About Prison

The Gaston County Jail in Gastonia, North Carolina, is a local jail facility operated by the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office.  Opened on November 1, 1999, the Gaston County Jail was built as part of the existing Gaston County Sheriff’s Office Detention System.  Initially, in 1996, Gaston County constructed and opened the Gaston County Jail Annex.  It was designed to meet the housing needs of Gaston County inmates.  It is a 24,740 square foot facility, with an operating inmate capacity of 159 and a total bed capacity of 176.  The Annex was not sufficient to meet Gaston County’s detention needs.  On November 1, 1999, Gaston County opened the current Gaston County Jail.  This jail facility is over 160,000 square feet.  Its operating inmate capacity is 368, with a total bed capacity of 408.

Gaston County separates its inmates by facility.  The Gaston County Jail, itself, houses male state pretrial detainees, as well as convicted inmates who have been sentenced to serve their sentences at the Gaston County Jail under the supervision of the Gaston County Sheriff.  In addition, the Gaston County Jail has a contract with the United States Marshal’s Office, to provide pretrial federal inmate housing in exchange for the payment of a per diem for each detained inmate.

The Jail Annex houses both male and female pretrial inmates.   It also houses convicted inmates and “weekender” inmates who are required to report to the jail on weekends (or when not working) to serve their sentences under the Gaston County Sheriff’s supervision.  The Jail Annex is also home to inmates who are working in a court-ordered work release program, as well as inmates who are federal inmates working on the Federal Work Release program.  Those federal inmates are housed by agreement with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which pays Gaston County Jail a per diem rate for each inmate.

For inmates on work release, the Jail Annex must verify and approve employment status before the inmates can start the work release program.  While the inmates are in the program, the Jail Annex must keep track of the inmates, their employment status, when they are out of the facility, and their job locations.  In addition, inmates on the Federal Work Release program must pay 25% of their gross wages, which go to the prison to offset the per diems provided by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

State Work Release inmates also have to pay a daily rate, which is based on their yearly income, and varies from $18 to $36 per day.  Weekend inmates are processed in a similar manner to work release inmates, because they are processed in and out of the facility each weekend, and the Jail Annex must make sure that they complete their sentences.

The Gaston County Jail has an on-site Medical Unit.  Medical staff is available 24 hours for inmates at the jail and the jail annex.  The jail kitchen is operated by a third-party contract food provider, and provides three meals daily to all inmates in the jail and the jail annex.  Meals are prepared in consultation with a registered dietician to ensure that they meet calorie requirements and any special or modified dietary needs that an inmate may have.

The Gaston County Jail offers various programs for the inmates.  Most programs are offered in partnership with outside agencies.  These programs include, but may not be limited to: high school programs through Gaston County Schools, a GED program through Gaston College, Domestic Violence Awareness programming offered through The Shelter, a county-led Substance Abuse Program, a volunteer-run AA Program, an HIV Awareness Program through the Gaston County Health and Human Services Department, a Father’s Forever Program through the Gaston County Health and Human Services Department, a Birds and Bees Program though the Crisis Pregnancy Ministry, and a Making Proud Choices Program through the Gaston County Health and Human Services Department.

Gaston County Jail Addresses

Physical Address

Gaston County Jail/ Gaston County Sheriff’s Office
425 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Gastonia, North Carolina 28052

Mailing Address

The mailing address for non-inmate mail is:

Gaston County Sheriff’s Office
425 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Gastonia, NC 28052

Inmate Mailing Address

The mailing addresses for inmate mail is:

Inmate First Middle Last Name
Gaston County Jail
PO Box 1578
Gastonia, NC 28053

The Gaston County Jail encourages communication with inmates, as long as you follow all jail mail rules.  All jail mail is opened and searched for contraband or prohibited content before being given to inmates, except for legal mail, which may be opened in the inmate’s presence in order to be searched for contraband.

