Inmate Property
Personal Property
Inmate’s property can be picked up during normal business hours from 8 am – 3 pm Monday through Friday with the exception being that you have prearranged an appointment with property at 757-942-0545. Inmate property may only be released to the inmate themselves unless an inmate request form from the inmate has been turned into the proper person for approval. Approval is not guaranteed. Appointments to pick up property by non-inmates should be scheduled in advance and after the request has been approved.
Inmates may keep some limited personal property in their living spaces. All inmate property must fit inside the authorized inmate storage container. Excess items will be considered contraband. Property is either provided by WTRJ or must be purchased through the Inmate Canteen. Property will not be accepted at the jail or through the mail. The Watch Commander may grant exceptions.
A. All inmates shall be afforded the same correspondence privileges. There is no limit on the number of letters an inmate may send or receive. If the inmate is indigent, he/she will be given the opportunity to mail 5 letters weekly upon request. This includes legal mail, which will be sent by the Jail for those inmates declared indigent. Indigent inmates are those judged destitute with no outside income/support from welfare, federal assistance, etc., and have no funds in their inmate or canteen account currently or for the previous 15 days.
B. Mail is subject to inspection and may be opened and read by officials when there is reasonable suspicion that a particular item of correspondence threatens the safety or security of the institution, the safety of any person or is being used to further illegal activities. Legal mail may be opened and inspected, but not read, by jail officers and will be opened in the presence of the inmate. Glued seams of envelopes may be opened or cut off and examined for contraband. Stamps may be cut off the envelope.
C. Notice of seizure of mailed contraband will be given to sender and inmate.
D. All mail sent out by inmates may be sealed by the inmate; however, the inmate’s full return address must be listed on the outside of the envelope. Mail without the full return address will not be mailed. The return address is:
Inmate’s Name
Western Tidewater Regional Jail
2402 Godwin Blvd.
Suffolk, VA 23434
E. Inmates may not receive packages.
F. Publications must be in the publisher’s package mailed direct from the publisher i.e. Readers Digest, Random House Publisher, Amazon.com etc…. Packages from bookstores (Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million) will not be accepted. Publications advocating civil disobedience, the overthrow of any level of government in the U.S.A., or behavior which could threaten the good order and discipline of this facility will not be given to an inmate. Additionally, publications depicting what are considered sexually explicit, or printed pictures of sexual acts of any type will not be given to an inmate. These publications will be placed in the inmate’s property and he/she will be given a receipt.
G. Inmate mail processing will be done daily except on Saturday, Sunday and holidays. Incoming mail will be delivered within 24 hours and forwarded or returned to sender if the inmate has been transferred.
Inmates are prohibited from corresponding with another inmate incarcerated in the Western Tidewater Regional Jail. Inmates may communicate with another inmate incarcerated in another facility providing the administrator of each facility has granted permission. Submit your request to the Director of Security.
Money
Released inmates can pick up their inmate account balance from the Administration Office in the Main Lobby of the Jail between the hours of 8:00 am and 3:45 pm on Monday through Friday excluding holidays and special events if money is owed to the inmate. If the Office is closed during normal working hours of a regularly scheduled work day, a sign will be posted on the door to the Lobby stating the length of time the office will be closed. No other family member can request funds or pick up funds without first getting approval from the front office and the Superintendent. Contact 757-942-0531 for any such requests.
We are not allowed to give out balance information to anybody but the inmate. Any issues concerning kiosk deposits should be directed to GTL through the GTL tab under the Inmate Information Tab or calling 1-800-306-2957. Any issues with iCare or Oasis should be resolved through Aramark at 1-888-439-5020 or Oasis at 1-800-956-2747 respectively or by using the contact information provided on their respective links under the Inmate Information Tab. Unless the inmate is being transferred to another facility, funds distributed to the inmates will be done using a debit card unless under $5.00 which will be with cash. When requesting and picking up the debit cards, the process and fees will be discussed with the released inmate.
As a reminder, an inmate, in most cases, is charged for Room & Board, Medical Co-Pays, and Damaged Jail Property among other possible items while incarcerated and the balance due to the jail is due and payable upon release. Unless special arrangements are made upon release, the inmate has 30 days in which to fully pay off any balance owed. Failure to do so will result in being turned over to a collection agency and then possible other forms of recourse may come into play like withholding of tax refunds or other legal remedies. If an inmate is not able to pay off what is owed within 30 days, it is best to come to the Administration Office and work with one of the staff to develop a repayment plan that suits both the Jail and the inmate. Inmates transferred to another facility will have a check mailed to the new facility when the inmate leaves WTRJ.