Buchanan County Jail in St. Joseph, Missouri installs cutting edge programs to improve facility.

HUDSON, Wis. - June 5, 2013 - PRLog -- June 5, 2013 – Hudson, Wis. -- At no cost to taxpayers, Buchanan County Jail is now providing a commissary, video visitation and email program to inmates. 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, inmate e-mail, off-site video visitation, and many other services.  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.

"We've always tried to be on the cutting edge [at the Buchanan County Jail].  Anything that can save manpower or cost.  Not only does it save, but it generates revenue.  It's really a no-brainer," said Buchanan County Sheriff Mike Strong.  View local news outlet KQ2’s video interview here: http://stjoechannel.com/fulltext?nxd_id=346912.

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.

Turnkey’s latest enhancements now free up even more time for Buchanan County Jail staff.  Friends and family can send and receive e-mails to inmates at a cost of $0.25 each. This is significantly cheaper than postage rates and the program allows for jail staff to review all incoming and out-going emails on a real-time basis; by doing so in a prompt fashion, inmates receive immediate communication back and forth, a critical factor found in helping inmates trying to forge a new path while incarcerated. For jail staff, it means that communication is reviewed 100% of the time on a real-time fashion that can help maintain a better order of security.  “It gets a lot of the legwork off the deputies and off the jailers themselves.  It allows the inmates to use the kiosks themselves to perform simple functions; order their commissaries, order their phone cards.  They can start their visitations, they can send emails,” stated Turnkey controller Steve Kassekert. Combine these features with a program that TurnKey offers the facility for indigent inmates, inmates who do not have funds for such products, helps reduce postage costs to the jail and when combined with the revenue the jails earns from each e-mail, the goal is to make postage a neutral expense in the near future.

­­Also included in Turnkey’s state-of-the-art technology is 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. "Our competitors charge as much as 3x this amount" noted TurnKey President Patrick McMullan, "The public will not pay this. If jails want to provide better access to inmates while improving security, given they dramatically reduce inmate movement, the public needs to have this service priced at a level that will drive this behavior  - Our rates allow this" noted McMullan. 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."  

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.  

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