Jails are the oldest of all institutions used for the detention of law violators. Their original function was the pretrial detention of persons charged with committing a crime. Later, they came into use for the service of short sentences. Today, most jails continue in a dual role as places of confinement for persons awaiting court action and convicted offenders serving short sentences.
The Corrections Division of the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for the operation of the Saratoga County Correctional Facility (jail). The facility has a capacity of 255 inmates and employs 80 correctional staff members. Staff are sworn New York State peace officers. The purpose of the Corrections Division is to provide for the adequate care, custody, treatment, and supervision of all persons committed to the custody of the Sheriff.
Visitation
Visitation Hours
Hours scheduled for visitation are listed by the inmate’s housing unit and cell assignment below. It is the responsibility of the inmate to inform visitors of their assigned unit and associated times of visitation. Visitors are encouraged to arrive at the facility 30 minutes prior to the start of visitation for identification and processing. Visitors are accepted until 10 minutes prior to the beginning of the posted visitation time. After this point, no additional visitors will be accepted.
VISITATION RULES ARE ALSO POSTED IN THE LOBBY OF OUR FACILITY.
Video Visits
Inmate Correspondence
All mail sent to an inmate shall be addressed in the following manner:
(Full Name of Inmate)
Saratoga County Correctional Facility
6010 County Farm Road
Ballston Spa, NY 12020
Any cash you send to an inmate will be deposited in their commissary account. There is a $20 maximum. Money orders, personal checks, and any cash over the $20 maximum will not be deposited and will be returned to you.
Packages
The following items are permitted in a package:
One set of court clothes and shoes
Religious material (soft covered)
Absolutely No Food Items
Printed Material and Publications
Any printed material or publication (including newspapers) you wish to send to an inmate must be mailed directly from the publisher via USPS, UPS, or Fed Ex. However, books from companies like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart, etc., may be accepted.
The Saratoga County Correctional Facility has the authority to censor any publication when it is determined that such material or publication threatens the safety, security, and good order of the facility.
Commissary
Inmates can order commissary once a week. There are many kinds of items they can order such as hygiene products, writing materials, clothing, sneakers, food, snacks and more. Funding for such items can be deposited into an inmate’s commissary account by utilizing any of the following:
Kiosk: located in the visitor lobby at the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office
Securepak is another option for supplying an inmate with hygiene products, writing materials, clothing, sneakers, food, snacks, and more. Once per month family members can go to: https://www.accesscatalog.com/shop/index.html?ProgramID=588 or telephone (800) 546-6283 and select items for purchase. These orders will be filled during the first full week of each month and delivered to the inmate.
Bail / Bond
Bail may be posted at the facility at any time. Bail must be in the form of cash, certified bank check, or credit card for the exact amount. If bail is posted by certified check, it must be made payable to:
SARATOGA COUNTY SHERIFF JEFFREY R. BROWN
No personal or business checks can be used for bail. Bail may also be posted through the services of a bail bondsman of your choice.
Facility Clearance
Members of the clergy or program volunteers whom wish to access the facility for the purpose of providing services must receive clearance prior to such access. For further information regarding facility clearance, contact Sgt. Brian Smith at (518) 885-2442.
Telephone
TELEPHONE CALLS TO THE FACILITY
This facility does not accept incoming messages for incarcerated individuals. All calls for inmates are outgoing collect calls only. The only incoming phone calls that will be accepted are those from legal counsel and in the case of family emergencies such as a serious injury or death in an inmate’s family.
INMATE TELEPHONE SYSTEM
All phone calls outgoing from this facility will be recorded with the exception of phone calls that are privileged or restricted (e.g., attorney calls).
GENERAL CONSUMER PROTECTION INFORMATION
Be wary of inmate calls that request you to dial *72 followed by a new 10-digit number. Completing this request will result in the forwarding of your telephone number to a number of the inmate´s choosing, and all calls to your true telephone number will be automatically forwarded to the new number without your knowledge. The only way to reverse the forwarding of calls to a new number is to dial *73.
Destination Prepay
A service for family and friends, family members and friends of inmates can set up an ADVANCEPAY® prepaid calling account for their respective telephone numbers. Calls that may otherwise be blocked can now be completed through GTL’s ADVANCEPAY® program.
How Does It Work?
ADVANCEPAY® allows inmates to call your number without the restrictions of standard billing. When an inmate attempts to make a collect call to you and your number cannot accept collect call billing, the ADVANCEPAY® automated operator will provide you with the option of setting up a prepaid account with a Visa or MasterCard payment of either $25 or $50. If you do so at this time, you will be re-connected to the inmate and the cost of this call will be deducted from your newly established ADVANCEPAY® account. If you cannot establish an ADVANCEPAY® account at that time, the inmate will be disconnected and you can call (800) 483-8314 to establish an ADVANCEPAY® account at a later time.
Benefits: Customers can rest assured that collect call charges will not reach an excessive amount.
When your ADVANCEPAY® account reaches the point where it cannot cover the cost of a one minute call, the system will automatically provide you the option to add more money to your account.
All transactions occur in real time. When an inmate places a call to a number set up with an ADVANCEPAY® account, funds are deducted from the account as soon as the call is completed.
If you would like to close your ADVANCEPAY® account and request a refund of any remaining balance, you must notify GTL within 90 days of the account’s last use. An administrative fee of $5 will be deducted from the remaining balance before refund to cover the cost of the account closure. Accounts that remain inactive for more than 90 days are automatically dissolved.
SARATOGA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE ACCEPTS CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS FOR CASH BAIL PAYMENTS
As of May 20, 2014, the Corrections Division accepts credit and debit cards for cash bail payments through GovPayNet. By clicking on the link you will be directed to the GovPayNet site. You will enter the defendant’s first and last name with middle initial, defendant’s date of birth, permanent criminal history number, and name of court authorizing bail and follow the instructions in processing your payment.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE CARD HOLDER:
If you are using the remote bail option, the receipt for bail will be made out to the defendant. This means that the funds (minus the service fee) being paid by way of your credit card WILL BECOME THE PROPERTY OF THE DEFENDANT.
All funds released by the court when the case is disposed of can only be collected by the defendant. It will then be your responsibility to obtain the funds from the defendant.
Click the image below to be taken to the GovPayNet secure server.
HALT
9NYCRR 7076.7 (c) – Recordkeeping and Reporting
Each facility shall publish monthly reports on its website, with semi-annual and annual cumulative reports, of the total number of people who are in segregated confinement on the first day of each month. The reports shall provide a breakdown of the number of people in segregated confinement […]
