Van Buren County Jail

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The Van Buren County Jail is located at 205 South Kalamazoo Street in Paw Paw, MI and is a medium security county jail operated by the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department.

This guide will tell you all the information about everything a person needs to know about the Van Buren County Jail, like how to find an inmate at the Van Buren County Jail, the jail’s address and phone number, intake procedures and booking, court information and records, and lots more.

Top 10 Searches for Van Buren County Jail

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

Introduction

This guide is meant to give you information and tips that you need to make helping a friend or family member get out of jail easier. If you have a question, just ask them, and please leave any comments or tips that would be beneficial to others will be much appreciated.

Van Buren County Jail Inmate Search

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Who’s In Jail

The Van Buren County Jail Inmate Lookup is an online list of individuals who have been arrested, which includes custody status, and times you can visit. You can get info for anybody who has been arrested or released within the past 24 hours. Inmates are listed alphabetically by last name. You will be able to get their inmate information quicker if you’ve got the arrestee’s first and last name, date of birth, or arrest number.

Van Buren County Jail Policies and Procedures

Intake Procedures

The intake procedure at the Van Buren County Jail takes you through these steps:

They’ll put you in a holding cell. When the jail is busy, it will take a while to get processed.

First, you must answer a bunch of questions, like your full name, street address, birthdate and a contact person, and they’ll also ask about your mental and medical history. Next, You will be given an inmate ID number and your fingerprints will be taken. Then, all personal property will get taken away from you and stored until you get released from jail.

You will be allowed to use the phone to get in touch with a family member, friend, or loved-on.

If they expect that you will make bail and be released quickly, they will let you skip the jumpsuit and keep wearing your own clothes, but if you are not expected to make bail quickly you you will have to wear a jail issued jumpsuit.

Discharge Procedures

Once you are able to post bail, you will be allowed to go home after you get discharged. Getting discharged will take anywhere from 10 minutes to all day. Or, simply, the faster you can pay your bail, the sooner you will get let go. Also, how fast you get released depends on whether you have a bond amount or if the magistrate needs to figure out the amount of bail to be set. For lesser charges, you will be booked and get released without having to post bail. When you get to the end of your sentence and have a date of your release, expect to get discharged at any time that day – but usually in the morning.

Van Buren County Jail Visitation

To have visitors, you need to give information about each visitor to the Van Buren County Jail in advance of any visit. Your visitor’s information will be entered into a log of approved visitors for the inmate. Every visitor is required to provide a photo ID when visiting. Any visitors showing up late or that is not on the visitation list will not be allowed to visit the inmate.

The Van Buren County Jail visitation procedures are always changing, so make sure that you call the official Van Buren County Jail at (269) 657-2171 before you try to go to visitation.

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Visitation Rules

Before you can visit someone at the Van Buren County Jail you have to be added to their approved visitation list.

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

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

If a visitor is under the age of 18 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 in order to send letters, photos, postcards, greeting cards and even magazines to an inmate at the Van Buren County Jail. Incoming and outgoing inmate mail at the Van Buren 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 Van Buren 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 Van Buren 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 have a warrant out for your arrest, you are able to check the arrest warrants on the Van Buren County jail website or call the jail. You have to have their first and last name. You can also go to the local jail and ask them. Bear in mind that if there is a 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 Van Buren County jail, by phone, go there in person, or look online. Arrest records are public record and this is available to anyone.

Court Records

Court Records are considered public records, so they are accessible to anyone who requests them. These records include a court case file that contains a docket and all filings and documents filed in your case. You can access court records via the internet service ‘Public Access to Court Electronic Records’, or at Clerk of Court office where the case was filed.

Criminal Records

Every state maintains records of a person’s criminal history. These databases are linked together so you are able to track criminal histories from any other state. You are able to go to the Van Buren County Courthouse and inquire, or you can check online. You must know which county the crime occured in, and in the event that the crime was in a totally different state, you might have to pay for a more intensive search.

When you look up someone’s criminal record you will be able to find out if someone has been arrested, charged, or convicted for any of the following crimes, drug offenses, kidnapping, rape or other sexual assault, violent crimes like assault or murder, or breaking and entering, theft, larceny.

Money & Commissary

The procedure to send money to someone in jail at the Van Buren County Jail is likely to change, so review the Van Buren County Jail website when send funds to someone in jail there.

How To Send Money to an Inmate at Van Buren 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 Van Buren County Jail uses changes frequently, so it is best to call them at (269) 657-2171 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 Van Buren County Jail store. An inmate can buy different things here, like toiletries, snacks and writing supplies. Remember that you will probably want to use the commissary on a daily basis, and any infractions will cause you to lose commissary privileges.

The Commissary will sell an assortment of different items that the inmate can purchase if they have sufficient funds in their trust account. These items include clothes, shoes, small snacks and other food items, in addition to 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

The only phone calls that Van Buren County Jail inmates are allowed to make are with a pre-paid phone card or account, or are collect calls . Jail phone calls are generally more costly than regular phone calls. Inmates are able to make phone calls, with restrictions on when you can make phone calls, how long you can talk, and how often you can make calls, but inmates must keep in mind that you are just one of many people who want to talk to their loved ones. If you break the rules and are disciplined, phone calls might get cut back or forbidden completely.

Phone Number: (269) 657-2171

How To Save Money on Inmate Calls

Correctional facility phone service providers have a monopoly at every facility that they have a contract with, which means that they they control how much it costs to make phone calls. The money these phone service providers make from all of the phone calls that inmates make 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 Van Buren 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 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 state prisons and local 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 significantly on calling your inmate. 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 these cases, the jail or prison has set their calling prices so high that nobody will be able to save you money.

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

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