Indianapolis · Mental illness · JusticeUpdated October 12, 2026Share your story
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COMPARISON

Other sheriffs brought family visits back. Marion County's next sheriff can too.

Jails in Michigan and California have reopened in-person family visits in the past two years, and Indiana's own prisons offer them. Marion County's jail has been video only since 2022.

By Kate Vale · October 12, 2026

Since the Adult Detention Center opened in 2022, families have been allowed to visit people held there only by video. The Sheriff's Office lists in-person visits for attorneys and professionals only. After four years, video only can start to look like the way a modern jail simply works.

Other places show it does not have to be. Here are three jails that reopened in-person visits, and one Indiana agency that never closed them.

Genesee County, Michigan: back in about four months

Genesee County's jail had ended in-person visits and moved families to video. Sheriff Chris Swanson later explained how that happened: "The in-person visit stance never even crossed my mind, because it became a standard practice for staffing and as a revenue source" (Bridge Michigan).

In March 2024, Civil Rights Corps and Public Justice filed a class action on behalf of children of people held in the jail. Swanson launched what he called Operation Restoration, and in-person contact visits returned in July 2024. He said the lawsuit "got my attention" (ABC12).

Washtenaw County, Michigan: visits as a safety tool

In February 2026, the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office began in-person visits at its jail again (WEMU, Feb. 4, 2026). Sheriff Alyshia Dyer connected the change to children, to mental health and to lower reoffending. "Creating a situation where families can see and hug their loved one is just really rewarding," she said.

Shasta County, California: in person and free video, side by side

Shasta County's jail paused in-person visits for nearly a year during construction. In September, KRCR reported they were back on weekdays and weekends, in 30-minute slots, while people inside keep 60 minutes of free video visits a week. The pause there was for construction, so the situation differs from Marion County's. The useful part is the design: in-person visits and video, run together.

And here in Indiana

The closest example is our own state. The Indiana Department of Correction says: "In addition to traditional forms of visitation (contact and non-contact), alternative video visitation may be made available to help facilitate persons unable to travel to facilities" (IDOC). In state prison, video is the extra. In the county jail, it is the only choice.

My son lives with serious mental illness and spent nine months in the Adult Detention Center. In those nine months our family never had a single visit with him, in person or by video. I saw him only in brief glimpses across a courtroom at his few hearings. When he moved to state prison, we could visit him in person again.

What these places have in common

In Genesee and Washtenaw counties, the sheriff made the change and explained it in public. In Indiana's prisons, contact and non-contact visits sit alongside video.

Marion County elects a new sheriff on November 3, and the winner takes office January 1. Early voting has been open since October 6 (Mirror Indy election guide). Both candidates have been asked in writing, in the same words, whether they would restore in-person family visits. Neither has yet said in public. Where they stand is tracked here.

The City-County Council votes on the 2027 budget on October 19 (WISH-TV). It cannot reopen the visiting room by itself, but it can ask the Sheriff's Office what that would take.

What should change

  1. Before November 3, both candidates should say whether they will restore in-person family visits at the Adult Detention Center, and by when. Genesee County went from a lawsuit to an open visiting room in about four months.
  2. The next sheriff should start within the first 100 days, beginning with the jail's mental health units. Non-contact visits, which Indiana's prisons already offer, would be a reasonable first step.
  3. Keep video as an addition, the way Shasta County and the Department of Correction do, so families who cannot travel still have a way to see someone.
  4. Before October 19, a councilor should ask the Sheriff's Office in writing what it would take to restore in-person family visits, and what it would cost.

Sources

  1. Marion County Sheriff's Office, Visit with a person in jail (read Sept. 25, 2026)
  2. Bridge Michigan, "Right to hug" suits claim Michigan jails blocking family visits for profit (Sept. 3, 2025)
  3. ABC12, Genesee County jail to offer in-person visits through Operation Restoration
  4. WEMU, Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office begins in-person visitations in county jail (Feb. 4, 2026)
  5. KRCR, In-person visits resume at Shasta County Jail after nearly a yearlong pause (Sept. 8, 2026)
  6. Indiana Department of Correction, Visitation (read Sept. 28, 2026)
  7. Mirror Indy, 2026 Indianapolis Election Guide
  8. WISH-TV, public comments on the 2027 budget; final vote Oct. 19 (Oct. 5, 2026)
  9. Unheard Indy, "Where the candidates for sheriff stand on family visits, five weeks out" (Sept. 30, 2026)

Kate Vale, a mother in the gallery