Yamhill County Jail Tour

Have you ever been to jail? I have! As part of our training, Lisa organized a tour of the Yamhill County Jail for all of the interns. This is relevant to our industry because of the cases we see daily about parole, failure to appear, warrants, etc, as well as it just being an interesting experience.

Our tour was lead by the Yamhill County Sheriff, and first we had to sign in and promise that we weren't bringing any weapons into the jail. The Sheriff then took us around the building and we entered the building like we would if we had been arrested and were arriving in a police car. The jail has a holding area that can fit 2 cop cars so that they can close the doors to that holding area and unload the arrestee with no chance that they could escape. This is a new addition to the jail, and much of the construction for this remodel was done by inmates on work release. The jail has many opportunities for inmates to work within the jail on various projects, and many who meet the criteria take advantage of this.

The booking area was the next stop on our tour. The entire jail has white brick walls, and this was no different. I began to feel somewhat claustrophobic when we were shown the seperate men's and women's holding cells, both very small spaces. The sheriff explained that in the remodel they also added enough holding cells so that there can now be an isolation cell if certain inmates who are waiting for booking cannot be in the same room together (i.e., fighting). There is a toilet in each holding cell with a short partition separating it, but it really would offer no privacy. There were also hooks placed intermittently along the wall so that the inmates could be handcuffed to the wall if need be. These were sights that I can't say I didn't expect, but they were shocking none-the-less.

Once we saw the whole process through which an inmate was booked, which includes a strip/cavity search with a same-sex deputy, we saw the personal items that each inmate receives upon booking. This includes a orange jumpsuit, plastic shower shoes, and a bedding roll that had one cotton sheet and one wool blanket. The mattresses were about 2 inches thick. Inmates do not receive pillows. The sheriff said that inmates can petition for an extra mattress if they have back problems or something, but that is the only exception.

Seeing inmates in the mess hall was a strange experience. Most of the inmates were walking in circles around the room, just to get some exercise. Others were playing games, watching TV, or writing in journals. The mess hall has 2 rather large flat screen TVs, but the sheriff was quick to mention that these were NOT paid for by tax payers' money, but rather from the proceeds of a program that allows inmates to buy special items like paper and pens, candy, or toiletries. I thought this was an interesting program and I was glad to hear that something like this was being utilized.

After the tour we were able to ask questions about parole and conditions of release, and we gained a lot of insight that has specific relevance to our jobs. Lisa is offering a tour to the Federal Prison in Sheridan, but I don't think I'll be attending. The jail was sobering enough, and I really have no more desire to spend another day in jail!