High Desert State Prison Family & Friends Information

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

The High Desert State Prison provides a service which allows secure electronic messaging for their inmates.

The email service they use is called GTL / Viapath.

GTL / Viapath 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 GTL / Viapath inmate emailing and texting, scroll down for more information about it or call the jail at 702-879-6789.