Polk County Jail

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The Polk County Jail is located at 40 Ward Street in Columbus, NC and is a medium security county jail operated by the Polk County Sheriff’s Department.

This site will tell you info about everything related to the Polk County Jail, such as how to locate an inmate at the Polk County Jail, the jail’s phone number and address, intake procedures and booking, how to find Polk County court records, and much, much more.

Top 10 Searches for Polk County Jail

1. Polk County Jail Information
2. Polk County Jail Inmate Search
3. Polk County Inmate Search in Columbus, NC
4. Polk County Jail Visitation Rules
5. Polk County Jail Visitation Hours
6. Discount Polk County Jail Inmate Calls
7. How to Send Inmate Care Packages to Polk County Jail
8. What is Inmate Commissary?
9. How to Send Money to an Inmate at Polk County Jail
10. How to Search Polk County Arrest Records

Introduction

This guide is designed to give info that you’ll need to make getting locked up a little less stressful. If you have specific questions, feel free to ask it, and also any comments or feedback that would be beneficial to others is appreciated.

Polk County Jail Inmate Search

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Who’s In Jail

The Polk County Jail Inmate Roster is a list of people who have been arrested and are in custody, which includes status, and visiting hours. You can also find info on anybody booked or released in the past 24 hour period. Prisoners are shown in alphabetical order by their last name. You will be able to get the information faster if you have the arrestee’s first and last name, date of birth, or inmate ID Number.

Polk County Jail Policies and Procedures

Intake Procedures

The jail intake process at the Polk County Jail is made up of each of the following steps:

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

First you must answer a number of questions, like your full legal name, address, birthdate and an emergency contact person, and also, you will also be asked about your psychological and medical history. Next, you’ll be given an inmate ID number and you will get fingerprinted. Then, all personal property will be taken from you and stored until you are released.

You will be allowed to make a phone call in order to contact family, friends, or loved one.

If you think you will get released quickly, they will let you wear your own clothes, but if you are not expected to make bail quickly you will be issued a jail issued jumpsuit.

Discharge Procedures

Once bail has been posted, you will get released from jail. Getting discharged from jail may take from 10 minutes to all day long. Or, simply, the quicker you post bail, the faster you will get discharged. Also, how fast you get released will depend on if you’ve been given a bond amount or if the judge still needs to determine the amount of bail to be set. For lesser charges, you will simply be booked and then released on your recognizance without having to pay bail. When you have completed your jail sentence and are given a date of your release, you should expect to get discharged in the morning.

Polk County Jail Visitation

In order to have visitors, inmates have to give information about each visitor to the Polk County Jail in advance of any visit. This information will be put into a Visiting log as an authorized visitor. Each visitor will have to provide acceptable photo identification. Visitors arriving late or that is not an approved visitor will not be allowed to attend visitation.

The Polk County Jail visitation procedures can change, so call the facility at (828) 894-3001 before you visit an inmate.

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Visitation Rules

In order to visit someone at the Polk County Jail you have to first be on their approved visitation list.

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

No mobile phones at Polk County Jail, and you will be searched. Personal belongings are not allowed. Anybody probation, parole, or other community corrections supervision must get the permission of both the superintendent and their individual supervising officer before they can visit. This kind of visitation is not going to be approved.

If a visitor is under the age of 18 is related to the inmate, they must be accompanied by an adult family member or guardian to include a member of the inmate’s extended family. If a visitor is younger than 18 years of age 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 in order to send letters, photos, postcards, greeting cards and magazines to an inmate at the Polk County Jail. Incoming and outgoing inmate mail at the Polk 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.

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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 Polk 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 Polk 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 think you have a warrant out for your arrest, you are able to check the arrest warrants on the website or you can call the court directly. This requires a first and last name. Or, you can just go down to the jail and ask them. Bear in mind that if you do have an outstanding warrant, you will be taken into custody immediately.

Arrest Record Search

If you know the person’s first and last name, and their arrest date, contact the Polk County jail, on the phone, go there in person, or check online. Arrest records 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 case file that includes a docket and any documents filed in the court case. You can access your court records online, or at Clerk of Court in the jurisdiction where the case was filed.

Criminal Records

Each state maintains a record of their state citizen’s criminal background. These online databases are all linked so you can track criminal histories from other states. You are able to go to county courthouse and make an inquiry, or you can check online. It is helpful to know the county the crime was committed in, and in the event that the crime was in a different state entirely, you may have to pay a fee for a more intensive search.

A criminal records search you will get a listing of all the arrests, charges, or convictions for any of the following crimes, drug crimes like possession or trafficking, kidnapping, rape or other sexual assault, violent crimes like assault or murder, or theft.

Money & Commissary

The procedure to send money to inmates at the Polk County Jail is likely to change, so visit the Polk County Jail site before you send money to an inmate.

How To Send Money to an Inmate at Polk 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 Polk County Jail uses changes frequently, so it is best to call them at (828) 894-3001 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 Polk 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 most likely want to buy things from the commissary daily, and any infractions will cause you to lose commissary privileges.

The Commissary will sell an assortment of different products that the inmate can buy if they have enough money in their trust account. These products include clothes, shoes, small snacks and other food items, as well as personal 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 Polk County Jail are made through a jail approved pre-paid phone account or phone card . Calls made in jail are generally more costly than phone calls made at home. Phone calls are restricted on when you can make phone calls, how long you can talk, and how often you can make calls, but bear in mind that you are just one of many people who want to talk to their loved ones. If you are disciplined for an infraction, an inmate’s ability to use the phone could be reduced or forbidden.

Phone Number: (828) 894-3001

How To Save Money on Inmate Calls

Correctional facility phone service companies have exclusive contracts at every facility that they operate the phone services for, which means that they they control the prices. The money these phone service providers make off of all of the inmate phone calls 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 Polk County Jail. The rates are posted and there are at least two pricing tiers based on where the inmate is calling. The following three factors will determine how much an inmate phone call will cost: 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 learning 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 significantly on inmate phone calls. In some cases, we will not be able to save you any money, and therefore we will not offer you an inmate calling number. In cases like this, the jail or prison has set their inmate calling prices so high that nobody can save you money.

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

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