The Oakland Corrections Department in the city of Oakland serves as the prison for Alameda County County and other nearby cities. Be sure to check that an inmate is at a location and can receive visitors before making travel plans.
Calling an inmate can be difficult and costly. Some prisons charge inmates up to $14 a minute to make long-distance calls. The best way to avoid these fees is to set up a local phone number that has the same area code as the jail but rings at your phone number(s) no matter where you live. Globaltel provides this service and you can reach them at Inmate Calls. To send mail to an inmate you can visit Jail Postcards.
Every jail or prison will have their own unique rules for inmate visitation. Every inmate is informed of these visitation rules and what days and times they are allowed to have visitors. The first step is to get set up with phone service so you can contact your inmate directly and get accurate information about prison visitation. Prisoners are often placed in city jail for pretrial detention. Then they may be transferred back to jail to serve short sentences after trial, or placed in a temporary facility while awaiting transfer to a longer-term prison facility.
It’s important for families of inmates to help each other with information and tips about the prison facility they are in. You can leave comments and tips below about the best places to stay when visiting your inmate as well comments about any local service organization not already on our list of those available to help local families of inmates. We urge you to add your own comments about Oakland Corrections Department below. “