Cherokee County Jail in Canton, GA adds new technology to improve Internal Efficiency

May 8, 2013 – Hudson, Wis. – At no cost to taxpayers, Cherokee County Jail in Canton, Georgia is now providing a video visitation program to inmates at its facility. After thorough research by the facility, Turnkey Corrections was awarded this role. Based in Hudson, Wisconsin, Turnkey provides facilities across the nation with forward-looking technology that will not only allow video visitation, but also provides access to many other services including ordering products, sending paperless requests, off and on-site access to funds for family and friends, and many more.  

Turnkey’s state-of-the-art technology is providing the Cherokee County facility with Off-site visitation: The ability for friends and family to visit from home, rates can be as low as $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."  

"We want to provide inmates and their family & friends the ability to use the latest technology has to offer to stay in better communication with each other.  It is statistically shown that more communications improve chances that the inmate will not repeat their violation.  In partnership with our long time inmate phone provider, Consolidated Telecom and TurnKey, this service is being provided at no upfront cost to our tax payers.  This technology opens up communication to friends and family not in the immediate Canton, GA area and we also will improve efficiency and safety at our facility by having less visitors to our detention center.  This is a major step forward for us" stated Major Karen Johnson, Jail Commander.

Turnkey’s software offers an easy solution for friends and family to provide 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.

Additional services are available to Turnkey facilities, 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