Miami County Jail inmates get to use tablets -- at no cost to taxpayers, sheriff says

TROY — The Miami County Jail has added tablets for inmates to use. Jail administration believes this is one of only three sheriff’s departments in the state to provide this service.

It’s being offered at no cost to taxpayers and Sheriff Dave Duchak said it’s benefiting the inmates as well as the staff.

Duchak said when the jails are at full capacity, they get about 600 pieces of mail per day. That number has been significantly diminished with the tablets. It helps cut down on contraband getting into the jail through the mail and saves staff time checking the mail.

“It potentially exposes the staff to getting contaminated if something’s been saturated with a narcotic or something like that,” Duchak said. “It’s removed all that and it’s freed up a lot of staff time.”

The tablets are provided by a communications company that specializes in jail and prison communications. Inmates and their families pay for the use and features of the tablet. Miami County gets a percentage of the revenue generated from these tablets, that money goes into the county’s general fund.

Duchak said in a digital age it’s also especially important to help eliminate downtime for inmates.

“If they don’t have anything to occupy themselves, they can start creating problems for staff, you tend to have more interpersonal problems with fellow inmates, potential fights, things like that,” Duchak said.

Duchak credits Dawn Thomas, assistant jail administrator, with spearheading the program. He noted it did take a significant amount of time to prepare and plan the implementation of the program.

The tablet program started at the beginning of June and both Thomas and Duchak said that it has been very well received by inmates.

“It’s went way better than what I would have thought, to be honest,” Duchak said. “I think it’s something you’re going to see in the future at a lot of other jails. I think it will only grow from there.”

Duchak and Thomas said tablets in the jail can be used for e-messages, GED classes, digital libraries, jail forms, as well as books, PG-13 movies, podcasts, and music.

If the jail population expands, they can continue to add tablets still at no cost to taxpayers.

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