About Prison

The Canyon County Detention Center in Canyon County, Idaho, is a local jail facility operated by the Canyon County Sheriff’s Department.

The Canyon County Sheriff’s Security Services Division is under the direction of Captain Daren Ward.  Inmate Control, which is the largest unit in the Sheriff’s Office, is supervised by Lt. Eric Miller.  Detention Alternatives, which handles the Work Release, Sheriff’s Inmate Labor Detail (SILD), Intensive Community Supervision, and Pre-Trial Release Programs.

Canyon County is the second-largest county, in terms of population, in Idaho.  The county seat is Caldwell, but the largest city is Nampa.  Canyon County is part of the Boise Metropolitan Statistical area.

This prison is classified as a temporary housing facility.  It holds pre-trial detainees who are awaiting resolution of their cases, post-conviction inmates who are awaiting sentencing or transfer to other facilities, and some post-conviction and post-sentencing inmates who are serving out their sentences at the facility.

Short-term holding facilities face a unique set of challenges.  They must be capable of screening and processing incoming inmates who have been accused of a wide variety of crimes and present various security risks.  Inmate security means that these inmates all have to be protected from each other, while the jail still ensures that it is capable of holding inmates who might present a danger to those outside of the jail facility.

Therefore, the Canyon County Detention Center has to be able to process incoming inmates, divert inmates to the appropriate security level, and monitor inmates to ensure that there are no changes in security classification while they are incarcerated.  Things the jail considers when making initial housing determinations include: documented criminal history, the crime that has been charged, the inmate’s mental health condition, the inmate’s physical health condition, and any other factor that would either make the inmate a greater risk or place the inmate at a greater risk inside the jail facility.

In addition, as a temporary housing facility, the jail does not offer the same level and variety of programming and intervention that can be found at a long-term detention facility.  While the Detention Center makes every effort to ensure inmate mental and physical health, they do not offer long-term programming aimed at solving some of the problems that lead to incarceration in the first place.

However, the Canyon Count Detention Center does have a medical staff, which has been working in correctional medication for over 40 years.  You can bring medications to inmates during visitation.  The jail medical staff will determine whether or not the medication is necessary, and, if they deem it necessary, the inmate will receive the medication.  No over-the-counter medications are given to inmates through this program.  Inmates in need of medical services can also pay a $10.00 clinical services fee to be seen by a member of the medical services staff.  Inmates in need of prescriptions will pay the rate charged by the pharmaceutical companies.

Jail Address

Physical Address

Canyon County Jail
219 N. 12^th Street
Caldwell, ID 83605

Mailing Address

The Canyon County Jail mailing address is:

Canyon County Jail
219 N. 12^th Street
Caldwell, ID 83605

Inmate Mailing Address

To send inmate mail via the U.S. Postal Service, you send it to the following address:

Inmate Name
Inmate Number
219 N. 12^th Street
Caldwell, ID 83605

Inmates can receive regular mail via the USPS.  However, very specific rules apply to inmate mail.  These rules are designed to help ensure the safety and security of the facility and all of the inmates in it.  Violating the rules will result in the mail not being delivered to the inmate.  Attempting to send contraband could result in your or the inmate or both losing mail privileges.  It may also result in you being charged with a criminal offense.

Inmate mail rules are as follows:

• No paper or cards larger than 8 ½ x 11 (the standard notebook paper size);
• The sender’s complete return address, including full name and mail address, must be on the outside of the envelope;
• No third party mail;
• No foreign substances in the mail including stickers, perfume, lipsticks, tape, glitter, confetti, plastic metal, ribbons, string, or unknown stains;
• No gang references;
• No musical cards;
• No photos larger than 5x7;
• Photos in large print-out sheets must be cut to size;
• No Polaroid or similar-type self-developing pictures allowed;
• No plastic or plastic-coated pictures;
• No pictures from a prison or jail facility allowed;
• No hand signs of any kinds in any photos;
• No nude photos or any with content deemed inappropriate; and
• No photos containing partial nudity, swimsuits, or underwear.

