Tompkins County Jail

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The Tompkins County Jail is located at 779 Warren Road in Ithaca, NY and is a medium security county jail operated by the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Department.

This guide tells you information about everything you might want to know about the Tompkins County Jail, such as how to locate an inmate, the jail’s address and phone number, intake procedures, court information, and more.

Top 10 Searches for Tompkins County Jail

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

Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to offer information and advice you need to make helping a friend or family member get out of jail easier. If you have questions, feel free to ask them, and also any comments or tips that could be beneficial to other people in the same situation will be welcome.

Tompkins County Jail Inmate Search

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Who’s In Jail

The Tompkins County Jail Inmate List is a list of individuals who are in jail, including status, and times the inmate can have visitors. Also, you can find information about anyone arrested and booked or discharged within the past 24 hours. Inmates are shown in alphabetical order by last name. You’ll be able to get their inmate information quicker if you have their full name, birth date, or inmate ID Number.

Tompkins County Jail Policies and Procedures

Intake Procedures

The jail intake procedure at the Tompkins County Jail includes each of these steps:

You will be placed in a waiting area or cell. If there are a lot of arrests, it will take a while to get processed.

First you have to answer some simple questions, such as what is your full legal name, address, birthdate and contact person, and they’ll also ask about your mental and medical history. Next, you’ll be given an inmate number and you will be fingerprinted. Then, any personal property you have will get taken away from you and stored until you are released.

They will let you use the telephone so you can talk to a member of your family, friend, or loved one.

If you think you will get released quickly, you might be able to keep wearing street clothes, but if you are not expected to make bail quickly you you will have to change into a jumpsuit.

Discharge Procedures

When you finally post bail, you will get released from jail. This process will take anywhere from 30 minutes to all day long. Or, simply, the quicker bail is posted, the sooner you will be freed. It also might depend on if you have a cash bond amount or if a magistrate needs to decide on the amount of bail to be set. For minor charges, you will be booked and released on your own recognizance. When you have served your sentence and have a release date, plan to be released at any time that day – but usually in the morning.

Tompkins County Jail Visitation

To have visitors, you have to give each visitor’s name to the Tompkins County Jail in advance of any visit. Your visitor’s information will be entered into a log of approved visitors as an authorized visitor. All visitors must provide a photo ID when visiting. Anyone showing up late or without a visiting order will not be allowed to attend visitation.

Visitation procedures are always changing, so call the jail at (607) 257-5316 before you try to go to visitation.

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Visitation Rules

To visit someone at the Tompkins County Jail you have to first have your name on this person’s visitation list.

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

No mobile phones are allowed at Tompkins County Jail, and you will be searched before you can visit. Personal belongings are not allowed. Anybody currently on must get the permission of both their individual supervising officer and the superintendent prior to a visit. Such visitation is not approved.

If the visitor is younger than 18 years of age and is a family member of 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 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 Tompkins County Jail. Incoming and outgoing inmate mail at the Tompkins 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 Tompkins 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 Tompkins 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 an outstanding warrant for your arrest, you can check the arrest warrants inquiry online or you can call the jail. You have to have their first and last name. Or, you can just go the jail in person and inquire at the information desk. You should know that if there is an arrest warrant out for you, you should be prepared to get taken into custody immediately.

Arrest Record Search

If you know the person’s first and last name, and the date of their arrest, contact the jail, by phone, in person, or find out online. Arrest records are in the public record and these records are accessible by the public.

Court Records

Court Records are public, and are accessible by anyone. Court Records include a court case file that includes a docket sheet and any documents and filings filed in your case. You can access court records via the internet, or at the Tompkins County Clerk of Court in the county where the case was filed.

Criminal Records

Each and every state maintains a record of someone’s criminal past. These online databases are all linked and you can track criminal backgrounds from other states. Go to county courthouse and check in person, or check online. It helps to know the county, and if it was in a completely different state, you might have to pay for a more intensive search.

A criminal records search you will get a report detailing any arrests, charges, or convictions that may be on a person’s record for these crimes, drug Possession of drug trafficking, kidnapping, sexual offenses including rape, assault, violent crimes including assault, battery and murder, or theft, breaking and entering.

Money & Commissary

The procedure to send funds to people in jail can change at any time, so double check the Tompkins County Jail site before you send funds to an inmate.

How To Send Money to an Inmate at Tompkins 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 Tompkins County Jail uses changes frequently, so it is best to call them at (607) 257-5316 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 Tompkins County Jail store. You can buy different things here, such as personal items, food, and things for writing. Bear in mind that you will probably need 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 items that the inmate can buy if they have sufficient funds in their commissary account. These products include clothes, shoes, small snacks and other food items, in addition to 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 Tompkins County Jail are made through a jail approved pre-paid phone account or phone card . These phone calls are typically more costly than regular phone calls. There is no limit to when and how often you can use the phone, but inmates must keep in mind that there are a limited number of phones, so all the inmates must share phone time. If you are under any sort of disciplinary procedure, phone privileges might get reduced or eliminated altogether.

The Tompkins County Jail phone number is: (607) 257-5316

How To Save Money on Inmate Calls

Correctional facility phone service providers have exclusive contracts at every facility that they operate the phone services for, which means that they get to set the prices. The money these phone service providers make from all inmate phone calls are shared 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 Tompkins County Jail. The prices are posted and there are at least two types of prices based on where the inmate is calling. The following three things 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 finding out how to decrease 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 a lot of money on calling your inmate. There are some prisons or jails 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 phone rates so high that nobody can save you money.

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

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