How to Message an Inmate and Buy a Gold Pass at Saint Landry Parish Jail (JailATM guide)

At Saint Landry Parish Jail, inmates get a built-in amount of free tablet time: 15 minutes of free tablet usage every 3 hours. That free window matters if you’re trying to message back and forth, because it affects when your loved one can actually get on the tablet to read and reply.

Want more access than the free schedule allows? A Gold Pass gives an inmate unlimited tablet access for 24 hours. That means you can communicate on your schedule instead of waiting for the next free-time window.

To message someone at Saint Landry Parish Jail, you’ll need to register an account on JailATM.com. Without that account, you won’t be able to use the messaging system to communicate with an inmate.

Creating the account is only the first step. Messaging also requires a Messaging Subscription on JailATM so your account can be funded for sending messages (and for opening a “collect message”).

Here’s how the Messaging Subscription billing works at this jail. Once your Messaging Subscription is enabled, JailATM bills your card for $5.00 worth of credits to start. Each message you send costs $0.50, and that amount is deducted from your available credits until the balance runs down.

Auto-refill is convenient, but it can also create surprise charges if you’re not expecting it - especially if you’re sending messages often at $0.50 each. Keep an eye on your remaining credits, because once they’re too low to cover a message, the system triggers another $5.00 purchase on the stored card. The auto-billing service can be canceled at any time, so it’s worth checking your settings if you want tighter control over how and when your card is charged.

If you decide unlimited access would help, family and friends can purchase Gold Passes for inmates through JailATM.com. The Gold Pass is tied to the inmate’s tablet access, not your messaging credits.

• ✓ You’re trying to communicate more freely, and the free 15-minutes-every-3-hours schedule is making it hard to connect in real time.
• ✓ Your loved one wants the flexibility of unlimited tablet usage for 24 hours (Gold Pass) instead of waiting for the next free-time window.
• ✓ You’d rather pay for a 24-hour period of unlimited access than deal with limited access windows.
• ✓ You want to buy the pass yourself through JailATM.com so the inmate has the access on their end when they need it.

1. Save your payment confirmations - Messaging starts with a $5.00 credit purchase when you enable the Messaging Subscription, and you’ll want a record of each charge.
2. Track your credits as you message - Messages cost $0.50 each, deducted from your credits, so frequent messaging can burn through the $5.00 balance quickly.
3. Check for auto-refill activity - When your credits aren’t enough to send a message, JailATM automatically purchases another $5.00 in credits using your selected card unless you cancel auto-billing.
4. Review your account settings regularly - Since messaging requires a JailATM.com account and auto-billing can be turned off, it’s smart to periodically confirm the card and subscription settings match what you intend.