2 FREE PHONE CALLS IN WISCONSIN PRISON DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS
As anyone with friend of loved ones in custody may already know, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) suspended visits by friends or family who are in custody in one of Wisconsin's Prisons; this does not appear to apply to anyone being held in a county jail. The news release does not include when they will resume.
In the meantime, the DOC has granted each person in prison 2 free phone calls per week, with each call lasting as long as 15 minutes. This will remain the policy until visits are able to resume. For anyone in custody, contact with friends and family are incredibly important to their health and well-being, and everyone impact will likely find it very hard to endure this period with limited communication.
At Mastantuono & Coffee, we want to make sure that all friends and family of anyone in custody in Wisconsin state prison knows how to take advantage of this offer – because those phone calls add up quickly. Here are the instructions published by DOC:
To take advantage of the free phone calls, please see the below information:
The two free phone calls will be available each week, Sunday through Saturday.
International phone calls are not included in the free phone calls available.
To use the free calls, select 3 on the keypad. Once a call is connected, it will count as one of the free calls available to the persons in our care, regardless of the length of the call.
All other institution telephone policies and procedures still apply.
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections Bulletin is available here.
Also now in effect, the DOC will not be transferring people into the prison system from the county jails or conducting intakes. It appears that, with a few undefined exceptions, anyone recently sentenced to prison will not be transferred to Dodge Correctional Institution until the order is listed. The news releases on this from the DOC can be accessed here and here.