Columbia Police Jail

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The Columbia Police Jail is located at 308 Locust Street in Columbia, PA and is a medium security police department jail operated by the Columbia Borough Police Department.

This site tells you information about everything you might need to know about the Columbia Police Jail, such as how to locate an inmate at the Columbia Police Jail, the jail’s address and phone number, intake procedures and booking, how to find Lancaster County court records, and more.

Top 10 Searches for Columbia Police Jail

1. Columbia Police Jail Information
2. Columbia Police Jail Inmate Search
3. Lancaster County Inmate Search in Columbia, PA
4. Columbia Police Jail Visitation Rules
5. Columbia Police Jail Visitation Hours
6. How To Save Money on Inmate Calls at Columbia Police Jail
7. Columbia Police Jail Care Packages
8. What is Inmate Commissary?
9. How to Send Money to an Inmate at Columbia Police Jail
10. How to Search Lancaster County Arrest Records

Introduction

This guide is meant to give information and tips that you’ll need to make going to jail a little less stressful. If you have a specific question, feel free to ask them, and any comments or tips that would be a benefit to others will be much appreciated.

Columbia Police Jail Inmate Search

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Who’s In Jail

The Columbia Police Jail Inmate Lookup is an online list of people currently in custody, including custody status, and times you can visit. Also, you can get the same information on anyone arrested and processed or released within the past 24 hour period. Inmates are shown in alphabetical order by their last name. You will be able to get the information more quickly if you’ve got the arrestee’s full name, birth date, or inmate ID.

Columbia Police Jail Policies and Procedures

Intake Procedures

The intake procedure at the Columbia Police Jail takes you through the following steps:

You will get put in a holding cell. If the jail is busy, you will have to wait, sometimes for many hours, before you get processed.

You must answer some basic questions, such as your legal name, your address, birth date and contact person, and you will also be asked about your psychological and medical history. Next, You will be given an inmate ID and you will get fingerprinted. Then, all of your personal property will get taken away from you and stored until you get discharged from jail.

They will allow you to use the phone in order to contact a family member, friend, or loved-on.

If you think you will get released quickly, you might be able to keep wearing your own clothes, if not you you will be given a jail issued jumpsuit.

Discharge Procedures

When you finally post bail, you will be discharged from jail. The discharge process may take from 15 minutes to hours or even all day long. So, the faster bail is posted, the faster you will get discharged. Also, how fast you get released might depend on whether or not you have a bond amount or if the magistrate needs to figure out the bail amount. For a minor offense, you will simply be booked and get released without having to post bail. When you have completed your jail sentence and are given a discharge date, you should plan to be released anywhere between the hours of 9am and 12pm.

Columbia Police Jail Visitation

Inmates need to give information about each visitor to the Columbia Police Jail before anyone can visit them. Your visitors will go into a Visiting log for the inmate. Each and every visitor has to provide proof of identification. Visitors that arrives for visitation late or that is not an approved visitor will not be allowed to visit the inmate.

Jail visitation policies are always changing, so make sure that you call the jail at 717-684-7735 before you try to go to visitation.

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Visitation Rules

To visit someone at the Columbia Police Jail you must first be on the inmate’s visitation list.

Make sure to bring your valid driver’s license or government issued ID when you go to visit or you will not be allowed to enter without it.

No mobile phones are allowed at Columbia Police Jail, and you will be searched before entering. Personal belongings are not allowed. Anyone under must obtain the permission of both their individual supervising officer and the superintendent prior to a visit. This kind of visitation is not normally approved.

If a visitor is under the age of 18 is related to the inmate, they will have to be accompanied by an adult family member or guardian to include a member of the inmate’s extended family. If the visitor is younger than 18 years old and is not a family member of the inmate, the minor visitor must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Sending Mail to Inmates

This is what you need to know about sending letters, photos, postcards, greeting cards and magazines to an inmate at the Columbia Police Jail. Incoming and outgoing inmate mail at the Columbia Police Jail is always searched and inspected for contraband that might threaten the security, safety or well-being of the facility, its staff, and inmates. Inmates can only receive metered, unstamped, plain white postcards no larger than 4″ x 6″ as mail. The writing on the postcard has to be in pencil or blue or black ink. If it has a stamp on it, it will get returned. If you write in green ink, then it will get returned. If you send any other kind of mail will be returned to the sender. If there is no return address on it, then the unauthorized mail will be stored in the inmate’s locker until the inmate gets release.

Do not include any of these things in the mail that you send to an inmate: any kind of threat to jail order, any description of the manufacture of weapons, bombs, incendiary devices, or tools for escape; do not encourage or advocate any kind of violence, hate speech, or racial or ethnic supremacy. Inmates are not allowed to write to other inmates.

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Sending Other Things to an Inmate

There are strict procedures that you must follow to send anything to an inmate at the Columbia Police Jail. This includes sending money for to spend in the commissary, sending regular mail or photos, sending money for phone calls, and even postcards.

This page covers everthing you need to know about the Columbia Police Jail to help you follow these procedures and guidelines. If you have questions, or there is something that you were looking for, but did not find, please contact us using the contact link in the site menu.

