Collin County TX Detention Facility

Collin County TX Detention Facility basic information to help guide you through what you can do for your inmate while they are incarcerated. The facility's direct contact number: 972-547-5200, 972-424-1433

This facility is for adult inmates.

The Collin County TX Detention Facility is a medium-security detention center located at 4300 Community Ave McKinney, TX which is operated locally by the Collin County Sheriff's Office and holds inmates awaiting trial or sentencing or both. Most of the sentenced inmates are here for less than two years. Collin County accepts inmates from surrounding towns, municipalities, the US Marshal's Service and the McKinney Police Department who do not have their own long-term lock-up.

Collin County opted to construct a "direct supervision" facility, which uses a podular design for inmate housing instead of a linear design, to create a secure and humane environment for both staff and inmates. The structure, in tandem with the direct supervision philosophy, promotes supervision of inmates rather than control by intermittent surveillance and security barriers alone. Recognizing that during the course of their careers detention employees will spend more time in the facility than will any incarcerated individual, the facility was designed to offer safe and normal working environment for the staff. This environment promotes positive morale, increases motivation, improves efficiency, and minimizes staff turnover.

Under the direct supervision philosophy, a detention officer is present inside the housing unit at all times to directly supervise and interact with the inmates. It is the responsibility of the officer to maintain control of the inmates' behavior, minimize negative conduct, and reduce or eliminate tension causing situations. Officer security is maintained by use of body alarms, radio communication, and surveillance cameras. Paramount to the success of this style of supervision is the officer's complete authority and control over his or her area of responsibility. Inmates who refuse to conform to the concept of direct supervision are reassigned to a traditional linear housing unit. Each inmate spends most of his or her time inside the housing unit. The need for frequent and costly inmate movement is greatly reduced by providing most services within the housing unit or at the cluster level. Direct supervision enhances the interaction between detention officers and inmates, reduces inmate violence and vandalism, and provides a significant cost savings by reducing the number of staff needed to operate the facility.

Inmates at the Collin County Detention Facility are able to make pre-paid account calls only. Friends and family members are able to place money on a specific phone number account through ICSolutions.

Inmates can also purchase phone time from their commissary accounts.

The following is a brief overview of the areas, services, and functions within the detention facility.

The Detention Bureau is a division of the sheriff's office and operates under the jurisdiction of the sheriff although it is physically separated from the sheriff's administrative area.

Two public waiting areas are located in the detention lobby to separate inmate visitors and administrative visitors. Public information, visitor processing, storage lockers, restrooms, water fountains, and telephones are also available in the lobby. Visitors' access to the facility is controlled with security zones.

Staff services and training areas are located throughout the building and include an indoor dining room, outdoor dining area, short order grill, vending area, locker rooms, and facilities for classroom instruction, briefings, and physical training.

Security of the building, both inside and out, is provided via 24-hour a day monitoring conducted from a master control station. This station is equipped with state-of-the-art electronic monitoring systems for all access points, fire and smoke detection, and mechanical and emergency power systems. An additional control station is located at each cluster level housing area to directly monitor individual pod activities.

The processing area, sometimes called intake or booking, is the inmate's first contact with the detention facility. It is here that the inmate is introduced to the direct supervision philosophy, as he or she will remain in an open waiting area, in lieu of being held in a secured cell, until the booking process is completed, or unless his or her behavior warrants traditional confinement. Measures have been implemented throughout the processing area to maximize coordination and efficiency of the intake system, i.e., separate processing and circulation zones for admissions, transfers, and releases.

Adjacent to the processing area are the property, bond, and release areas, which are accessible via the public corridor to allow persons to post bonds, pay fines, or retrieve personal property for incarcerated inmates. All inmate property and financial accounts are maintained and all release transactions are conducted in these areas. The effectiveness of the direct supervision management philosophy relies strongly on accurate classification of the inmates. The classification process examines the inmate's criminal history and observes and evaluates his or her physical, mental, and social conditions and behaviors to determine the most appropriate housing unit assignment for that person. Newly arriving inmates are temporarily placed in the classification housing unit until the evaluation is completed and the inmates are given a permanent housing assignment. While in the temporary unit, inmates are required to participate in an orientation program designed to familiarize them with the direct supervision philosophy, facility rules and regulations, services, and programs.

