Public Visits To Resume On May 29 At All Essex County Sheriff Facilities

Press release from the Essex County Sheriff's Department:

May 26, 2021

Public visitation at all Essex County Sheriff’s Department facilities will resume Saturday, May 29, announced Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger.

“We want to thank everyone for their patience during the pandemic and the impact it had on visitation. We know this was a difficult time for loved ones, but the decision to shut down facilities to the public was done to keep everyone who works and lives here safe,” Coppinger said. “We are excited, relieved, but also cautious about this next step forward, and very much looking forward to an end to this pandemic.”

Masks will still be required at all times, and the Department continues to urge people to use of its video visitation program. This program was launched during the pandemic to keep loved ones connected with incarcerated individuals. Since the program was launched in December 2020, the Department has scheduled over 12,000 video visits with loved ones, with an average of 475 video visits per week.

“Expediting the video visits program was a top priority during the pandemic. We know how important family and friends are to an incarcerated person’s health and recovery, and this program helped maintain those necessary connections,” Coppinger said. “We’ve learned a great many things from COVID-19, and this program is one of the operational changes we made that will have a long-lasting, positive impact on how we help people.”

Visits will be allowed by appointment seven days a week, with night and special visits on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings at the Middleton Jail and House of Corrections, 20 Manning Avenue, Middleton, MA.

The Essex County Pre-release and Re-entry Center, 165 Marston St., Lawrence, MA and the Women in Transition facility, 197 Elm St., Salisbury, follow a different schedule.

This press release was produced by the Essex County Sheriff's Department. The views expressed here are the author’s own.