Polk County Jail Remote Inmate Video Visits

Search for an Inmate in Polk County

Polk County Jail

Address:
1005 West Main Street
Balsam Lake, WI 54810

Phone:

715-485-8370

Schedule a Video Visit with an Inmate at the Polk County Jail - Remotely or at the Jail

The Polk County Jail believes in the importance of their inmates having an opportunity to have visits from family and friends. When an inmate is released he or she needs to return home, and closeness to their family is one of the strongest reasons that keeps them from getting in trouble again.

One way that Polk County Jail is able to accomplish this is with gettingout remote video visitation. Remote visiting allows loved ones to use their phone or computer to connect directly with their inmate via a video kiosk in the jail or using tablets, all in a joint effort between the facility and gettingout.

The benefits of video visitation are:

  • It keeps inmates happy.
  • Allows the inmates to stay in touch with friends, family and children.
  • It saves on staff time, thus money.
  • Allows the jail to partake in a revenue share.
  • Keeps viruses from spreading.
  • Keeps contraband from entering the facility.

For more information on gettingout video visits and video messages, call the facility at 715-485-8370 or scroll down for a complete section of Frequently Asked Questions and Answers.

Polk County Jail - Remote Video Visitation with your Inmate

Polk County Jail uses GettingOut for their Remote Video Visitation and/or Visit Scheduling. 



There are three ways to remotely visit your inmate:

1.  Using the GettingOut/GTL Kiosk at the jail.
2. Using your computer from home.
3. Using your phone on the GettingOut or GTL apps.

How it Works with GettingOut
1.  Register an account.
2. Select Polk County Jail
3. Choose either an INMATE ACCOUNT or FRIENDS & FAMILY ACCOUNT.   

  • **NOTE** Friends and Family must have funds in their "Friends & Family Account" to respond to inmate messages. 
  • If you deposit money online in the INMATE ACCOUNT, than they have the freedom to spend the money on visits or phone calls to anyone, or any other communications services available at Polk County Jail.
  • With the FRIENDS & FAMILY ACCOUNT, you control all communication services such as phone calls, video visits and messaging. Your inmate can only call the phone number you want.

4. You will then receive prompts to validate both your identity and phone number .
5. Again, choose your inmate's facility, then type their name and select your inmate.

GettingOut will then guide you through the steps needed to arrange your remote visit.

Customer Service for GettingOut
If you have any questions, you can call them at 866-516-0115.
GettingOut online contact form
Frequently Asked Questions
The GettingOut App is available on Google Play and Apple Store.

Remote Video Visiting an Inmate in the Polk County Jail

What is a video visit?

Video visitation, also known as remote visitation, is quickly becoming the preferred method for visiting an inmate in jail or prison for the following reasons:

•    It requires little to no staff, versus the staff required to move inmates to and from the visit and watch over the visit. It saves the Polk County Jail money.
•    It removes any opportunity for contraband (drugs) to enter the facility.
•    It can become a profit center for the facility, given that the revenue generated by visits is shared with the jail.
•    While inmates prefer to see family and friends in person, video visitation allows them to visit with them more often, and on a whim.
•    Video visitation gives the inmates and their visitors the feeling of more privacy.

Video visitation from the perspective of the visitor allows them to visit from their home, their car, at work, and even allows them to take their device to a family or religious gathering. It allows them to give their inmate the feeling of belonging and not being forgotten.

Video visitation can take place on a computer, a tablet or a phone. 

Video visitation saves time. Instead of spending hours driving to the jail, checking in, filling out paperwork, potentially being searched, waiting, and then having a 15–30-minute visit, if it isn’t cancelled at the last minute, the visit can be done from anywhere during a short break in the visitor’s day.

If the visitor does not have access to a phone or computer, they can make an appointment ahead of time and use terminals in the lobby of the jail.

You must also be on the inmate's approved list, even for a video visit.

What are the companies that work with the jails and prisons that allow video visits?

There are several different companies that contract with all the jails and prisons that allow video visitation:

These are the companies in alphabetical order:

CIDNET
City Tele Coin
Correct Solutions Group
Correct Pay
Ctel
Gettingout
GTL
Homewav
IC Solutions
Inmate Canteen
Inmate Sales
iwebvisits
JailATM
Jpay
Gettingintouch (netvisit)
NCIC
Prodigy Sales
Reliance
Securus
Smart Communications
Tiger Services
Visitel
In addition, some jails use Microsoft Meeting and Zoom.

Polk County Jail Inmate Mail Policies and Address - What Can You Send, and Where?

For inmates receiving mail in the Polk County Jail there are different addresses and policies depending on the inmate's status, as well as what type of mail they are receiving; personal mail, legal mail, subscriptions or books sent from a third-party such as Amazon.

All mail is to be shipped to the Polk County Jail:
Inmate's Full Name & Inmate ID#
Polk County Jail
1005 West Main Street, Suite 900
Balsam Lake, WI. 54810


For complete information on mail policies, what you can send an inmate and what address to send them, check out our Inmate Mail page.


 

How Do Inmates in Polk County Jail Make Phone Calls?

