Inmates at the St. Clair County jail may not have the constitutional right to receive in-person or face-to-face visits from loved ones under a recent order issued in local circuit court.
A lawsuit was originally filed last March by family members and on behalf of children against Sheriff Mat King and the county , alleging a county jail policy that introduced video calls at the jail in place of face-to-face visits inflicted “grievous harm on children and parents" and that the county banned in-person contact as part of a broader business scheme.
However, St. Clair County Circuit Judge Michael West said in a July 19 order that he disagreed the policy change amounted to a total family visitation ban.
That came in response to the county’s motion’s summary disposition, rendering the plaintiffs’ request a preliminary injunction “moot,” citing a host of other means families can be in contact with inmates, as well as the county’s ongoing security and staffing challenges at the jail.
“Inmates and their families are still entitled to the same number of visits and time restrictions as existed under the old policy,” West wrote. “Visitation is accomplished through a phone/video system, which allows for the inmate to remain in their assigned pod and the visitors to be assembled at a designated video conferencing area near the entrance to the facility. The old policy allowed for the visitors to enter deep into the jail facility, access to the second floor, and then walk to an assigned pod (7 in total) where a face-to-face visit would take place through a thick fiberglass window and then return to the main entrance. There is no charge for the video conferencing visits. They have always been free.”
In addition to the sheriff and county, Securus Technologies, which provides communication and entertainment services to jail inmates, is named as a defendant; as was Platinum Equity, LLC, which purchased Securus in 2017.
Three minor children, ages 3, 4, and 12, represented by their mothers, and two other St. Clair County residents are named as plaintiffs.
In the original complaint, the plaintiffs cite the lack of in-person contact with inmates as a challenge that weakens family bonds, alleging “the parent-child relationship requires physical presence and touch to nurture the relationships that function as a cornerstone of individual and society well-being.”
"Certain claims were dismissed because the local judge in St. Clair County decided that children and parents have no constitutional right to visit each other,” Cody Cutting, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement Monday. “We plan to appeal this cruel decision because we think it is plainly wrong."
The claims about Securus tech and the county’s use also come amid a stark rise in remote communication access between families and jailed loved ones. According to the original complaint against St. Clair County — mirroring another filed this spring in Genesee County — Securus contracts with over 3,400 facilities across North America.
There’ve been a few federal complaints against Securus filed by inmates in just St. Clair County over the last couple of years.
Still, on just the in-person visit piece, Toddy Shoudy, the county’s attorney said, “The theory that there’s a right to contact visits is a theory that was rejected by Michigan courts and the United States Supreme Court for the last 30 to 40 years.”
Shoudy called the remaining money-making claims a conspiracy theory, and he expected the other defendants, Securus and Platinum Equity to go through a similar motion process in the next month or two, adding, “It’s a foregone conclusion that the case will be dismissed once the judge hears their motions.”
Last month, West wrote the jail’s existing arrangement still accommodates basic needs to be in contact with loved ones. He referred to the previous arrangement as something that was difficult for the jail to “manage and supervise” over multiple locations, while also being “diligent in looking for attempts to pass contraband” and mitigating any disruptive behavior of visitors, without “significantly more personnel and resources than what is required under the new policy.”
“It also provides for greater security within the housing area within the jail by not allowing the public to directly access those areas,” he said. "The resources and staff necessary to operate the visitation center is a much more efficient use of the jail’s visitation resources.”
How much revenue does the county generate with inmate tech costs?
The county began telephone services through an earlier subsidiary of Securus in 2011. That year, the total revenue was reported at just over $45,600 with a calculated commission of over $27,300, according to an information request from the Times Herald last spring.
A few years later, the county began to add other services to that arrangement. As of 2023, a host of services are included, ranging from access to media such as music, movies, and games to e-messaging and video connecting.
Over seven years through 2023, the county reported the following revenues:
- 2017: $154,130.87
- 2018: $292,099.06
- 2019: $434,504.72
- 2020: $361,704.46
- 2021: $469,652.98
- 2022: $497,029.02
- 2023: $448,033.18
After the county fulfilled the information request, on April 1, County Jail Administrator Tracy DeCaussin clarified via email, “Although we cannot give any formal statements due to the recent lawsuit filed, I just wanted to give clarification that any revenues received from anything the inmates purchase by law goes into a special account that must be used for the betterment of the inmates.”
On Monday, however, Shoudy said using the video system from the lobby — the piece that replaced in-person visits — is free “just as it was before.”
The part that Securus’ services charge for, he said, are for everything else.
In other ways, the county’s attorney alleged that family members are able to connect with inmates more now than they could in years past.
“Individuals can communicate with people in the jail remotely from wherever they’re at,” Shoudy said. “Inmates can now visit people in the hospital if there’s a cell phone connection. Inmates can visit and attend remotely birthday parties of their loved ones. A mother in California can now from the comfort of her home participate in a video visit with somebody who’s in the St. Clair County Jail. Whereas as in the old days, they would have to travel all the way from California to come to the jail and come up for a 20-minute meeting through a glass divide.”
Contact reporter Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com .
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: St. Clair County judge’s order favors local jail in dispute over in-person visitation
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