Inmates can receive books and magazines.  However, they must be sent from a bookstore specializing in the sale of books or from the publisher.  Books cannot be shipped from third-party books sites like Amazon.  All books and publications must be purchased new; no used books will be accepted.   Inmates cannot receive books with: hard covers; plastic covers; spiral binding; metal or plastic parts; nudity, partial nudity, underwear or swimsuits; gang-related material; hand signs; content deemed unacceptable to the facility; or oversized or heavy books.

Phone Numbers

The main contact number for the Canyon County Jail is 208-454-7541.  The fax number for the jail is 208-454-6674.  The main contact number for the Canyon County Sheriff’s Department: 208-454-7510.  The Canyon County Detention Center takes incoming phone calls during normal administrative hours, but also handles after hours’ emergency calls.  If you cannot reach the jail, you can contact the Canyon County Sheriff’s Department’s main number.

Canyon County Jail Roster

Canyon County Jail has a jail roster.  You can enter a name into the search bar or you can click on letters and search inmates by last name.  The list contained in the roster includes all individuals currently housed in the Canyon County Jail or the Canyon County Work Release Center.  In addition to adults charged with offenses, the list may include adults with juvenile offenses, juveniles with adult charges, individuals held in civil contempt case, and participants in programs that are not jail programs, such as the Sheriff’s Inmate Labor Detail, Pretrial Release, and Intensive Community Supervision.  Once you locate an inmate, you can get more information, including: inmate number, inmate’s full name, the charges against the inmate, and the booking photo/mugshot.  You can also register with Vine for change-of-status updates.

Current Arrests

As part of its jail roster, Canyon County also lists current arrests by date in a current arrests list.  You can enter a name into the search bar or you can click on letters and search inmates by last name.  The list contained in the roster includes all individuals currently housed in the Canyon County Jail or the Canyon County Work Release Center.  In addition to adults charged with offenses, the list may include adults with juvenile offenses, juveniles with adult charges, individuals held in civil contempt case, and participants in programs that are not jail programs, such as the Sheriff’s Inmate Labor Detail, Pretrial Release, and Intensive Community Supervision.  Once you locate an inmate, you can get more information, including: inmate number, inmate’s full name, the charges against the inmate, and the booking photo/mugshot.  You can also register with Vine for change-of-status updates.

Mugshots

Canyon County Jail has mugshots available on a jail roster that also includes other pertinent information about the inmate.

Visitation

All visitors must comply with visitation rules at all times or the visit may be terminated and the visitor’s visitation privileges may be revoked.

Canyon County Jail uses Getting Out to offer video based visitation.  All visits are conducted by video, whether they are on-site or remote visits.  Each inmate gets two 30-minute, on-site visits per week.  You may also purchase additional remote visitation time.

Video visitation can take some adjusting for inmates and families.  However, there are a number of reasons that jails offer remote visitation.  First, the security risks associated with in person visitation decline dramatically with video visitation.  Second, they increase the ability to visit with inmates, because they remove concerns about travel, child care, travel-related expenses, taking time from work, not being allowed to bring possessions into visitation, etc.  As a result, many inmates get more visits with remote visitation, and many family members and/or friends are able to visit more frequently.

If engaging in video visitation from the lobby, a visitor should check-in 5 minutes prior to the scheduled visitation.  In addition to the two free on-site visitations each inmate gets weekly, you may also be able to pay for additional on-site visitation, which is scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Remote visitation requires visitors to have access to high-speed internet, a web cam, a microphone, and speakers.  This service is scheduled directly through the Getting Out website.

Inmate visitation is considered a privilege and may be denied for disciplinary reasons or for operational necessity.

Normal visitation hours are 7 days a week, from 8:00am-10:30am; 12:00pm-4:30pm, and 7:00pm-11:00pm.  Inmates cannot visit during their lockdown time.

All video visits can be monitored and recorded.  It is important to keep in mind that, while video visits are not as strictly monitored as contact visits, and remote visits have even more freedom than on-site video visits, they are still subject to rules and regulations.  Visitors who violate dress codes, or engage in behavior likely to disrupt the facility, such as gang-related or excitable behavior, may be barred.