While other items may be prohibited at the discretion of jail workers, the following list is a non-comprehensive list of items that are prohibited by the jail: illicit or enticing photos; materials with instructions on how to manufacture explosives, weapons, drugs, or other prohibited substances; materials advocating violence; materials advocating any type of bigotry (racial, religious, or national hatred); any material advocating or encouraging sexual behavior; material that is sexual in nature including pornography, erotica, illicit materials, or enticing materials; gang-related materials, including signs or symbols; perfume or other substances (lipsticks, bodily fluids, etc.) on the envelope or letter; paperclips; clasps; glued contents; or profanity on the envelope.

If the jail finds contraband in your envelope, they may choose from several remedies.  They might return the entire envelope and its contents to the sender.  However, if the contraband includes illegal items, the contraband will be confiscated.  In addition, you may have charges filed against you.

Any mail that is sent without a complete return address will be returned, unopened, to the Post Office.

Phone Number

The main phone number for Gaston County Jail is the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office number, which is 704-869-6800.  You can email the jail at [email protected].

Gaston County Inmate Search

The Gaston County Sheriff’s Office maintains a jail roster known as the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office Online Inmate Database.  Before you can use this database, you must agree to the disclaimer.  Inmate searches are only for current bookings and booking up to two years’ prior of the date of the search.  The Safari browser is not supported, and you will need Adobe 8 or higher to view and print any reports.  You can search for an inmate using last name, first name, global subject number, booking number, a range of booking dates, and the housing facility.  Inmates are arranged in alphabetical order, not by booking date.  You are presented initially with an overview that contains basic identifying information such as: the inmate’s name, race, gender, date of birth, height, and weight.  There is a mugshot for each inmate.  The overview also provides information on whether an inmate is still in custody, the housing facility, and whether the inmate has multiple bookings.  Clicking on an inmate’s name brings up a more extensive record, which includes the inmate’s address, booking history, bond amount, bail amount, booking origin, arrest location, bond type, charges against the inmate, date of the offense, docket number, sentence date, disposition, sentence length, crime class, court date, and arresting agency.

Bookings / Recent Arrests

The Gaston County Sheriff’s Office maintains a recent arrest list as part of its  Gaston County Sheriff’s Office Online Inmate Database.  To find recent arrests, you can go to the database and select “today’s bookings” at the bottom of the inmate inquiry screen.  Doing so gets you an overview of inmates booked in the last 24 hours.  The inmates are in alphabetical order.  Each overview record shows the inmate’s name, whether they are still in custody, race, gender, date of birth, height, weight, the housing facility, and whether the inmate has multiple bookings.  It also shows a mugshot.

Gaston County Mugshots

You can find inmate mugshots in the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office Online Inmate Database.

Jail Visitation

The Gaston County Jail encourages visits to inmates.  All visits are video visitation, whether visitation is onsite or remote.

Visitation hours are:

General Population (Main Jail and Annex)

Onsite Visitation Hours
Monday – Thursday
1:00 pm – 3:40 pm
6:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Remote Visitation Hours
Monday – Sunday
1:00 pm – 3:40pm
6:30 pm – 9:30pm

Closed Custody and Protective Custody (Onsite Only)

Onsite Visitation Hours
Monday – Thursday
8:00 pm – 9:30pm

Inmates are permitted one visit each week, except for inmate workers who can get two visits per week.  On site visits are limited to 2 adults and 2 children per visit.  Inmates can visit any day of the week, but visits are first-come, first-serve.  To schedule visits, you can schedule them in the front lobby of the Jail Annex or go to www.ICSolutions.com, select Gaston County Jail, and follow the scheduling instructions. You may schedule a visit anywhere from 1 day to 2 weeks in advance.  Visits last 15 minutes.

Even though visits are video, there are still rules governing inmate visitation.  If you fail to comply with visitation rules, the visit could be terminated, you could be banned from further visits, and, depending on the infraction, you could even face criminal charges.  All visits may be monitored and recorded.  All minor visits (under age 16) have to accompanied by an adult.  Remote visits cost money; you must have at least $7.50 in your ICSolutions prepaid account to schedule a remote visit.  You can add funds by calling 888-506-8407 or visiting www.ICSolutions.com.  To schedule a remote visit and test your connection prior to your first visit, you must visit www.ICSolutions.com.  Remote visitors need to login and connect prior to the scheduled visitation time.  Inmates cannot receive visits during scheduled inmate programming.  Onsite visitors must arrive 15 minutes before check-in.   All visitors must have a valid government issued photo ID, such as state ID cards, driver’s licenses, or military ID.  All visitors, including remote visitors, must dress appropriately.  The dress code prohibits: skin tight clothing, form fitting clothing, clothing with gang themes or colors, clothing with vulgar language or images, hates, see-through clothing, tank tops, skirts or dresses that are above the knee, and shorts shorter than mid-thigh.  All visitors must wear appropriate undergarments.

