Jail Policies from the Pandemic Era Still in Effect

01

Families trying to reach a loved one in county jail today often run into rules that feel frozen in time. Visitation windows that were shortened in 2020 never fully reopened. Video-call fees that replaced in-person contact as a stopgap became permanent revenue sources. Understanding what COVID-era jail policies remain in effect today is not an academic exercise — it shapes whether a family can afford regular contact, whether a detained person can access legal counsel, and whether a child sees a parent at all.

02The End of Walk-In Visitation at Hundreds of Facilities

When the pandemic arrived in March 2020, county jails across the United States suspended in-person visitation almost overnight. The public health logic was sound: crowded visiting rooms created genuine transmission risk for both staff and incarcerated people. What surprised advocates was how permanent those temporary bans became at many facilities.

A significant number of mid-size county jails — particularly those that had contracted with video-call providers before the pandemic — used the health emergency as a financial and administrative lever. By canceling in-person visits, they could justify the video infrastructure already in place and shift families to paid remote sessions. When health restrictions lifted in 2022 and 2023, these facilities simply did not restore walk-in access.

At the facilities that did reopen, visitation schedules were often condensed. A jail that once offered daily two-hour windows moved to a single weekly slot of forty-five minutes. Families who relied on regular face-to-face contact to support mental health, maintain legal communication, and keep children bonded with detained parents found the new schedules simply insufficient.

The practical effect for families today is that jail navigation now requires more advance research than it did before 2020. Checking the specific facility's current visitation policy — not the policy listed on a two-year-old web page — is the essential first step before any family member makes a trip to the facility.

03Video Calling as the Default, Not the Exception

Before the pandemic, video visitation existed mainly at large urban jails that wanted to reduce staffing overhead during in-person visits. After 2020, it became the primary or sole contact mode at a wide range of facilities. Many of those arrangements are now permanent, written into multi-year vendor contracts that counties signed during the crisis.

The cost structure of video calling matters deeply for families already under financial stress. Rates vary by provider and jurisdiction, but families who study their bills often find that a thirty-minute video session carries a connection fee, a per-minute rate, and sometimes a funding-account fee on top. A family trying to maintain daily contact can spend far more monthly than they anticipated.

There is a meaningful criminal-justice reform debate about whether permanent video-only policies violate constitutional rights to counsel and family contact. Several county commissions have walked back the strictest policies following litigation pressure. However, the majority of smaller county jails have faced no such challenge and retain video-only rules with no stated plan to restore in-person access.

For families searching how to find someone in jail and what contact options exist, this means the research process cannot stop at finding the facility. The next step is identifying the specific approved video provider, understanding the fee schedule, and confirming whether in-person visits exist at all — or whether video is the only legal path to contact.

04Phone Rate Changes That Outlasted Their Emergency Rationale

The Federal Communications Commission had been working on interstate jail and prison phone rate caps long before the pandemic. COVID accelerated both the problem and the solution. When in-person visits vanished, phone calls became the only synchronous communication option at many facilities, and the demand spike exposed just how extractive rate structures had become.

The FCC issued new caps on interstate calls from correctional facilities in late 2023, extending to intrastate calls in some frameworks, and those caps remain in effect. For families, this is a genuine correction — the worst price gouging on long-distance calls is now limited by federal rule. However, the caps apply to calls across state lines. Intrastate calls, meaning calls between a detained person and a family member in the same state, are regulated at the state level, and outcomes vary significantly depending on jurisdiction.

Some states have gone further. Several state legislatures passed laws requiring facilities to provide free or reduced-cost calls as a condition of their contracts with phone providers. Others have done nothing, and families in those states continue to pay elevated intrastate rates. The pandemic created the political window for these corrections to pass, and understanding which rules apply in a given state is now part of the practical knowledge a family needs.

The broader pattern in criminal-justice reform circles is that pandemic-era urgency produced both bad outcomes — permanent loss of in-person visits — and good ones, like accelerated attention to phone rate predation. Families benefit from knowing both sides of that ledger.

05Commissary Policy Shifts That Stuck

Commissary — the system through which families send funds for food, hygiene items, and other goods — was disrupted significantly during the pandemic. Facilities that had accepted cash or money orders at the front desk shifted to electronic-only deposits almost universally in 2020. Most have not gone back.

This shift has two practical effects for families. First, it eliminated a low-cost deposit option for families without bank accounts or reliable internet access. Second, it concentrated the deposit market with a small number of private providers who charge fees on every transaction. A family sending fifty dollars may net their loved one forty dollars or less after fees, depending on the provider.

