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Clay County Jail Information

Address

Clay County Jail
409 1st Avenue West
Spencer, IA 51301

Phone Number

Phone Number: (712) 264-4242

The Clay County Jail is located at 409 1st Avenue West in Spencer, IA and is a medium security county jail operated by the Clay County Sheriff’s Department.

This guide tells you info about anything related to the Clay County Jail, like how to locate an inmate, the jail’s phone number and address, booking and intake procedures, court information, and much much more.

Introduction

This guide is designed to give information and tips that you’ll need to make helping a friend or family member get out of jail a lot easier. If you have specific questions, please feel free to ask them, and any tips or comments that might help other people in the same situation would be welcome.

Clay County Jail Inmate Search

Do you have a friend or family member that has gone to jail and want to contact them? Do you know a family member or friend who’s been arrested and you want to find them?

To look up who’s in jail at the Clay County Jail you should use the search form.

Inmate Search

First Name

Last Name

State

Who’s In Jail

The Clay County Jail Inmate Locator has information about individuals currently in custody, which includes custody status, and visiting hours. You can also get the same information about anybody processed or released within the past 24 hours. Inmates are shown in alphabetical order by their last name. You’ll be able to get their arrest information faster if you’ve got your friend or family member’s first and last name, birth date, or inmate ID.

Clay County Jail Policies and Procedures

Intake Procedures

The intake process at the Clay County Jail includes the following steps:

You will be placed in a waiting area or cell. When the jail is busy, you will have to wait, sometimes for many hours, before you get processed.

You have to answer some questions, like your legal name, address, date of birth and an emergency contact, and they’ll also ask about your medical and psychological history. Next, you will be issued an inmate number and your fingerprints will be taken. Then, Any property you have will get taken away from you and stored until you are released.

You will be allowed to use the phone to call a member of your family, friend, or loved one.

If they expect that you will make bail and be released quickly, you might get to wear your own clothes, otherwise you you will have to wear a jumpsuit.

Discharge Procedures

When you pay your bail, you will get released from jail. This process will take anywhere between 30 minutes to all day long. In simple terms, the quicker you post bail, the quicker you will be freed. It also can depend on if you’ve been given a cash bond or if a magistrate still needs to determine your bail amount. For a minor offense, you will simply be booked and get released without having to post bail. When you have served out your jail sentence and are given a discharge date, expect to get released anywhere between the hours of 9am and 12pm.

Clay County Jail Visitation

To have visitors, you must give each visitor’s full name to the Clay County Jail in advance. This information will go into a log of approved visitors as an authorized visitor. Each and every visitor has to provide a photo ID when visiting. Any visitors that gets to visitation or that is not on the visitation list will not be allowed to visit the inmate.

Visitation procedures at Clay County Jail can change, so you should call the jail at (712) 264-4242 before you try to go to visitation.

Visiting Hours

Day	Visiting Hours
Monday	9:00am – 5:00pm
Tuesday	9:00am – 5:00pm
Wednesday	9:00am – 5:00pm
Thursday	9:00am – 5:00pm
Friday	9:00am – 5:00pm
Saturday	9:00am – 5:00pm
Sunday	9:00am – 5:00pm

Visitation Rules

In order to visit an inmate at the Clay County Jail you have to first have your name on their approved visitation list.

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

No phones at Clay County Jail, and you will be searched. No personal belongings. Persons parole, probation, or other corrections supervision must obtain the permission of both the superintendent and their individual supervising officer prior to a visit. This kind of visitation is not normally approved.

If the visitor is under the age of 18 and is a family member of 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, this visitor must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Sending Mail to Inmates

This is what you need to know in order to send letters, photos, postcards, greeting cards and even magazines to an inmate at the Clay County Jail. Incoming and outgoing inmate mail at the Clay County 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.

Mailing Address

If you would like to send a letter to an inmate at Clay County Jail, use this address:

Clay County Jail
409 1st Avenue West
Spencer, IA 51301

Here is how you should address the letter:

[INMATE’S FULL NAME]
[INMATE ID]
Clay County Jail
409 1st Avenue West
Spencer, IA 51301

The Clay County Jail inmate mail policy changes often, so you should visit the site when you send a letter to an inmate.

Sending Other Things to an Inmate

There are strict procedures that you must follow to send anything to an inmate at the Clay County 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 Clay County 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 believe you have an outstanding warrant for your arrest, you can find out by checking the court records online or you can call the jail directly. You have to have their first and last name. Or, you can just go down to the jail and ask one of the officers. You should be clear that there is an outstanding warrant for your arrest, you should be prepared to get taken into custody immediately.

Arrest Record Search

If you know the person’s first and last name, and their arrest date, contact the jail, on the phone, go there in person, or look online. An arrest is in the public record and these records are available to anyone.

Court Records

Court Records are public records. They include a court case file that includes a docket sheet and all of the filings and documents filed in your court case. You can access court records on their website, or at Clerk of Court where the case was filed.

Criminal Records

Each state maintains a record of a person’s criminal history. These databases are all connected so you are able to track criminal histories from any other state. You are able to go to courthouse and inquire, or you can check online. It is helpful to know the county, and if the crime was in a different state entirely, you might have to pay for a more intensive search.

A search of someone’s criminal history you are able to get a report detailing any arrests, charges, or convictions that may be on a person’s record for any of the following crimes, drug crimes like possession or trafficking, kidnapping, rape or other sexual assault, violent crimes, or theft.

Money & Commissary

The process for sending funds to people in jail could change, so you should double check the Clay County Jail website before you send any money.

How To Send Money to an Inmate at Clay County 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 Clay County Jail uses changes frequently, so it is best to call them at (712) 264-4242 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 inmateâ€™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 Clay County Jail store. An inmate can buy a number of things here, such as personal items, food, and things for writing. Keep in mind that you will probably need to buy things from the commissary on a daily basis, and any infractions will cause you to lose commissary privileges.

The Commissary will sell an assortment of different products that inmates can purchase if they have sufficient funds in their commissary account. These products include clothes, shoes, small snacks and other food items, in addition to personal hygiene products including 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 Clay County Jail are collect calls or through a pre-paid phone account . Jail phone calls are a lot pricier than phone calls made at home. There is no limit to when and how often you can use the phone, but you should keep in mind lots of people want to use the phone – so you have to share. If you break the rules, phone privileges may be limited or cut altogether.

The Clay County Jail phone number is: (712) 264-4242

How To Save Money on Inmate Calls

Correctional facility phone service providers have a monopoly at every facility that they are the exclusive phone provider for, which means that they get to set the prices. The profits off of all 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 Clay County Jail. The rates are posted and there are at least two different prices based on where the inmate is calling. These three things 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 state prisons and local jails finding out how to lower your inmates phone charges can be more difficult. ArrestedResources.com keeps up to date 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 significantly on how much it costs you to call your inmate. There are some circumstances where we will not be able to save you money on your inmate calls, and in these cases we will not offer you an inmate calling number. In these cases, the jail or prison has set their inmate calling prices in a way that nobody will be able to save you money.

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

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