Genesee County sheriff says jail to begin in-person contact visits starting in July

After a decade, the Genesee County Jail is to expected to resume in-person contact visits in July, starting with inmates and their children who are age 12 and younger, Sheriff Chris Swanson told the Free Press on Friday.

Later, in-person contact visits will be expanded to children who are older as well as adults, he said, allowing people being housed in the jail to be reunited with their loved ones.

Swanson also told the Free Press he's looking to reduce the cost of telephone calls from 21 cents a minute to 12 cents a minute and video visitation from $10 a visit to $8.

News of in-person visits, starting July 6, comes months after two civil lawsuits were filed against two counties in Michigan, their respective sheriffs and the companies behind the telecommunications systems at their respective jails, both of which allowed in-person visitation years ago.

Genesee County and Swanson, himself, are being sued, as is St. Clair County and its sheriff, in addition to the different companies that run the telecommunications systems at the jails in each of the two counties.

The crux of the lawsuits, reported by the Free Press in March, is the plaintiffs allege the defendants are conspiring to prohibit in-person family contact as part of a scheme for the counties and the companies to make money, which the plaintiffs claim violates Michigan law. They allege St. Clair County allowed in-person visits until 2017 and Genesee County allowed them until 2014.

Both lawsuits requested class-action status for all individuals with a parent or child detained in jails in St. Clair and Genesee counties at any point since March 15, 2021.

Swanson said after he got served that officials in Genesee County needed to take a look at what they could do.

"Independent of what the court does, I didn't need a judge to order me to do something that in my heart, I felt was the right thing to do at the right time. That's why I took advantage of that opportunity, that window of time, probably much faster than what the plaintiff's attorneys thought I would. But again, it's the right thing to do, and I think it's going to restore families and ultimately reduce crime."

News of in-person visits returning to the Genesee County Jail first surfaced Wednesday night during a story on "NBC Nightly News" in which anchor Lester Holt interviewed Swanson for a report about the lawsuits.

"The families bringing this lawsuit have been saying that the jail is keeping them from seeing one another because it's profitable. And now, following this interview, they have confirmation that they were right," Cody Cutting, an attorney with Civil Rights Corps in Washington, D.C., one of the groups representing the families in the lawsuits, told the Free Press on Thursday.

"And while it is gratifying to hear that the sheriff admit that he is wrong and that it is wrong for the jail to keep families apart, we will be watching closely to see what he does next," Cutting said.

Cutting said Civil Rights Corps was aware the network was working on a piece as the group's founder was interviewed, and the network was aware of the lawsuits and the issue. But, he said, the group and the families bringing the lawsuits — who saw Swanson's interview — "had no idea that Sheriff Swanson was going to say any of the things that he said on national TV."

Swanson's comments could come into play Tuesday, the next scheduled court date in the Genesee County lawsuit. This past Thursday, attorneys for the plaintiffs filed a supplemental notice of fact in support of their motion for a preliminary injunction and referred to Swanson's TV interview.

Judges in the circuit courts in Genesee and St. Clair counties previously heard arguments by the plaintiffs for preliminary injunctions and motions by most of the defendants to dismiss the lawsuits. No ruling has been issued in either county.

Swanson told the Free Press on Friday the policy change that is starting July 6 "could have been done with a phone call and a visit. I personally didn't need to be sued in order to get my attention. But you have to take into account that it's a big deal, and it's a policy that has to take notice. You have to pay attention."

Swanson said the jail has been doing in-person visits through various programs, but years ago "the in-person visits were ended and video visitations were the new norm, and we're reversing course."

He called this a policy issue and said: "I agree the family connection and the family unification is vital. That's why we've been doing it. But we haven't done it to this level. So really, the lawsuit I embrace because it got my attention to move even quicker. And I will tell you this, too, the lawsuit is still pending in front of the court, but we're doing this anyways, because I know and I see that times have changed and there's a lot of value in bringing those families together."