Public Records

Warrant Inquiry

If you have an outstanding warrant, you can check the court records on the Lancaster County court website or call the jail directly. This requires a first and last name. You can also go to the local jail and inquire at the information desk. You should know that if you do have an outstanding warrant, they will take you into custody immediately.

Arrest Record Search

If you know a person’s name, as well as the date of their arrest, contact the jail, by phone, in person, or find out online. Records of arrests are in the public record and this information is freely available.

Court Records

Court Records are public, and are accessible by anyone. They include a court case file containing a docket and any documents filed in the court case. You are able to access your court records online, or at Clerk of Court in the jurisdiction where the case was filed.

Criminal Records

Every state maintains records of their state citizen’s criminal history. These state databases are all linked so you can track criminal backgrounds from another state. Go to county courthouse and check in person, or check online. You must know which county the crime occured in, and if the crime was in a totally different state, you may have to pay for a more intensive search.

When you look up a person’s crminal records you will find out if a person has ever been arrested, charged or convicted for crimes, which include, drug Possession, kidnapping, rape or other sexual assault, violent crimes including assault, battery and murder, or property crimes like theft or larceny.

Money & Commissary

The rules for sending funds to Columbia Police Jail inmates are always changing, so we suggest that you visit the Columbia Police Jail site when you send money to an inmate.

How To Send Money to an Inmate at Columbia Police Jail

You will have your own ‘bank account’ while in jail. This money is used to purchase items from the Commissary. Family and friends can deposit money into this account for you, and any money you earn while in prison will also be deposited into your account. Outside money can be paid in to your account via a money order, cash or check. If someone sends a check or money order, make sure that they write your inmate ID on it. The maximum amount you are allowed in your account is $290 per month.

Guidelines For Sending Money To An Inmate

Before you send any money you should find out what online money transfer companies the jail your inmate is incarcerated in uses. The exact method that the Columbia Police Jail uses changes frequently, so it is best to call them at 717-684-7735 to get the current payment method.

You may be required to be on the inmate’s visitation list in order to send them money, and be aware that they may have a limit on how much you deposit at one time, like $200-300 at a time, or a limit on how much money may be in the inmate’s account at one time.

Some of the money transfer firms being used by various facilities include JPay, MoneyGram, AccessCorrections, OffenderConnect, Touchpayonline, JailATM, WU, smartdeposit, and tigercommissary.

If an inmate has fines or are required to pay restitution then they will be subject to garnishment of their commissary/trust account. If the inmate has a garnishment, then money to pay them will be taken from the inmate’s bank account. In some cases it may be a percentage or the entire amount of the obligation, but the actual percentage depends on the circumstances. We recommend that inmates talk to the counselor at their facility and try to find out. You can also try to make an arrangement so that only a percentage of your commissary funds are taken, instead of all your funds take at one time.

Commissary

The commissary is the Columbia Police Jail store. You can buy different things here, like personal items, food, and things for writing. Keep in mind that you will probably want to buy things from the commissary every day, and any infractions will cause you to lose commissary privileges.

The Commissary will sell a selection of different products that the inmate can buy if they have money in their account. These products include clothes, shoes, small snacks and other food items, as well as hygiene products like soap, shampoo, and disposable razors for shaving. The commissary also sells other things like books and magazines, televisions and radios, playing cards, headphones, MP3 players, and electronic tablets. They also sell everything need to write home to family, friends, and loved ones: paper, envelopes, and stamps. If an inmate is indigent and cannot afford paper and stamps, the jail will provide these things to an inmate who has not had any money in their commissary account for at least 30 days.

Phone Calls & Phone Usage Policy

Phone calls that inmates are allowed to make from the Columbia Police Jail are with a pre-paid phone card or account, or are collect calls . Phone calls made in jail are typically more costly than phone calls made outside of jail. Phone calls are restricted on when and how often you can use the phone, but inmates must keep in mind that every inmate wants to use the phone too, so they can call their family. If you break the jail rules, an inmate’s phone privileges may be limited or totally denied.

Phone Number: 717-684-7735

How To Save Money on Inmate Calls

Correctional facility phone service companies have exclusive contracts at each facility that they operate, which means that they they control how much it costs to make phone calls. The money these phone service providers make off of all of the phone calls that inmates make are split with the facility, so there is no incentive for the jail or the counselors at the facility to show inmates or their family how to save money on inmate phone calls at the Columbia Police Jail. The rates are posted and there are at least two types of prices based on where the inmate is calling. These three factors will determine the cost of an inmate phone call: Where you are located; Where your inmate is located, What type of phone number you have.

For example, if your inmate is in federal prison, if you get a new local number then this will decrease your inmate’s phone call rate from $.21 per minute to only $.06 per minute.

For the other correctional facilities like state prisons, and local and county jails finding out how to lower your inmates phone charges can be more difficult. ArrestedResources.com is an expert in keeping up with all of the changes that affect your inmate’s rate and in most cases is able to offer you an inmate calling number that will save you a lot of money on inmate phone calls. In some cases, we won’t be able to save you money on your inmate calls, and in these cases we will not offer you an inmate calling number. In cases like this, the jail has set their calling prices so high that nobody can save you money.

For more detailed information on how to save on inmate calls at Columbia Police Jail, click the link below.

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