Ward County ND Adds New Technology to its' Jail at No Cost to the Tax Payers

HUDSON, Wis. - May 8, 2013 - PRLog -- May 8, 2013 – Hudson, Wis. -- At no cost to taxpayers, Ward County Jail in Minot, North Dakota soon will provide a commissary program to inmates for purchasing additional hygiene, food, and recreational items not provided by the facility. After thorough research by the facility, Turnkey Corrections was awarded this role. Based in Hudson, Wisconsin, Turnkey provides forward-looking technology that will not only allow inmates to order commissary items on touch-screen kiosks, but off and on-site access to funds for family and friends. The system which includes inmate accounting software allows staff to spend less time on commissary duties and more time on jail operations.

Turnkey manufactured kiosks allow inmates to order commissary items with touch-screen equipment; Inmates view and make their selections on the kiosk. In addition, the kiosks feature technology to submit requests to staff members (to attend programs like AA, or request a nurse appointment) electronically. The features these kiosks offer greatly reduces paper-flow at the jail and will also dramatically reduce staff time spent manually processing commissary and inmate requests. "Having TurnKey come to Ward County is a big boost for our facility.  Their technology will improve services and programs we offer to our ever-growing population and diversity within the jail.  Plus, with our growth, TurnKey's technology will allow us to be far more efficient which will allow us to handle this increase in inmates with better tools and technology" noted Sheriff Steve Kukowski.

Turnkey’s software offers an easy solution for friends and family to provide commissary and communication funds to their inmate. Loved ones now have the ability to deposit funds on inmate accounts without traveling to the jail, on www.inmatecanteen.com. The public can use VISA, American Express or MasterCard through smart-phones or the internet to deposit funds. In addition, there is an electronic kiosk in the lobby area of the jail that will accept cash as well as credit cards. Inmates get immediate access to these funds to use for anything from phone cards for calling family to buying hygiene items or snacks.

Many are excited for the impact that Turnkey’s technology stands to bring the county. "Following the flood of two years ago, coupled with the explosive growth of our area and the forthcoming jail expansion, TurnKey is providing Ward County exactly what we need to grow our revenues that are critical for programs plus control expense and improve our efficiency. TurnKey is customizing [its services] to our needs and policies and this was important given the dynamics our facility has" stated Jail Commander, Penny Erickson.

Additional services such as access to an automated law library, automation of many federal requirements for PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act), inmate e-mail, music and movie services are provided through Turnkey’s advanced kiosks.  These services all come at no cost to the facility and put them at the front of technological advances available to jails.  

Beyond the services Turnkey Corrections is supplying to Ward County, it additionally offers software to facilities that the county may be looking to use in the future including: inmate e-mail and video visitation. Using our inmate e-mail, friends and family can send and receive e-mails to inmates at a cost of $0.25 each, significantly cheaper than postage rates. The e-mail program allows for jail staff to review all incoming and out-going messages on a real-time basis, increasing security on-site.  Also Turnkey’s state-of-the-art technology can offer facilities Off-site Visitation: The ability for friends and family to visit from home for a rate of $0.35 per minute.  Off-site visitation is one of the most frequently discussed products on the market for jails today, and TurnKey provides this service at an industry low rate of $0.35 per minute. Off-site visitation has dropped on-site visitation traffic at jails for other clients as much as 70%, McMullan added, "Some sites have been so pleased with the effect that they have gone to a total off-site visitation solution."  

All visits are monitored and recorded and can be terminated for inappropriate behavior. "The key to off-site visitation, is it allows children to visit from a safe environment that they are comfortable with" noted TurnKey CEO Todd Westby; "This is one of the most important aspects of what we do. Provide jails with as many tools as possible to not only help grow revenues and control expenses, but to make a real impact on helping jails with tools that help return inmates to being citizens."  

About TurnKey Corrections:  
Based in Hudson, Wisconsin, TurnKey Corrections provides superior technology for accounting software to manage inmate accounts, manage commissary transactions, video visitation, law library, inmate e-mail and other inmate communications. TurnKey Corrections has been a leader in the correctional commissary market for more than 10 years. TurnKey services clients in over 15 states. TurnKey owns all aspects of its technology, fulfillment, kiosk manufacturing, customer service and more.  All systems are copyrighted, patented and proprietary.  Learn more by calling them at 612.267.8277, visiting their website, www.TurnKeyCorrections.com, follow them on LinkedIn, Twitter (@TKCKiosk), or like their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/TurnKeyCorrections.  TurnKey also owns Three Square Market, a Micro Market company, that you can learn more about by visiting www.ThreeSquareMarket.com, following us on Twitter (@32Market), like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/32Market or follow our profile on LinkedIn