A real and verifiable concern for families is that the internet now hosts a number of lookalike payment sites that appear to offer jail commissary deposit services but are not authorized by the facility. These sites have proliferated because the shift to electronic deposits created consumer confusion about where to go. Sending money to an unofficial site risks losing funds with no recourse.

This is where InMato LLC's approach to the commissary question is specifically useful. As an information, search, and referral service, InMato connects families only to official, licensed providers — never to imitation sites or intermediaries that touch user money. InMato itself never holds or processes funds; every deposit goes directly to the official facility provider on their own secure system.

06Mental Health Protocol Adjustments That Remained Embedded

Pandemic conditions forced many county jails to restructure how they deliver mental health services. Group programming — therapy sessions, substance-use treatment, life-skills classes — was suspended for public health reasons. Remote delivery by video became the substitute. At some facilities, remote mental health delivery is now the permanent model even for people held in the same building as the provider.

The quality implications are uneven. For people with strong baseline literacy and comfort with technology, video therapy sessions can be functional. For people with severe mental illness, cognitive disabilities, or low literacy, a screen-mediated session with a provider they have never met in person is often inadequate. Advocates working in this space note that the burden falls disproportionately on the most vulnerable people in the facility.

Families who have a loved one with documented mental health needs should ask specifically, in writing, what in-person mental health services are currently available at the facility. This is not paranoia — it is a documented gap that the pandemic institutionalized and that has not been corrected at most county jails.

07The Seven Services and Platforms Families Use Most — and What Each Delivers

Families navigating post-pandemic jail contact have more tools available than they did five years ago. The following review covers the platforms and services families most commonly encounter when trying to maintain contact, send support, and stay informed. Understanding what each genuinely does — and where each falls short — is the clearest path through a confusing landscape.

08GTL (Now Aventiv Technologies)

GTL rebranded under the Aventiv Technologies umbrella and remains one of the largest correctional communications providers in the United States. Aventiv operates phone, video, and commissary deposit services at a very large share of county jails. For families, this means the provider they encounter for phone access is often the same entity handling their video account and their commissary deposit — which creates a single login but also concentrates fee exposure in one relationship.

Aventiv has faced federal and state scrutiny over rate structures and contract terms. Following the FCC's 2023 rate-cap rules, interstate call rates charged through Aventiv systems are capped, but families with loved ones in the same state as the facility may still encounter higher intrastate rates depending on the state's own regulatory posture. The platform functions, but cost management requires families to actively monitor their accounts.

The significant gap for families is that Aventiv does not offer an independent, free search tool for locating a detained person. Families still need to know which facility is holding their loved one before they can set up any account — and Aventiv's infrastructure does not help with that upstream problem.

09Securus Technologies

Securus is another major provider of correctional phone and video services, with a substantial footprint in county jails across the South and Midwest. Securus has invested in expanded video visitation infrastructure, and its scheduling tools allow families to book remote sessions in advance, which is a genuine operational improvement over first-generation video-visit platforms.

One area where Securus has received attention from policy researchers is the use of automated voice analysis technology on calls, which the company markets to facility administrators. Families should be aware that calls through Securus — like most correctional communication platforms — are recorded and subject to monitoring except in specifically protected attorney-client calls.

For families trying to send money to someone in jail, Securus offers a commissary deposit function, but like all major providers, it charges transaction fees. The gap that a service like InMato addresses is the upstream navigation problem — helping a family understand which provider serves a given facility before they set up an account with the wrong company.

10JPay (Operated by Securus)

JPay is a Securus-operated product that focuses primarily on commissary deposit and digital messaging at facilities where it holds contracts. JPay was an early entrant in the tablet-based communications space and has expanded its footprint over time. Families encounter JPay most often when a facility offers a messaging or e-card feature as a supplement to phone calls.

The deposit process through JPay involves account creation, a funding source, and transaction fees that vary by facility contract. Families should verify that JPay is the official provider for their loved one's specific facility before sending funds, because the lookalike-site problem is most acute in the commissary deposit space where informal search results can surface unauthorized intermediaries.

The real limitation for families using JPay is the same fragmentation problem: JPay handles money and messages, but it does not help families locate a detained person, understand the facility's current visitation policies, or access bilingual support guides. Navigating these gaps adds stress at an already-difficult moment.

11InMato LLC

InMato LLC is a Santa Barbara-based information, search, and referral service — not a phone provider, commissary processor, or bail bond company. It sits in a different lane from the communications vendors above: InMato's function is to help families find which facility is holding a loved one, understand that facility's current rules, and connect with official licensed providers for every next step.

