You can still call and 'see' your friends in La Salle County Jail

OTTAWA – If a friend or family member is in La Salle County Jail, you still can “visit” – that is, you still can video-conference with them.

Jason Edgcomb, jail superintendent, announced some policy changes Friday that will limit face-to-face visits due to the concern of the spread of coronavirus. That won’t have an impact on family members, however, as the jail’s longstanding policy is to permit visits at video-conferencing stations.

“We’re cleaning those stations daily, but we’re also putting out hand sanitizer and cleaning wipes,” Edgcomb said, “This gives people the opportunity to wipe down the surfaces if someone else has just used the terminal.”

Phone privileges remain unchanged – calls can be placed 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily – but Edgcomb is encouraging families to used CIDNET Public Portal (customer.cidnet.net), a paid service that provides off-site links for video-conferencing from home.

While family and friend visits have been unaffected by coronavirus, the jail has had to halt some in-person services. Visitors from Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs are temporarily barred from entry, as is the jail chaplain.

One issue being worked on is attorney access. In-person visits have been restricted, with the result that attorneys must use a visiting room with a glass partition to meet their clients. Legal documents and other discovery materials will be transferred, under confidential seal, through jail staff.

The public defender’s office understands the need for infection control and is working within the new measures, at least so far.

“It’s getting it done, as of right now,” said assistant La Salle County public defender Doug Kramarsic. “Luckily, we haven’t had to show any clients video and surveillance, which usually takes place in a media room without a glass partition. I don’t know how that’s going to work – we haven’t had to deal with that yet – but, generally, when I’m meeting with high-level offenders it’s behind glass anyway.”

Tom Collins can be reached via (815) 220-6930 or TCollins@shawmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @NT_Court.