CCNO Makes Policy Changes In Response To Coronavirus Outbreak

CCNO officials met with the Williams County Health Department to discuss and establish protocol. The health and safety of CCNO Staff and inmates, as always, is our primary concern. In an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, CCNO will be following the recommendations of Governor Mike DeWine and limit the access into and the movement out of CCNO.

Effective today and until further notice, the following changes will be implemented at CCNO:

• Lobby visits will no longer be available. All visits will be done via the tablets.
• Public tours are cancelled.
• Volunteers will not be entering CCNO for any programming. This includes religious services. Bibles are available to the inmate population in both hard copy and digital. We are coordinating with our tablet provider GTL and local religious organizations to stream services via the tablets.
• The 2020 volunteer orientation and banquet are cancelled.
• Community Public Works (CPW) and Helping Inmates Through Training (HITT) programs will be suspended.
• Professional visitors are strongly encouraged to utilize our video arraignment and video visits on the tablets.
• Our tablet providers GTL will provide free confidential visits for attorneys and their clients, if they do not have access to video arraignment.
• Transportation in and out of the facility will be limited. The Courts will be notified to utilize video arraignment to the best of their ability. Therefore, no large groups of inmates will be onboard CCNO transportation vehicles.
• Along with limiting facility access, several preventative measures are being taken including additional soap for hand-washing. Hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes are available in designated areas. A bleach based solution is utilized to clean the inmate housing units daily. Inmates are being shown a CDC preventative actions video.
• Inmates are screened during the booking process for symptoms of contagious disease; temperatures taken, checked for cough, shortness of breath and if they recently been in areas designated by the CDC as being highly contagious.

Executive Director Dennis Sullivan states “We are very fortunate to be able to provide the same or similar services by the use of the tablet technology. The situation is constantly changing. We will continue to monitor these events and address accordingly.”