Visiting the Durango Jail, Maricopa County Arizona

We went to visit our friend at Durango Jail yesterday. This was the first time I myself went back to visit, I've been letting my roomie visit while I sat out in the waiting room or in the car. I just didn't want to go back there. Also, there is a sign on the window where you sign in and they take your driver's license and check to see if there are any Wants or Warrants out for you. For some reason, as ridiculous as it sounds, I had this strange anxiety that they'd run my license and then I'd get arrested. Then, I guess I could get a really up-close-and-personal exposure to the Maricopa Jail experience.

Of course, that didn't happen, I registered for my visit without any problems or surprise arrests.

So after all these weeks, I finally know what happens when you actually visit.

• When you visit, if you don't have someone that can hold your stuff for you, plan to leave everything in the car except for your car key, your ID and 2 quarters.
• You are called by name to the door, where you are reminded that you can't have on any belts, earings, jewelry, hair ties, bracelets, short pants (shorter than your lower thighs), etc. You also can't have any kind of jacket/sweater/coat with a hood or a zipper. No sleeveless shirts or shirts with plunging necklines.
• You are allowed to bring back one single key.
• Everything else has to be locked up in a locker or returned to your car.
• Once you are allowed past the door, you pass through a metal detector.
• Then you go back into a large room with, oh, about 40 tables (about the size as what you would see at a fast food restaurant). Each table has a double-width chair on each side (again, same as you'd find at a fast food restaurant).
• On one side of the table is the prisoner, in striped black-and-white prison garb. His hands are handcuffed at the wrist and attached to the table. His ankles are also chained.
• Across the table is a 4-inch tall wood barrier. Prisoner and visitor(s) are not allowed to reach over the barrier.
• No touching, kissing, hugging, holding of children, passing of any items whatsoever from visitor to prisoner.
• Children can visit with the parent but they can't be running around the place, they have to remain seated and have to behave well enough to be in control during the visit.
• Even though the visits have been for 30 minutes, we notice the guards have let visits last as long as 45 minutes.
• At the end of the visit, a guard comes up and taps the table with his/her fingers and tells you "time's up" and you leave.

Other interesting facts I learned about life in the jail:

• Durango Jail was originally built as a mental institution, and there is currently some litigation going on because the facility is filled with asbestos and lead paint.
• Prisoners are housed in "pods" with 16 prisoners per pod. There are no locked doors or bars separating the pods.
• Prisoners can walk around at their leisure but must be in their cots for "body count" for an hour each night.
• Guards (both male and female) walk around the pods every 12 minutes.
• To use the commissary, prisoners place an order for miscellaneous items on Sunday for the following week.
• Sodas are about $1.50, which I thought was pretty reasonable since I've paid as much as $2.50 in high-priced hotels. However, sodas are warm and they don't have access to ice.
• There is a network where prisoners share their books that they've bought from the commissary.
• There's no way for a prisoner to call a phone number without using a long distance per-minute account. So even if you have a local non-cellular land line, they can't call it without spending about 25 cents/minute.

Comments

[amanda]

first of all this is a jail not a prison. and second of all not everyone in here did a horrible crime as MATT and iselaur74@yahoo.com assume. my boyfriend is in durango for unpaid tickets from when he was not able to find work. just regular traffic tickets that he could not afford to pay.

[Erik]

I was in Durango and I was one of the only people getting mail. Try www.jailybird. com-- they let you buy postcards that meet their strict requirements.... and getting mail definitely helped.

[Ana-Marie Young]

My husband is in there right now i have not heard from him and im kinda worried i have heard all kinds of bad things about durango. And why can u only send post cards thats crap and where do you get the post cards and how many can u send at once?

[cathy]

Yes my son is in jail. He is not a bad person he has a drug and alchol problem. I am hoping that this experience is enough to keep him from ever picking up a drug or drink again. My son is full of promise but with his addiction he is ruining his life. If you feel so inclined please pray for "Scott"

[Valerie Moldenauer]

What happened to innocent until proven guilty? People waiting for trial are kept in Durango and the only priority seems to be how can we make money from the loved ones of those that are housed there.

My boyfriend has been there for four months and the prosecution has not even filed charges they keep getting continuances.
His fingernails are now over an inch and a half long and he has been on the waiting list to use a pair of nail clippers for over a month. Recently found out he is number 300 on the request list. Lets just top that off that if he ever gets the clippers he has to pay a 10 dollar fee to use them.

[Heather]

my baby is in there too! poor thing. how do u get in contact with the chaplan?? i was on the phone for two hours just to find out what to make the post card out to? crazy

[matt]

I have to agree with iselaur74. Inmates are in jail because of a crime has been comited. I read "my poor boyfriend or my poor son" They are locked up because they can not follow the rules. If you were on the recieving end of the crime you would be saying thank goodness they caught and locked him up.

[erick talamantes]

hola yo estube en esa carcel y la verdad hay muchos abusos por parte del los d o.. fue una experiencia de 7 1/2
meses y fue lo peor..le agradesco de todo corazon a las personas q dan el programa celebrando la recuperacion..a cruz y lorren es de lo pero esa prision y deberian de cerrarla..

[Sophia Fire]

Very informative. Thank you! I have never been inside a jail, but plan to visit Durango Jail to render spiritual support to an acquaintance in need. This article was indeed helpful.

[iselaur74@yahoo.com]

funny how every complains about going down to the jail BUT i dont read about the crimes the loved ones commited "if your there is because they dont care about anyone but themselves "!
ITS JAIL not the HOLIDAY INN
DONT DO THE CRIME IF YOU CANT FREAKEN DO THE TIME ! suck it up........

[Erika]

yeah my guy is in there right now. Poor man. His ex wife is not the nicest. Anyways he sayd people are always sick and that food is border line "rotton", I feel so bad for him. What is the scoop with the phone calls. They pay a bill aside from us who recieve it?

[bebe]

that is all prisons my dear