Detention Center

DETENTION CENTER LOBBY UPDATE

THE HOUSTON COUNTY DETENTION CENTER WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE CDC GUIDELINES FOR COVID-19 AND OTHER COMMUNICABLE VIRUSES AS IT PERTAINS TO THE RESIDENTS OF HOUSTON COUNTY AS WELL AS THE STAFF AND INMATES OF THE HOUSTON COUNTY DETENTION CENTER.

IN-PERSON VISITATION WITH INMATES BY ATTORNEYS AND OTHER COURT PERSONNEL HAS RESUMED DURING NORMAL VISITATION HOURS MONDAY - FRIDAY 8:00 am –11:30 am AND 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm. REQUESTS DURING ANY OTHER TIMES MUST HAVE PRIOR APPROVAL.

STAFF DINING WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR COUNTY EMPLOYEES BEGINNING MARCH 21, 2022, AT A COST OF $3.50 PER MEAL.

WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF RESTARTING OUR MINISTERIAL SERVICES AND AA SERVICES FOR INMATES.

PLEASE DO NOT ENTER THE FACILITY IF YOU ARE DISPLAYING CHILLS, FEVERS, OR FLU LIKE SYMPTOMS. 

 

Houston County Detention Center

Major Brian Blanton, Jail Administrator

Captain Michelle Westbrook, Asst. Jail Administrator

(478) 218-4900

Mission

To provide a safe and secure environment for pretrial detainees. To provide for the basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, medical care, mental health care, religious needs) of those detainees; to ensure the security of the jail from escapes; supervise inmates' day-to-day activities (feeding, cleaning, court appearances, medical appointments, visitations), transport inmates to courts appearances; transport inmates to and from the various jails and prisons throughout the State; to provide proper and current training to all officers assigned to the detention center; to provide trained officers to assist other divisions as needed: and to assist the community during times of natural and manmade disasters.

About

The Houston County Detention Center opened in 2002 as a state-of-the-art direct supervision facility. It is self-contained and allows for greater security of the citizens of Houston County. The facility has the capacity for 665 inmates.

The Center includes a fully operational, 24-hour medical unit that is staffed by full time nursing personnel, physician’s assistant(s), dentist(s) and mental health services provided by Correct Health.

There is a fully equipped industrial kitchen for the preparation of inmate meals. These meals are prepared by inmates with supervision from a contracted food service employee and monitored by detention staff. Supervised inmate work force personnel clean, provide laundry service, and do minor maintenance within the facility.

The Detention Center houses both males and female inmate aged 17 and older. These individuals have either been charged or convicted of misdemeanor or felony crimes. Pretrial inmates are housed until they can bond out or go to their court date. Post trial inmates are either sentenced up to one year to be served at the Detention Center (GDC) for misdemeanor charges, or are sentenced to the Georgia Department of Corrections for felonies, and are held until they can be received by GDC. 

 

PAYTEL VIDEO VISITATION

The Houston County Detention Center recently installed the PayTel video visitation system in an effort to provide visitation services which have been limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Visit paytel.com for more information on how to establish an account to speak and see inmates incarcerated at the Detention Center.

  1. An account can be set up by the visitor on the internet by visiting paytel.com.
  2. Visitors must provide a photo and picture identification such as a driver’s license to submit prior to being approved as a visitor. The identification must be readable by Detention Center staff for review.
  3. Anyone attempting to submit false identification or credentials or establish an account for someone who has been denied access by the Detention Center will be automatically removed as a visitor.
  4. If visitation is conducted by means of the PayTel kiosk in the front lobby of the Detention Center, there will be one 30-minute visitation per week for authorized inmates based on the provided visitation schedule. The kiosks in the lobby are not in service, but inmates will be advised when they are back in full service for them to utilize.
  5. Inmates will be permitted to use the PayTel video visitation system from the housing units (remote visit) for a period of twenty (20) minutes each with a cost to be determined by PayTel if their phone/visitation privileges have not been revoked for disciplinary reasons.
  6. Presently, the cost of a video visit is .30 per minute.
  7. All video visitations, (remote or front lobby) are monitored by Detention Center staff.
  8. All conduct by inmates and visitors must conform to guidelines established in the inmate handbook and as listed above.
  9. Profanity, gang signs, indecency, lewd behavior, etc. will not be tolerated and are grounds exclusion form visitation.
  10. Inmates and visitors violating the conduct code can lose their visitation privileges for no less than 30 days.
  11. Visitors who post pictures or videos of any visitation with a HCDC inmate will permanently lose their visitor privileges.