An adult arrested in Eagle County, Colorado, will likely be taken to the 116-bed detention center in the small town of Eagle, CO. Eagle is a mountain town located halfway between Vail and Glenwood Springs, off of Interstate 70. The address of the Eagle County jail is 855 E. Chambers Ave., and the phone number is (970) 328-8500.
This detention facility houses male and female detainees awaiting an arraignment hearing as well as inmates convicted of a Colorado crime, including misdemeanor and felony offenses. There are separate minimum, medium, and maximum-security units for individuals serving sentences up to 24 months.
More information about the Eagle jail, including policies affecting friends and family member members, is provided below courtesy of Colorado criminal defense lawyers. Below you will find a range of topics, including:
- 1. How to Find an Eagle County Inmate
- 2. Bail Information
- 3. How to Talk to an Inmate by Phone
- 4. Visitation at the Eagle Jail
- 5. Inmate Cash Account Deposits
- 6. Sending Mail and Packages for Inmates
- 7. Life at the Jail
- 8. Work Release
- 9. Inmate Property
- 10. Help from a Criminal Defense Lawyer
1. Locate a Detainee or Inmate
To request information about someone who may have been taken into custody, you can call the Eagle jail directly at 970-328-8500, extension # 5. Note that juvenile offenders can only be held at the jail for a maximum of six hours, then must be transported elsewhere. Most commonly, arrested minors under 18 will go to the Mount View Youth Services Center in Denver.
An online option for locating an inmate is also available through the VINE website. This national database provides arrest records for anyone taken into custody by a U.S. law enforcement officer.
2. Bail Bonding
In most cases, an inmate can gain timely freedom from jail after a bond (also known as bail) is posted. In some cases, the detainee will be released by the judge on a personal recognizance bond, which means payment is not necessary, however, most bonds require payment. To determine the amount and type of bond necessary for an inmate’s release, you can call the jail information line at 970-328-8564.
Remember that the bond’s purpose is to ensure the arrestee will appear in court as ordered. If the court date is missed, money or collateral property that guarantees the bond may be forfeited. Otherwise, a cash bond is refundable after the court appearances are finished.
There are several ways to pay a bond to free an inmate from jail pending court business. These include:
Payment at the jail — There is a kiosk in the jail lobby which you can use to deposit cash to pay bail for an inmate. The machine is available for use 24 hours a day, seven days a week. At this time, credit cards cannot be used at the detention center, and no personal checks are accepted.
Money order – You can bring or mail in a money order made out to Eagle County Combined Courts (or other court jurisdiction, if applicable). The mailing address is:
Inmate’s Full Name
PO Box 359
Eagle, CO 81631
Online payment – The Eagle County jail uses www.inmatecanteen.com to help facilitate payments pertaining to inmates. There is a fee for using the service and a limit on the amount accepted per credit card/per inmate. It is possible in some cases to combine several credit cards to pay the total bail amount.
Bail bondsman — A state-licensed bondsman can help you make bail if you do not have the cash available. A fee will be charged for this service, usually 10-15% of the bond amount. The Sheriff’s office can provide referrals for a bonding agency, or you can use a print or online directory to locate a local bail bondsman.
For more information on bonding, you can call the Eagle County Combined Courts number at 970-328-6373. You can also learn more about this subject here: How to post bail in Colorado.
3. Phone Communication with Inmates
As is typical, inmates at the Eagle County jail are not allowed to take incoming telephone calls. In case of emergency, you can call (970) 328-8565 to ask a staff member to pass along a message. You can also leave voice messages for an inmate using www.inmatecanteen.com. If desired, you can use this site to purchase phone minutes for the inmate to use, or you can use a kiosk in the lobby to deposit funds for phone calls. This kiosk and online service does accept credit and debit cards. The kiosk also accepts cash.
An inmate who has phone minutes on his or her account can make calls using a kiosk in the multipurpose “day room,” accessed with a personal pin number. Otherwise, inmates are allowed to make outgoing phone calls by calling “collect.” You can set up an account to facilitate collect calls through Telewest, at (888) 843-1972 or another provider.
4. Eagle County Inmate Visitation
There are two ways for family and friends to visit an Eagle inmate: Jail visits, which utilize a kiosk screen in the lobby, and off-site visits facilitated through your own computer. Personal contact visits are not permitted, except for visits of a professional nature. Specifically, this means attorneys and law enforcement officers, who are allowed to visit personally with inmates at any time during regular business hours. (Credentials and identification required.)