Another area within the facility that contributes to the efficiency of detention operations is arraignments. The ability to conduct in-house arraignments increases security, reduces inmate transportation time and costs, and aids the judges who are required to conduct arraignments during non-business hours and weekends. The area was designed to accommodate installation of video arraignment equipment in the future.

Detention Response Team (D.R.T.). Also within the detention bureau is the Detention Response Team. The D.R.T. officers are specifically trained to respond to high-risk situations within the facility such as barricaded inmates, hostage situations, and high-profile inmate transport.

The facility is equipped to provide certain services to meet the basic health, nutrition, hygiene, and sanitation needs of the inmates. The design allows as many of these required services as possible to be delivered to the housing units to maximize security and minimize the need for staff intensive inmate movement and transportation costs. There are medical exam rooms located in the processing area, the infirmary, and each cluster. Inmate medical care, basic clinical and dental services are provided in-house. The food service area was sized to accommodate the complex-level build-out of 1,600 beds.

Meals are prepared on site by inmate workers under the supervision of the kitchen staff, then delivered to the housing units. Also designed for maximum build-out, the laundry service area contains commercial grade laundering and sewing equipment, and storage space for linens and inmate clothing. Other service areas include a commissary, barbering areas, and a mail room.

In keeping with its mission of system efficiency and fiscal responsibility, the facility includes space to provide self-improvement and educational opportunities in an effort to reduce the recidivism rate and comply with state regulations. Volunteers conduct a majority of the activities, which include courses in G.E.D., adult basic education, adult literacy, drug rehabilitation and counseling, religious and library services, visitation, and recreation. In addition to the sheriff's alternative confinement and sentencing programs, an inmate worker program is in place to facilitate completion of many tasks, such as preparation of inmate meals, trash collection and disposal, and general housekeeping. Availability of these programs serves as a management tool since inmate participation is contingent upon the display of positive, responsible behavior.

visitation Info

Collin County TX Detention Facility – Visitation

All visitors must arrive 20 minutes before scheduled visitation time.  All visits are 25 minutes.

Five additional minutes are added for walking time to Cluster.

Visitation Rules

1. Please note that visitation times are subject to change without notice.
2. All visitors must be signed up to visit 20 minutes before visitation begins.  Late visitors will not be permitted to go to visitation.
3. Visitors will not be authorized to sign up more than one hour before visitation.
4. All visitors are required to present valid identification displaying their photograph (example: a current Driver's License or Texas State Department of Public Safety Identification Card) in order to be issued a visitor's pass.
5. Visitors must appear on the inmate's visitation list in order to visit.
6. Only one adult visitor per inmate will be allowed each visitation day.  Children will be allowed to visit on a space available basis.  Children 16 years of age and younger will be allowed to visit only if they are a child of the inmate or visitor.  This requirement would not apply to any individual who is legally married to an inmate.
7. Cash money may be left for inmates Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm.  Other approved items may be left anytime.
8. The jail will not accept messages for inmates nor can inmates receive incoming calls.
9. All mail must go through the Postmaster.  Front Desk personnel are not allowed to accept mail of any kind.
10. Visitors must follow all visitation rules and be completely and properly dressed.  Persons wearing mini-skirts, sleeveless tops, transparent or provocative clothing will not be permitted to enter the facility.  Shorts must be no shorter than 5 inches above the knee.
11. No items are allowed to be taken back into the visitation area; this includes, but is not limited to (purses, backpacks, cameras, cell phones, etc.)
12. The Sheriff's Office reserves the right to deny any visit when there is reason to believe that the visit is not in the best interest of the safety and security of the facility.