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ECSD launches Attorney-Client Video Connect service

Posted on: November 27, 2020 - 9:43am
Essex County Sheriff's Department

From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing public health crisis, the Essex County Sheriff’s Department has and continues to recognize the need for attorneys to communicate with their clients. We’ve implemented a number of emergency protocols, detailed on this website under the tab “COVID-19 State of Emergency Announcement For Attorneys.”  

As part of this initiative, the Department has established a “hotline” type e-mail response system (covid19inmateinquiries@essexsheriffma.org) which has enhanced attorneys’ ability to communicate with their clients as follows:

  • Adding their private telephone numbers to the phone system, and helping facilitate messages to be passed to their clients to call them directly;
  • Forwarding an attorney request for a telephone call with their client who is then able to contact their attorney from their Housing Unit phone;
  • The implementation of a digital tablet program within the facility; 
  • Providing an inmate up to thirty (30) minutes prior to the start of a court appearance via video/teleconference to speak confidentially with their attorney telephonically on a private, non-recorded line prior to the start of the video/tele-conference;
  • And this is in addition to our traditional means of communications including in-person visits at our facilities.

While the foregoing measures will remain in place in the future, the Department is pleased to announce that it will be introducing an Attorney-Client Video Connect option for counsel to communicate with their clients in the future.  The Department has installed two (2) video connect modules/units located in the attorney visit rooms at the Middleton facility.  As such, the modules/units are contained in private rooms and for properly registered and approved counsel, will not be subject to recording and/or monitoring.  

For further details as to the Department’s Attorney-Client Video Connect system, including with respect to registering and scheduling appointments, kindly click here for additional information.