At the jail, general visiting hours are daily during the following time periods:
7:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
These visits are limited to 20 minutes, and you may not visit more than once in a 48-hour period.
There is no charge to use the lobby kiosk for your visit. Visits cannot be scheduled ahead at the Eagle County jail, but are offered on a “first-come, first serve” basis.
When visiting an inmate at the Eagle jail, you must abide by the rules. You may not bring in anything to give the inmate, including pictures or any type of gift. (Exceptions to this rule are prescription medication in original containers and contact lenses/glasses.) Revealing or provocative clothing is discouraged. Any abuse of the visitation privilege or behavior that presents a safety threat will immediately terminate the visit. The visitor and/or the inmate may lose visitation privileges as a result of misconduct.
To arrange a visit from your home computer, use www.inmatecanteen.com . Be advised that there is a charge of 39 cents a minute for these virtual visits. Offsite visits are also 20 minutes in duration, but you are not limited in the number of visits you can schedule.
5. Eagle Inmate Fund Accounts
Inmates appreciate spending money, which they can use to purchase commissary items, such as special foods. In Eagle County, commissary orders are facilitated through the kiosk in the inmate multipurpose room. Each inmate is limited to an order of 60 food items each week. The items are delivered to the facility once the order is received.
To provide funds for the inmate’s account, you can deposit money using the kiosk in the lobby. To use the kiosk, you need only have the inmate’s full name or birthdate. Funding options include cash, credit or debit cards.
Alternatively to onsite deposits at the jail, you can use inmatecanteen.com to provide money for your inmate online. Credit and debit cards can be used to make deposits at this site, with immediate delivery into the inmate’s account. There is a maximum of $500 per credit card/inmate in a 30-day period. The fee charged by the site to make a deposit is $8.95. The phone number for help setting up your account is (715) 690-2965.
6. Mailing Letters and Packages
Mail should be addressed as follows:
Inmate’s Full Name
PO Box 359
Eagle, CO 81631
Any mail for an inmate will be opened and the contents inspected. Mail that is marked “Legal Mail” will be opened by an officer in the presence of the inmate. Packages are not allowed. If inappropriate materials are sent to an inmate, the mail will be returned to sender or kept in a storage locker. You are allowed to include standard size photographs in the envelope, but not polaroid pictures.
Books can be ordered for inmates, but must arrive directly from the publisher or vendor, such as amazon.com. Hard cover books are not accepted – paperbacks only.
7. Safety/Life at the Jail
Inmates in Eagle County are classified and housed separately according to their offense, criminal history, and observed behavior during the booking process and subsequent incarceration. The jail reports that very few altercations between inmates occur. The staff remains very involved with the inmate population, and volunteers come in to conduct Bible study and other programs.
The minimum-security unit is a “direct supervision” unit that provides freedom to congregate in a multipurpose room and participate in activities and recreation. The two-story, dormitory style unit is always closely supervised by deputies, with the goal of preventing conduct problems. Inmates who do not comply with expectations lose privileges.
The Eagle County jail offers a program allowing some inmates to work inside the jail, within the county offices, or outside the facility, under supervision. Working inmates can receive the benefit of additional privileges or time shaved off of their sentence.
8. Work Release
Inmates who have received judicial permission to participate in work release may be able to take advantage of the opportunity to leave the jail and work for up to 12 hours per day, 5-6 days a week. An application must be completed and approved for the inmate to participate in work release. Approval is at the discretion of Eagle County Jail Detentions Management.
Work release is open to non-violent inmates convicted of a misdemeanor or low-level felony crimes serving a sentence of at least 10 days. A Global Positioning System (GPS) ankle monitor is employed during work release, and inmates are charged a daily fee to participate in the work release program.
Inmates interested in work release must make an orientation appointment at least 72 hours prior to the start of their sentence at the Eagle jail. Appointments are made by calling (970) 328-8574 or emailing [email protected].
9. Inmate Property
Any property brought into the jail by the inmate will be confiscated and stored in a locker, pending release. The inmate can sign a release form to allow a family member or friend to pick up his or her property. (Proper photo identification will be required.)
If the inmate is transferred to serve time in a Colorado Department of Corrections facility, any property stored at the Eagle County jail will not be transported. In this case, the family will be asked to come pick up the property within 10 days, or it will be destroyed.
10. Help From a Criminal Lawyer
The earlier you involve an experienced defense lawyer in your case, the better your potential outcome. The Colorado Legal Defense Group can help you fight the charges and avoid incarceration and other repercussions. For a free consultation, call (303) 222-0330, or contact us online today.