What families can expect during the first days at Jennifer Road Detention Center

Jennifer Road Detention Center is the Department of Detention Facilities’ maximum-security intake and pretrial detention facility. Each arriving person is processed in Receiving, where booking staff ask about residence, age, emergency contacts and related information. Staff collect, inventory and store personal property, then issue institutional clothing and linens that the person must return at release.

During intake, each person also receives an ID badge. It must be worn on the upper body when leaving the housing area; failing to wear it results in restricted movement.

Before and/or after booking, each person is permitted to use a collect-call telephone to contact an attorney, bondsman, friend or relative. That call is the first chance your family member or friend has to reach you by phone during intake.

You can use the county’s Inmate Locator to look for someone in county custody. Jennifer Road’s general contact number is (410) 222-7374.

Before anyone leaves Receiving, medical staff conduct an intake screening to determine whether immediate care or special housing is needed. The person being screened should cooperate fully and give accurate information. Everyone who remains in custody receives a physical examination by a physician or physician’s assistant within 14 days.

Most people move to intake housing after leaving Receiving. Usually within 72 hours, a Correctional Program Specialist or Case Manager handles intake functions based on whether the person is awaiting trial or has been sentenced. Both groups receive an interview covering residence, employment, education, drug or alcohol problems, mental-health problems, and past and present involvement in the criminal-justice system.

Classification assigns a security rating, also called a custody level, to both pretrial and sentenced people. For sentenced people, the interview information also helps determine eligibility for transfer to Ordnance Road Correctional Center, participation in programs and progression through classification.

For sentenced people, the Intake Case Manager decides after the interview and custody-level assignment whether they are eligible for Ordnance Road or will remain at Jennifer Road, and explains the criteria. Those staying at Jennifer Road receive an orientation using the inmate booklet, a video or both. The Case Manager also reviews the commitment record and court-imposed sentence with them and explains how classification relates to their sentence and commitment status.

Once that intake process is complete, sentenced people staying at Jennifer Road can expect a move to general housing within one to five business days. Their next meeting is with a Classification Case Manager, expected within seven days following intake.

For those eligible for Ordnance Road, transfer is scheduled for the next business day, subject to approval by the Intake Division Supervisor. After arrival, an Ordnance Road Case Manager reviews the intake interview and custody level, determines eligibility for immediate assignment to the Work Release Program, and provides information about the facility’s operations, programs and case-management services.