News

Visitation kiosks frustrate users in North Dakota prison

January 27, 2020

Visitors to the Grand Forks County, North Dakota jail have encountered problems with the visitation kiosks — problems that Grand Forks Herald reporters have confirmed during their own visits to the facility, according to a recent Grand Forks Herald report.

In some instances, the interactive touchscreen kiosks operated by TurnKey Corrections, based in River Falls, Wisconsin, do not work at all, the newspaper reported. In other instances, the video or audio feed fades and in still other cases, visitors have trouble following the kiosks' instructions, the report said.

Bret Burkholder, the prison's administrator, was unaware of any complaints, while Dewey Wahlin, president of TurnKey, was unaware of "major" complaints, according to the report. One inmate reported that his parents stopped visiting him after they were unable to get the staff to help them use the kiosks.