In Califorina we let them go if they are minimum security. The family foots the bill for the travel and the officer’s overtime.

Normally that is how it happens. They find out the morning (minutes before they leave) of a Medical Round Trip. I like the way you guys do business. Sounds like they had a hand on it.

All of our cell blocks have telephones on the wall. They are securely bolted to the steel walls and have a security headset. The inmates are charged about $5.00 flat fee for any phone call plus any call from the facility must be collect. If an inmate tries to outsmart the system by not talking or “blowing air” into the handset microphone quickly finds out that the computer cuts the call off immediately. It is difficult to keep a transport secret so we protect the transport officers. I think the most practical solution is to only tell the inmate a few minutes before their transport, shut off the phones and take them out of the unit.

They don’t have phones in their cells unless they are contraband. Their are one phone at the end of each range. Each range or side is permitted to use the phone for a set amount of time then it goes to the other side. So many Inmates come to prison on the “Family Plan”, that it would be easy for an Inmate to make a call for his buddy while on Funeral trip or on an MRT (MEdical Round Trip). Last spring (2011) a paroled Inmate in Cleveland had his house shook down and they found a letter from an Inmate at our Facility. The letter was in regards to his going on a MRT on a certain date (Cut hisself pretty good). The Paroled Inmate was supposed to meet him in the Hospital parking lot with guns. They would kill both guards and then escape. When that date came, the Inmate did cut himself. Our Warden, DWO and State Patrol were waiting in the Hospital parking lot. The Paroled Inmate was in the Cuyahoga county jail with regards to the note. So the phones are not the only thing they use to set things up.

We still have to do funeral visits because the judge can order it done. With respect to cells having phones we shut the phones off prior to any transports, inmates have no outside contact before a transport anywhere. An inmate who has a funeral visit is told only a few hours before he or she is taken and in the morning when the lights are turned on the phone stays off.

My old prison used to do funeral visits. Not anymore. We would send 2 Officers on 1 Inmate, full travel kit on him. Belly chain cuffed in front with black box and leg irons. Never had any real issues other than a few gangs showing up. With phones in the cell blocks now, that would be a major security issue.

We do funeral visits for inmates family members if the inmate requests it or if the family does. It has to be within our jurisdiction (county) and they must go in civilian clothes but cuffed and shackled at all times, there is no exception to that rule. Two armed officers go with them. Family can be next to them during the funeral but they are not allowed to go to any reception or event after the funeral. Inmates are returned to the facility and strip searched to insure contraband wasn’t passed.

As a woman of God,I am going to choose my words carefully.Though men,women and children commit crimes,this does not make them without family.I do not agree that they should be able to attend just any family funeral.I strongly believe that immediate family members that pass away should be the exception.Why do I say this?Why do I feel this way?I have family(close in relation)in the prison system.People only have one mother,one father,one set of brothers and sisters,and grandparents,and there is also spouses………Going to prison doesn’t mean that they not only will serve the sentence for their offense,but they should be punished even more buy being denied the right to say good-bye to someone for the very last time.Being in prison is hard enough.Not just on the prisoners,but the families also.Why does this bother you so very much?If,God forbid,you broke the law,went to prison and your mother,father,sister,brother,wife,son,daughter,grandchild died.Would you feel the same way you feel now???

One thing I’d like to clarify on my post is that we only allow offenders to attend funerals within the state of Oklahoma. They don’t fly anywhere – they are driven in a state van. If it is out of state, it is not allowed.

I think you might be making an assumption about travelling on the public’s dime – it’s not done. Ontario does not have the financial resources to build new prisons for Harper, let alone fly inmates all over the country. Considering the over-work that most public employees face, perhaps you are just a bit peeved that your nephew had to work on a Saturday. If you are positive that the flight was at the taxpayers’ expense, perhaps you might like to send the details to the Toronto Star for one of their front page, investigative reports.

I work in Virginia at a local jail. We do allow visits, but the inmate must pay for the trip. He has to pay the hourly rate for 2 officers and mileage. It has to paid in advance.

Depending on the circumstances, our judges will sometimes furlough the inmate to funerals, or family medical emergencies. If the inmate fails to return a warrant is issued and they are charged with escape, in addition to their other charges. No maximum security inmates are afforded this opportunity, those with long criminal/warrant histories, or those with high-profile charges. I don’t agree with letting them out, under any circumstance. I understand the reasoning, but I don’t agree with it.

In Oklahoma, USA, we do allow limited visits. The lower the security level of the offender, the less stringent the policy regarding the visit. If the offender is medium security, he can ONLY go to a funeral home visit (Not the funeral – but prior to) and no family is to be around when he arrives or we will not allow the visit/viewing of the body.

At minimum the offender has a choice of a hospital visit, nursing home visit of a critically ill family member, home visit at a residence of a critically ill family member receiving hospice care, a funeral home family visit or to attend the funeral of an immediate or extended family member (extended means grandparent, etc.) Now this is only good for one visit – if they choose a hospital visit and then want to go to the funeral – they can go to a 2nd visit (if we have the manpower), but they have to pay for it.

At community level and lower they get two emergency visits.

With that said, all this hinges on their behavior. If they are deemed a threat to the public for any reason, they won’t go. If their behavior has been negative, such as class X misconducts, they may not go. They basically have to be behaving in a way to “earn” the visit.

My feelings, being fairly liberal personally, are that they should be allowed the one visit if they meet the criteria. Like dan, I think we need to be humane, without being too soft. If we are too short-staffed, then it will not be allowed, and I’m okay with that. Maybe the offenders family will complain and someone will pay attention to how short-staffed we are. Overall, there are not a lot of these trips taken, but they do happen. I’m good with us doing it if the offender has earned it.

In my country of Trinidad & Tobago we allow it and we the ERT officer has to go also. we dont take them to the burial or service but to the funeral parlour for a private viewing. i believe it is a good thing it can be time consuming and sometimes a drain on resources but i would volunteer any day because is some body mother or father or sister or brother and mostly it makes us appear humane to the inmate and the public

I don’t know if in the United States they do this, but I seriously hope that they don’t. My nephew is a correctional officer like me in the same institution, Kingston Penitentiary which is a men’s maximum security prison open since 1835; Well he spent the day taking an inmate to the North West Territories for a funeral on this past Saturday, not being with his wife, he wasn’t even supposed to work but he’s a member of our IERT the equivalent of your special response team. I came into work, and yes I am his aunt, but they asked me to stay and make sure that the crew’s stuff was good to go; I’m not a member of the team and women are not allowed to be members of the teams up here. That’s not my issue: I want to know if any institution down there let’s the inmates go to family funerals on the public’s dime?