What If Your Loved One's Lawyer Is Out of State? How Video Visits with East Jersey State Prison Work

Out-of-state attorneys (or other out-of-state agencies) start with an Inter-State Compact check. Before the VTC request moves forward, the requesting agency must confirm there are no conflicts with New Jersey's Inter-State Compact Agreement. This step is required for all out-of-state videoconference requests involving a New Jersey state inmate - and handling it upfront prevents delays after you've already tried to lock in a date.

1. Have the requesting agency make the Inter-State Compact check - If an out-of-state agency is requesting a videoconference with a New Jersey state inmate, the requesting agency must contact Donna Sweeney-Elrose at 609-984-9598 to confirm possible conflicts with New Jersey’s Inter-State Compact Agreement.

The requesting side drives the scheduling. All VTC requests must be faxed to the facility's videoconferencing coordinator (or designee) at least 48 hours in advance - that's 2 or more business days before the requested conference. If your loved one's lawyer is coordinating from another state, encourage them to build in that lead time so they're not scrambling for a last-minute slot.

Timing matters. The VTC request form lists operational hours as 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Monday through Friday, and asks that conferences start no later than one hour before closing whenever possible. Translation: aim for earlier in the day, especially if the attorney needs a full session and doesn't want the call cut short.

How Families Can Help

• ✓ Provide the inmate’s name and institutional identification number or SBI number to the requesting agency
• ✓ If you don’t know the institutional ID/SBI number (or the inmate’s location), contact the NJDOC Inmate Locator Service at (609) 292-0328

Here's where you can genuinely speed things up. The requesting agency needs the inmate's name plus their institutional identification number or SBI number. Missing or incorrect identifiers slow everything down. If you can hand the attorney the correct number upfront - or get it through the NJDOC Inmate Locator Service at (609) 292-0328 - you help the request land cleanly the first time.

East Jersey State Prison has a few contact paths for videoconferences and legal access. Some listings name specific VTC contacts: Karyn Parker-Foreman (Karyn.Parker-Foreman@doc.nj.gov) and Carrie Davis (Carrie.Davis@doc.nj.gov), with the main phone number 732-499-5010 and extensions x2613 and x2701. Another NJDOC listing uses a shared legal-access email, ejsplegalaccess@doc.nj.gov, and includes Roxanne Riano, Susan Ryan, and Carrie Davis.

In practice, an out-of-state attorney usually starts at the facility level using the East Jersey contacts above - either the named individuals or the shared ejsplegalaccess@doc.nj.gov address. For broader program-level help, especially when coordinating across agencies, they can reach the NJDOC Videoconferencing Program Office by phone or fax. Keep both options handy when you're lining up schedules across state lines.