Visitors must not disturb or disrupt the visiting process, be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, refuse to show identification, or behave inappropriately.  Cancelation or denial of a visit is at the staff’s discretion.

Any attempt to bring firearms, narcotics, controlled substances, alcohol, explosives, or escape tools into the jail is a crime and can subject the individual to arrest.

Jail visitors are not permitted to bring the following items into the visitation area: tape recorders, purses, cameras, bags, brief cases, cell phones, wallets, or electronic devices.

You may not take a photo of an inmate during onsite or online visitation.

Visitors needing ADA assistance can call visitation at 704-866-3550, from 11:00am to 4:00pm Monday through Thursday.  After hours, you can speak to a supervisor on duty at 704-869-6869.

Inmate Phone Privileges

Gaston County Jail uses ICSolutions to provide inmate phone services.  Inmates are only permitted to make outgoing phone calls.  If you receive an inmate phone call, you will hear a message telling you that you have a call from an inmate at the Gaston County Jail, and you will be given three options: accept the call, refuse the call, or block the call.  The first 60 seconds of an accepted call is free the first time each number is called.  After that, you will be transferred to an ICSolutions operator to set up an ICSolutions account.  Once you set up an account, you can receive prepaid phone calls from inmates.  Refusing a call just requires hanging up the phone.  Blocking the call requires selecting that option and will block all calls from that inmate while at the Gaston County Jail; to unblock calls, you must contact an administrator at the Gaston Jail.

All calls are subject to monitoring and recording.

To purchase prepaid phone services, you can call ICSolutions at 1-888-506-8407.  You can also visit them https://icsonline.icsolutions.com/online.  You can even pay for prepaid phone services by mail at: ICSolutions, Attn: Customer Service Department/ Prepaid Account, 2200 Danbury Street, San Antonio, TX 78217.  If you are purchasing services through the mail, you need to include all of the following information in addition to your payment: you name, your address, and the phone number receiving the calls.

Inmates can also use debit calling.  This means that they can use money on their commissary accounts to purchase phone minutes.  These calls will be announced as “no cost to you” when you receive them, but you will still be required to accept the call before it begins.

Calls are limited to 15 minutes; at 14 minutes you will receive a warning that you have 1-minute left.

To avoid being disconnected, do not attempt three way calls; do not use features like call forwarding or call waiting; do not press any numbers on your keypad; and avoid long period of silence.

Inmate Trust Accounts / Commissary

The Gaston County Jail uses Tech Friends to handle its inmate trust accounts.  You can make online deposits at https://deposits.jailatm.com/WebDeposits/.  You can also put money in an inmate’s trust account in the lobby of the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office or the lobby of the Gaston County Jail Annex.  There are kiosks located in each of those lobbies.

Bail Information

Many people believe that bail or bond is a type of punishment.  It is not; it is simply a way to ensure that a defendant appears at trial.  Bail is granted or not granted depending on a defendant’s flight risk, which is determined by looking at factors like the inmate’s ties to the community, the severity of the crime, the inmate’s financial resources, and the inmate’s criminal history.

There are two basic types of bond: cash bond and bail bond.  Cash bond is paid, in full, in cash, and is fully refundable as long as a defendant appears at all hearings and complies with all conditions of bail.  In contrast, bail bond means that you use a third-party surety to secure the bond, and that you pay a percentage of the bond to that surety as a non-refundable fee.

Conclusion

The Gaston County Jail in Gastonia, North Carolina, is the local jail facility for Gaston County.  It houses male and female adult inmates.  It is primarily a pre-trial detention facility, but it may house post-sentencing inmate, as well.