FARMINGTON—Inmates at the Davis County Correctional facility now have access to their own tablet they can use to watch movies, listen to music or call family members. It’s a new program designed to help alleviate stress and mental health issues among those in custody.

“We’re the first ones in Utah,” said Davis County Sheriff Kelly V. Sparks. “When our jail commanders came to me with the idea I thought it was crazy. But once we saw what it means for us the benefits far outweighed any negative so we decided to do it.”

They only have intranet access, he said. “The content is all prescreened. There’s nothing violent or inappropriate.”

Sparks said the tablets can assist in dealing with mental illness. “Getting arrested is not an easy thing. Being in jail is hard. I don’t apologize for that. But some people get despondent or try to harm themselves. The staff has to deal with that.” 

Especially during COVID they have to go into quarantine, he said. “They’re limited on books, no TV and don’t have contact with family for support. There’s the initial shock of going into jail and it’s almost like solitary confinement.”

The tablets can help mitigate the stress, said Sparks. “It gives them access to the inmate phone system. They can make more calls instead of 48 people trying to share four phones. They can call family members when they feel like they're in crisis. They can also send e-messages to us over those devices as well.”

All calls are still monitored to make sure nothing inappropriate is going on, he said. “Inmates can’t surf the web or have access to anything outside our closed internet.”

The partner providing the tablets is the same one they were using for inmate phones, Sparks said. “There are fees for phone calls. Inmates can use money in their account or have a family member who is willing to accept the call. We have one of the lowest fee schedules in the state. That’s what pays the provider for the tablets so they’re self funding.”

Movies, music and podcasts are all through subscription services, he said. “It’s similar to Netflix or Amazon. Every inmate has access to the basics regardless of their ability to pay.”

The tablets have mental health podcasts, a job search, a law library and educational materials. “The job search is one of the most popular applications,” said Sparks. “Our goal is to help inmates in custody to be better prepared to go back into society.”

Sparks said the tablets are assigned out in the morning and collected in the evening. “It also gives them the incentive to keep their cells clean and follow the rules of the jail. If they don’t follow the rules they can’t have access to that. It gives us some management tools.”

He said the tablets are not meant to give them privileges. “Some people think they should be locked up and treated harshly. But we’ve found throughout the years that doesn’t work. If they’ve committed a crime they have to be held accountable. But as a correctional facility we want to do what we can to make them better when they leave than they were when they came in.”