Inmate Phone Privileges

Canyon County Jail uses Telmate and CBM Managed Services for its commissary and telephone communications.

Inmates cannot receive incoming calls, but can place outgoing calls during approved hours.  If you need to reach an inmate in an emergency, you can contact the jail.  The jail staff will then determine if the emergency warrants emergency contact with the inmate.  You may be asked to provide verification of the emergency situation.

Inmates can place collect calls or can use funds from their commissary calls to make phone calls.

There are general rules about calls from correctional facilities.  First, you can block the calls if you do not want to receive calls from inmates.  In addition to blocking the calls, be sure to inform the Canyon County Jail if you are receiving any threatening, intimidating, or otherwise inappropriate calls from jail.

You cannot use call features when receiving a call from an inmate.  If you attempt to use call-waiting, call-forwarding, or multi-line calls, your call may be disconnected.  In addition, an attempted use of these features may impact your ability to receive inmate calls, as well as the inmate’s ability to make phone calls.

All phone calls are monitored automatically by the phone system.  Calls may be recorded.  

Trust Accounts / Commissary

Canyon County Jail provides commissary services for inmates.  This service is handled by an outside vendor, CBM Managed Services, in conjunction with Telmate.  Deposits can be made online or by calling 1-866-516-0115.  There is also a kiosk in the jail lobby that accepts cash and credit or debit card deposits.  The Canyon County Jail no longer accepts money order deposits.

Commissary day is Saturday, and all orders must be placed by Thursday.  Funds for orders must be in inmate trust accounts by 5:00pm on Wednesday.  Inmates can spend up to $45.00 per week.  All commissary sales are final; released inmates may pick up their commissary order within 5 days of delivery.  Any orders that are not picked up will be donated to charity.

Commissary items include: snacks, candy, personal hygiene items, writing materials, cards, and games. Indigent inmates may receive a free writing pack.

Inmate trust account funds may also be used to reimburse the jail for inmate living expenses.  The cost of this reimbursement is limited by state statute to a maximum of $25.00 per day.

Bail Information

In Canyon County, Idaho, you can find out information about an inmate’s court dates and bail bond amounts by contacting the Canyon County Clerk’s Office at 208-454-7575.  You may be able to use the icourt function to pay certain fees, or you can arrange payment to the county court with jurisdiction over the defendant.

You can find out if an inmate is scheduled in court by looking at the daily court schedule.

The court has discretion to order a number of different types of bond or bail arrangements.  The two most common types of bonds are cash bonds and surety bonds, although many inmates are also released on personal recognizance bonds.  Personal recognizance bonds allow inmates to be released pending trial based on a promise to appear.  Cash bonds secure the promise to appear with a cash bond that is forfeited if a defendant does not appear at trial.

Surety bonds are more complicated, because they only require posting a percentage of the bond.  Surety bonds are handled through third-parties, known as bondsmen or sureties.  Their job is to ensure that the inmate appears at trial; if they do not, then the surety is responsible to the court for the unpaid portion of the bond.  The bonding company and the person guaranteeing the bond (the guarantor) enter into an agreement for the bonding company to post bond on behalf of a defendant in exchange for a fee.  Sureties charge fees for their services, which are normally 10 percent of the total bond amount.

If you are in need of a surety bond, the Canyon County Jail will not recommend any particular bondsman.  However, if you need the services of a bondsman, you can find one in the Yellow Pages or online.

Conclusion

The Canyon County Detention Center is the county jail facility servicing Canyon County, Idaho.  It is located at 219 N. 12^th Street, in Caldwell, Idaho.  It is run by the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office’s Detention Division.

The Canyon County Detention Center is a temporary holding facility, which is designed to hold inmates who have been detained by the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office and other local law enforcement agencies.  The Canyon County Jail holds inmates who are pretrial detainees, as well as post-conviction inmates who may be awaiting sentencing or movement to other facilities.  Some inmates may be very temporary, and only held in the facility during processing.

The Canyon County Detention Center is also the base for a few sentencing alternatives such as work release, community supervision, and Canyon County’s version of a trustee program.