Swanson said the sheriff's office is not adding staff for the in-person visits, but there are logistics that have to be worked out. He said 90% of the staff has never experienced in-person contact visits in the jail. On Friday, he said, the jail count was 581 people.

Swanson said the sheriff's office is working with Motherly Intercession, a nonprofit in Genesee County that works to serve children of currently or previously incarcerated parents, for the in-person visits.

He said there will be two, one-hour sessions the first Saturday of the month and families are "going to be able to hug their parents and hug their kids." Within 60 days, Swanson said, they're going to roll out 20-minute, in-person contact visits for older children and adults.

According to a preliminary document provided by Swanson, Operation Restoration will start July 6 and continue the first Saturday of every month with two sessions from 9 a.m.-10 a.m. and 11 a.m.-noon for children age 12 and younger.

It states inmates who have been in jail for 30 days or more with children ages 0-12 will be eligible to enroll. It also states that enrollment must occur at least two weeks prior to the next scheduled visitation day to allow for required screening and verification of parental rights and guardian consent by Motherly Intercession.

Visitors will be asked to arrive 30 minutes prior to a scheduled session, with security screening protocols, and visits will be one hour and take place with inmate and child/children only under the supervision of Motherly Intercession staff, the preliminary document states. It adds that guardians will remain in the jail lobby during the visit.

Another preliminary document provided by Swanson states that starting Sept. 14 and continuing the second and fourth Saturdays of every month, adult in-person contact sessions will be held 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Inmates who have been in jail for 30 days or more will be eligible to enroll and inmates in good standing will be allowed one in-person visit from one approved family member per month, the document states. Another preliminary document Swanson provided states that good standing means not on restricted housing status or under court-enforced restrictions.

For that process, it states, inmates must complete a visitor list form identifying immediate family members and not more than five other potential visitors. Individuals placed on the visiting list must complete a visiting application to request approval to visit.

It states that enrollment must occur at least two weeks before the next scheduled visitation day to allow adult visitors to be screened and approved. Visits will be scheduled through the sheriff’s office and visitors will be notified on Friday before the visit of the scheduled session and expected arrival time, per the document.

It states visitors will arrive 30 minutes before the scheduled session, be on the approved visitor list, present a valid ID and have security screening for the 20-minute visit.

"If we can scale it up, we're going to do that," Swanson said of the in-person visits, adding, "but we have to start somewhere."

Another preliminary document Swanson provided states visitors on parole or probation, employed in the jail, subject to noncontact order by the courts or have been in the jail in the past year will not be eligible for in-person contact visits. The sheriff or designee may deny any approved visitor for facility safety and security, public protection or other reasonable causes, as necessary, it states.

Swanson said video visitation will continue as it is as good supplement for people who are homebound, out of state or have transportation concerns to be able to visit with their loves ones in the jail.

"I want to make sure that there's no barriers on the inside talking to people on the outside, because on the outside, you know, they're paying the price for decisions made, and they're doing time with them," he said.

Swanson said he made an executive decision "to reinvest those profits" the county has made through the use of the telecommunications system to reduce costs to families by lowering the cost of telephone calls and video visitations. He said in the beginning the purpose was for revenue, "but again, I see the value of changing that policy."

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Swanson said the telephone revenue is $15,000 a month, or $180,000 a year, and it is a flat revenue. For video visitation, he said, it's around $400,000, including a tech grant.

"And I'm returning all of those profits back into reducing costs for the families," he said, adding that he will be providing a letter to the county Board of Commissioners telling it that officials need to take board action to reinvest the revenues.

Swanson was undersheriff a decade ago, when he said the county had to cut money from the budget of the state's fifth-largest county. He said "at the time, it was a revenue opportunity to try to balance the the profit loss and the state revenue sharing loss. And it was a business decision."

Swanson said he was part of the decision, though not the decision-maker, at that time. Now, he said, he's sheriff "and we're in a different position."

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Genesee County sheriff: Jail to begin in-person contact visits in July