To receive phone calls from inmates in Polk County, or to assist them in making phone calls to other people, follow these steps:

  • Polk County Jail uses the services of IC Solutions.
  • Register with them online or call them at 888-506-8407
  • Agents are available 24 hours a day, and speak both English & Spanish.
  • Services for Polk County inmates and their families and friends include Collect Calling, PIN Debits, Purchasing Calling Cards, Voicemail & Prepaid calls.  In addition, IC Solutions provides secure messaging, sending photos, video phone calls and online deposits for inmates and their families in Polk County.
  • Although rates are subject to change, they generally run about $0.21 per minute for phone calls.

Note: All your calls with an inmate are recorded, stored and shared with law enforcement if the conversation deals with your case or any criminal activity. Anything communicated can be used against you or your inmate in court.

For all the information regarding phone calls with Polk County inmates; rules, policies, phone calling times, limits and more visit our Inmate Phone Page.


 

How to Communicate with an Polk County Jail Inmate by Mail and by Email

To mail or email an inmate in Polk County follow these steps:

When mailing a letter or postcard to an inmate, please follow these instructions:

  • All mail sent to an inmate at the Polk County Jail must include the sender's name and mailing address in the top left corner of the envelope or postcard.
  • All mail must include the facility's address, as well as the inmate's name and assigned number.
  • Failure to include your return address will most likely result in your mail NOT being delivered and your letter destroyed.
  • The Polk County Jail has a zero-tolerance policy regarding mail violations. 
  • All the information you need to understand mail and email policies can be found on our Inmate Mail Page and our Text/Email an Inmate Page.

Emailing Messages & Photos

Facility_name_1} contracts with GTL GettingOut, the same service that handles iInmate Phone Systems and Video Visitation, for sending secure messages and photos between you and your inmate.
 
If you are not already registered, do so here, or Log in.

Then use the Facility Finder to:
1.  Select Polk County Jail,
2. Add your inmate to your list of contacts,
3. Add a credit or debit card to cover your costs.

  • Messages can be up to 500 characters long, including punctuation. At the bottom of your message there is a 'character countdown' feature.  
  • After you click the “CONTINUE” button, you can review the cost to send your message to your inmate. You can also attach credits for your inmate to reply to your message.  Be sure to accept the Terms and Conditions and click the “SEND” button for your message to be successfully delivered to your inmate.
  • You can also send your Polk County inmate photos and videos.

Customer Service Questions
'Online' Contact Form, or
Call   866-516-0115

Go here to this FAQ to get answers to how the transition to ViaPath from GTL and gettingout will affect your account.

All the information you need to understand mail and email policies for Polk County can be found on our Inmate Mail Page and our Text/Email an Inmate Page.


 

How Inmates Can Use a Tablet to Access Services at Polk County Jail

To find out how to get access to a tablet for inmate read the following:

1.  First, Register or Sign In to GettingOut/GTL

2.  Purchase the services you want for your Polk County Jail inmate.
3. All inmates have free access to the tablets to read their letters from family & friends, but there are many other services available to keep your inmate busy while incarcerated... such as Games, Books, Music and Movies. These other services come with fees that you can pay for when you pay for phone service.

To learn more about Tablet Rentals for inmates, including the cost, all the services available and everything else you need to know, check out our Tablet Rental Page.


 

How Do You Visit an Inmate in Polk County Jail?

To visit an inmate in Polk County, whether by video or in person 'at the jail', follow these steps:

Other than 'at the jail' visits between you and your inmate, which is explained and outlined in detail on our Visit Inmate Page, Polk County remote video inmate visitation can be done using the services of GettingOut

There are three ways to remotely visit your inmate in Polk County Jail:
1.  Using the GettingOut Kiosk at the jail.
2. Using your computer from home.
3. Using your phone on the GettingOut apps.

To remotely visit an inmate in Polk County follow these steps:
1.  Start by confirming that Polk County Jail's Video Visitation is working correctly by looking up Polk County here.

2.  The next step is to create an account here for GettingOut.
3. Then add funds to your account.
4. Last, select Polk County Jail, and then the inmate you wish to communicate with.

Other Polk County Services provided by GettingOut:
 - Phone Calls & Voicemail 
 - Email, Photo & Video Sharing
-  Inmate Tablet Rental
-  Deposits

Customer Service
If you have any questions about the Polk County Jail Visitation Services you can call them at 866-516-0115.
Frequently Asked Questions

* All the information you need to have complete knowledge about inmate visitation; policies, rules, fees, schedules, tips, dress codes, and children, lawyers and clergy visitation in Polk County, can be found on our Visit Inmate Page.

Polk County Jail Phone: 715-485-8370


 

How to Deposit Money Online for an Inmate in Polk County

To deposit money online for an inmate in Polk County Jail follow these steps:

  • Register to open an account, or Sign In to JailATM, a service that acts as a bank for inmates in Polk County.
  • After registering and signing in, select 'Send Money Now'.
  • Choose Wisconsin, then choose Polk County Jail
  • Type in your inmate's last name or their Inmate ID.
  • Select your inmate.
  • Input an amount to deposit to your inmate in Polk County Jail, and then input your payment method. 
  • NOTE: There may be a limit on how much money you can send your inmate in Polk County at any one time.
  • If you need to phone customer support, call 877-810-0914.

For all information, tips and procedures for sending money to an inmate in Polk County Jail, or depositing money at the jail, over the phone or by mail, check out our Send Money Page for Polk County.


 

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