Utah County Jail Emailing An Inmate

Utah County Jail

Address:
3075 North Main
Spanish Fork, UT 84660
Phone:
801-851-4302

Send an Email or Text to an Inmate in the Utah County Jail

Sending an Email, Text or Secure Electronic Message to an Inmate

The Utah County Jail provides a service which allows secure electronic messaging for their inmates.

The email service they use is called Securus.

Securus is not directly connected to the internet like normal email, but instead each correspondence is first intercepted by the jail's servers. This gives the staff an opportunity to review the messages before delivering them to both inmates and the people that the inmates are communicating with.

Electronic messages received by the inmates are read either on kiosks within the inmate's unit, or or on tablets provided by the third party service that oversees the program.

Allowing inmates access to email has many upsides:

• It is less expensive than regular mail.
• It allows for faster turnaround of communication.
• It allows the jail to monitor inmate communication in real time.
• Because the jail receives a portion of the revenue, it brings the jail revenue they wouldn't have otherwise.
• It is an inmate privilege that they don't want to have taken away, and thus can be used as a way to control behavior.
• It keeps unwanted contraband from entering the facility in the physical mail.

For a list of Frequently Asked Questions and Answers about Securus inmate emailing and texting, scroll down for more information about it or call the jail at 801-851-4302.

Utah County Jail - Emailing and Texting an Inmate

Utah County Jail uses Securus eMessaging for Inmate Email.

Register here. (You are already registered if you signed up with Securus for 'Phone' or 'Remote Visitation').

Steps: 
1.  Sign up for eMessaging
2. Find your inmate.
3. Purchase a book of Securus ‘stamps’.
4. Type & Send message.

Things you CAN do:
1.  You CAN ONLY send messages from the Securus website, or with the Securus app. (links below).
2. You CAN transfer ‘stamps’ to your inmate.
3. You CAN deposit money to your inmate, and they can purchase ‘stamps’ on their end.
4. Each time you send a message, you CAN pay for them to reply.
5. You CAN send photos. (Jail staff will review for appropriateness) 

Things you CANNOT do:
1.  You CANNOT use your own personal email to send messages.
2. You CANNOT send any message or photo that would normally be rejected by regular mail.

Other Things:
1.  Photos must be .jpg, .jpeg or .png.
2. eMessages and photos must meet the jail’s standards for regular mail.
3. If your eMessage or Photo is rejected you will be notified of the reason, but you will NOT get a refund.

What is the cost of sending inmate messages?

• Send a text Message - 1 stamp
• Purchase a reply for your inmate - 1 stamp
• Attach up to 5 photos - 1 stamp each photo
• Share up to 5 eCards - 1 stamp each eCard
• Send just a photo with no text - 1 stamp
• Send a 30 second VideoGram - 3 stamps

What can your inmate do with digital 'stamps'?

• Reply to your eMessage if you attach a return stamp
• Receive transferred stamps you share with them (no cost to transfer)
• When available, they can purchase their own stamps from their Inmate Debit Account

Contact Information and Help:
eMessaging FAQ  
eMessaging Signup & Helpful Information  
Online Customer Service Support 
Phone Support: 972-734-1111 or 800-844-6591
iphone app
Android app

Mailing Check payments
Securus Correctional Billing Services
PO Box 650757
Dallas, Texas 75265-075

Email with an Inmate in the Utah County Jail

Frequently Asked Questions about Inmate Email and Texting

Can inmates send and receive texts and emails?

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

Can inmates send and receive photos through their messaging system?

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

Can I send an inmate a video?

What device does an inmate use for texting and emailing?

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

What are the companies that provide electronic messaging services to jails and prisons?

How do I fund the inmate’s messaging system?

How often can an inmate text and email?

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

Can an inmate email or text inmates in other jails or prisons?

Can inmates send and receive texts and emails?

Almost all jails and prisons have adopted or are adopting 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 Utah 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 outside contact, 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 Utah County Jail inmate has no access to the internet, thus the inmate will have no access to any links that you send them.

Can I send an 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 used in the Utah County Jail?

The electronic messaging system used by Utah 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 this facility has recently changed companies or does not have this service available. Call 801-851-4302 to confirm.

What are the companies that provide electronic messaging services to jails and prisons?

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, but only a few of them take America Express.

How often can an inmate text and email?

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

Can inmates text or email 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 they are limited to the use of a wall mounted kiosk terminal in their unit, they can only use it during the hours they are allowed off their bunks or out of their cells; usually 7:00AM to 10:00PM, excluding meals, head counts and shift changes.

Can an inmate email or text inmates in other jails or prisons?

No, inmates in jail are not allowed to communicate 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.