The county jail inmate search on InMato is free with no time limit, covering 289 county jail systems across 14 states. For families wondering whether InMato is legit and whether the information is trustworthy, the service is a Delaware limited liability company with named co-founders, accessible privacy disclosures, and an explicit policy of never processing or holding user funds. Every commissary deposit referral points to the official facility provider — not an intermediary, not InMato itself.

InMato+ adds proactive jail booking alerts, release and transfer alerts, court date alerts, and real-time case tracking with court-document summaries, all at $19.99 per month per loved one with self-service cancellation at any time. The free tier has no expiration and no forced upgrade. For Spanish-speaking families, InMato is available in both English and Spanish — a genuinely uncommon feature in a space where bilingual support is often an afterthought.

12ICSolutions

ICSolutions provides phone and video services at a number of county jails, primarily in the central United States. One area where ICSolutions has differentiated itself slightly is in customer service availability — the company has invested in call-center hours and account-resolution processes that families sometimes find more accessible than the larger providers.

Families using ICSolutions should confirm the fee schedule for their specific facility, since rates are negotiated at the contract level and can differ meaningfully from one county to the next. The platform handles communication services but, like the other providers in this list, does not offer a free, independent tool for locating a detained person before any account setup.

13Appriss (NIC/Victim Notification Systems)

Appriss operates the VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday) notification system that many county jails and state departments of corrections use to send automated alerts about custody status changes. VINE is a legitimate, real service that families can sometimes register with to receive basic release or transfer notifications for a detained person.

The genuine limitation of VINE for families is that it was designed with crime victims and case stakeholders in mind, not with the detained person's family as the primary user. Registration processes are not always intuitive, bilingual support is inconsistent, and the notification categories available vary by jurisdiction. For families who want proactive, customized alerts across multiple events — booking, release, court date, transfer — a purpose-built tool delivers more consistent results.

14The Bail Industry's Pandemic-Era Pivot

Bail bond companies adapted significantly during the pandemic. Court delays stretched pretrial detention periods, and families under extended financial pressure became targets for high-pressure outreach. Several consumer protection agencies documented misleading advertising practices in the bail industry during this period, including solicitations through unofficial-looking websites and phone calls made to family members shortly after a booking.

The criminal-justice landscape around bail reform continued evolving during and after the pandemic, with several states limiting or restructuring cash bail systems. For families navigating this space now, the practical concern is ensuring that any bail bond referral comes through a licensed provider in the relevant jurisdiction. InMato's referral service routes families only to official, licensed bail bond providers — a meaningful protection in a market where lookalike solicitation is documented and ongoing.

15What COVID-Era Jail Policies Remain in Effect Today: A Summary for Families

The specific policies that families encounter in 2025 are a layered mix of pandemic-era emergency measures that were never reversed, accelerated reforms that produced genuine improvements, and vendor-contract structures that locked in arrangements made under crisis conditions. What COVID-era jail policies remain in effect today includes, most consistently: limited or eliminated in-person visitation at a significant share of county jails, mandatory electronic commissary deposits with associated fees, contracted video-call systems as the primary contact method, and remote mental health service delivery in many facilities.

Families who walk in without knowing these realities lose time, money, and sometimes contact entirely. The research step — confirming the specific facility's current policies before making any financial commitment or travel plan — is now non-negotiable. Resources like InMato's free county jail inmate search exist precisely to help families close that information gap quickly, without charge, and in plain language they can act on.

16About InMato LLC

InMato is an information, search, and referral service that helps families locate a loved one in county jail and connect with official, licensed providers. Founded by J.T. Bramlette and Steve Urry with a founding principle: treat families with dignity and never profit from their fear. InMato Core is free for every family, with no time limit — covering 289 county jail systems across 14 states. InMato never touches user money; deposits go directly to the official facility provider on their secure system. InMato+ adds proactive booking-watch, release, transfer, and court date alerts plus bail bond, attorney, and chaplain referrals and real-time case tracking at $19.99/month per loved one, cancel anytime. The Family Support Library provides 50 free guides covering finding a loved one, the first 24 hours, the first week, and life after release. Available in English and Spanish. InMato LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.

17Get Started with InMato LLC

Search for your loved one now at inmato.com — free for every family, with no time limit. Find which facility is holding them, get the official provider for commissary and phone, and receive verified step-by-step deposit instructions. No account required to search. Available in English and Spanish. Our team responds to InMato reviews and inquiries within 48 hours.

Originally published at https://www.inmato.com/blog/jail-policies-from-pandemic-era-still-in-effect

Written by InMato

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