Waukesha County restricts jail visitation hours

Sept. 17, 2012

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By Laurel Walker of the Journal Sentinel

Sept. 17, 2012 0

Waukesha - Waukesha County Sheriff Dan Trawicki has discontinued visitation at the county jail on Monday through Thursday nights, affecting attorneys visiting their clients and the general public seeking to visit a jailed family member or friend.

Sheriff's Inspector Eric Severson said the move was made as a cost-saving measure - one of several proposed for the 2013 budget that will help the department meet its tax levy target from the county executive. A three-month survey of visits shows that more than 50% of the time, there's one or fewer visitors during that period, Severson told the Criminal Justice Collaborating Council on Monday.

Jail Administrator Michael Giese said because a clerical position was vacant - the person who greets the public, makes certain they have proper credentials and links up the video visitation - the department decided to keep it vacant rather than lay a new employee off.

Visitation effective at the start of this month is from 7:30 to 11 a.m. and 12:30 to 4 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, visitation continues from 5:30 to 9 p.m.

"It's going fine," Giese said, adding that there have been no complaints so far.

The change in hours could be an inconvenience for attorneys who sometimes see their clients on the night before court hearings, especially when clients are delivered for appearances from state prisons. However, Severson said attorney-client visits may require better planning by attorneys or mean they'll have to visit their clients in state correctional facilities.

About Laurel Walker

Laurel Walker covered local, school and county government for 20 years -- the last half of that at the Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel -- before she was named Waukesha County columnist in 1997. Today she writes about the people, places and events around metropolitan Milwaukee with a broad suburban focus. She was the youngest of nine children raised on a central Wisconsin farm before leaving the nest for journalism studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a masters degree at the University of Oregon. She has spent the last half of her life in Waukesha County, where she and her husband raised two sons. Though she has a fondness for life in Waukesha, she eagerly partakes in the culture of the big city to the east and the recreation of the forests to the west. With sons in the arts, she has a special fondness for symphonic music concerts and art museums. She finds peace in a good book at a Northwoods getaway weekend, adventure in family visits to the east and west coasts, and satisfaction in a column well-written that reaches readers.