What You Need to Know About Phone Calls from Ward County Juvenile Detention

At Ward County Juvenile Detention, all correspondence - verbal and written - is monitored. That includes phone calls. Assume conversations are being listened to and plan what you share accordingly.

Juveniles can make phone calls between 8:00 AM and 10:00 PM. They can't receive live incoming calls - you won't be able to call in and have staff connect you. Contact happens through outgoing calls or voicemail (covered below).

Permitted Contacts

• ✓ Immediate family (parents, grandparents, legal guardians, siblings)
• ✓ Attorneys
• ✓ Clergyman

Calls also have technical restrictions. Toll-free numbers aren’t permitted, and neither are call forwarding, conference calling, or three-way calling. If you’re trying to route calls through a forwarded line, a conference app, or a “three-way” setup, the call may not go through.

Calls from Ward County Juvenile Detention are collect calls by default. When your child calls, your phone line has to accept the charges for the call to connect - unless they use a detention-issued phone card instead.

If your phone number blocks collect calls - whether from a carrier setting, landline feature, or something you set up in the past - those calls won't go through. You'll need to either remove the block or use the phone-card option so your child has another way to reach you.

• ✓ Accept the collect call when it comes in (calls from the facility are collect by default).
• ✓ Arrange for a detention-issued calling card and get the PIN to Juvenile Detention by dropping it off or phoning it in so your child can use it.

Ward County Juvenile Detention uses Reliance calling cards. You can buy them online at reliancetelephone.com in $10 and $20 denominations.

Once you have a card, your child needs the PIN to use it. The facility allows PINs to be dropped off or phoned in to Juvenile Detention - helpful if you're trying to get phone access set up quickly.

Juveniles can't receive live incoming calls, but they can get voicemail messages. To leave a message, call 701-792-6930 and follow the prompts.

1. Check whether your line accepts collect calls - look for carrier settings or account blocks that might prevent collect billing.
2. Avoid “workarounds” that aren’t allowed - toll-free numbers, call forwarding, conference calling, and three-way calling aren’t permitted, so these setups can stop a call from connecting.
3. Keep one direct number available - a straightforward, non-forwarded number is usually the easiest way to receive collect calls.

For billing questions, pricing issues, number blocks, or trouble receiving calls, contact Reliance Telephone at 800-896-3201. They handle the phone-service side of things.

1. Buy a Reliance calling card - cards are sold online at reliancetelephone.com in $10 or $20 amounts.
2. Get the PIN to Juvenile Detention - you can drop off the calling card PIN or phone it in so your child can use it.
3. Purchase carefully - detention calling cards are non-refundable.
4. Time it around calling hours - juveniles can place calls between 8:00 AM and 10:00 PM, so that’s when you’re most likely to see the card used.