 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 Van Zandt County, call 903-567-4133, 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:
.JPG)
How does an inmate make a phone call from Van Zandt County Detention Center?
Van Zandt County Detention Center, will allow inmates to contact pre-approved friends and family members' phones by calling direct using pre-paid accounts set up with Correct Solutions Group. They can also set up a PIN Debit Account by prepaying and allowing the inmate to call whomever they want.
No, you cannot call an inmate in the Van Zandt County Detention Center. You can however call 903-567-4133, 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 Van Zandt County Detention Center’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 903-567-4133.
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. Van Zandt County Detention Center 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 Van Zandt County Detention Center offers that service call the phone company at the top of this page or call the jail at 903-567-4133.
Yes, an inmate in the Van Zandt County Detention Center 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 903-567-4133 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 Van Zandt County Detention Center 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 Van Zandt County Detention Center 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 Van Zandt County Detention Center 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 Van Zandt County Detention Center 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 903-567-4133 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 Van Zandt County Detention Center 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 Van Zandt County Detention Center allows the purchase of phone cards, check the information at the top of this page or call the jail at 903-567-4133.
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 903-567-4133 to see if your Van Zandt County Detention Center’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 Van Zandt County Detention Center 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 903-567-4133 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 Van Zandt County Detention Center.
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.
Emailing an Inmate with Secure Messaging
Van Zandt County Detention Center uses the services of NCIC for you to deposit funds into your inmate’s account so that you and they can purchase secure email messaging services from this jail’s e-messaging service.
You can deposit money three different ways:
• Deposit online at NCIC.com
• Deposit at the kiosk in the Van Zandt County Detention Center lobby, if available.
• Deposit over the phone 24/7 at 800-943-2189 or 903-247-0069 (Note: if you deposit money using a live agent the fee is $5.95).
NCIC Customer Service
Phone - 800-943-2189 or 903-247-0069
Email – [email protected]
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 Van Zandt County Detention Center by clicking the banner below.
For inmates receiving mail in the Van Zandt County Detention Center there are different addresses and policies depending on the inmate's status, as well as what type of mail they are receiving; personal mail, legal mail, subscriptions or books sent from a third-party such as Amazon.
All mail is to be shipped to the Van Zandt County Detention Center:
Inmate's Full Name & Inmate ID#
JailATM.com – Van Zandt County Justice Center
2830 S Hulen St, Box 809
Fort Worth, TX 76109
For complete information on mail policies, what you can send an inmate and what address to send them, check out our Inmate Mail page.
Using Jail ATM Digital Messaging with an Inmate at Van Zandt County Detention Center - Sending and Receiving Messages.
How It Works:
Once you sign up with Jail ATM instant Messaging you can you can send texts from the cell phone associated with the mobile number you provided at sign-up, and receive text messages from the inmate on the same cell phone. You can only use the phone number you signed up with or it won't work.
To learn more about this email service, check out our full instructions, including fees at our emailing and texting page.
To set up a phone account so that your inmate can call you from Van Zandt 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 Van Zandt 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 receive phone calls from inmates in Van Zandt County, or to assist them in making phone calls from jail to other people, follow these steps:
For all the information regarding phone calls with Van Zandt County inmates; rules, policies, phone calling times, limits and more visit our Inmate Phone Page.
To visit an inmate in Van Zandt County follow these steps:
For full instructions on all the benefits of using JailATM to visit a Van Zandt County inmate, visiting an inmate at the jail itself, rates, policies, rules, dress codes, bringing children, attorney and clergy visits and more, go to our official Visit Inmate Page.
To send messages to a Van Zandt County inmate follow these instructions:
Since Van Zandt County Detention Center contracts with JailATM / Prodigy Telephone Solutions. they either already or will soon provide you and your inmate the ability to use their Messaging Service to send and receive electronic messages. Try both Jail ATM & Prodigy. They are in the midst of a merger and one or the other will be handling the Van Zandt County Detention Center account.
Pay for the Prodigy Inmate Messaging Service at Van Zandt County Detention Center.
- Online,
- Over the Phone by calling 866-700-4545,
- Using a Kiosk at Van Zandt County Detention Center.
Pay for the JailATM Inmate Messaging Service at Van Zandt County Detention Center.
- Online,
- Using a Kiosk at Van Zandt County Detention Center.
- Over the phone 877-810-0914.
For all the information you need regarding messaging a Van Zandt County inmate at the jail, including how it's done, how much it costs, rules and regulations and more, check out our Text/Email an Inmate Page.
NOTE: All of your communication with an inmate is recorded. Use discretion in what you discuss.
To visit an inmate in Van Zandt County you need to do the following:
Van Zandt County Detention Center uses the services of NCIC for remote video visitation. In other words, you can visit your inmate in jail by using your home computer, as long as it is equipped with a microphone and camera that supports video.
When available, the jail also provides use of ‘video visit kiosks’ in the Van Zandt County Detention Center lobby if you do not have a computer at home. These ’on-site’ video visits are FREE.
Costs
NCIC Video Visitation fees are subject to change, but the cost to you is roughly $7.50 ($0.25 per minute) for a 30-minute visit + an additional fee of $2.00 for the connection.
On-site (at the jail) video visits are FREE.
How to set up your Video Visit
Your inmate will be notified by the Van Zandt County Detention Center staff of the date and time for the visit. Be sure to be in front of your computer and connected to NCIC at least 15 minutes before the start of the visit.
NCIC Customer Service
Phone - 800-943-2189 or 903-247-0069
Email – [email protected]
For all the information you need to know, whether it be 'in person' at-the-jail visitation or remote video visitation with your Van Zandt County inmate, go to our Visit Inmate Page.
To send a secure email message to an inmate in Van Zandt County Detention Center follow these steps:
Van Zandt County Detention Center uses the services of NCIC for you to deposit funds into your {Van Zandt County inmate’s account so that you and they can purchase secure email messaging services from this jail’s e-messaging service.
You can deposit money three different ways:
• Deposit online at NCIC.com
• Deposit at the kiosk in the Van Zandt County Detention Center lobby, if available.
• Deposit over the phone 24/7 at 800-943-2189 or 903-247-0069 (Note: if you deposit money using a live agent the fee is $5.95).
Email – [email protected]
For all information on how to Text/Email an Inmate in Van Zandt County Detention Center check out our Secure Messaging Guide for Van Zandt County.
