VISITATION AT
THE SUSAN KAY BUILDING
Dallas County Jail
Kay this is the Suzanne Kays jail where I was after returning from Big Spring. This building was an old tire factory and it is a mess; noisy, filthy ect.
Prison workers are public servants, just as are cops and courts. It is a never ending source of frustration that those who work for the system are so rude to those who pay their salaries. No one questions the prison workers' authority over prisoners, but visitors are citizens who have not been convicted of a crime and deserve to be treated with consideration. Without their tax money, there'd be no jails nor jobs. Just a word to the wise employee - If you don't watch your step these families are going to begin suing you en masse. Do you think the state will be so happy with your rudeness and ill manners that they will continue to pay the losses to keep your unprofessional butts on the job? Kay Lee
Friday August 19, 2005
"I went to visit Sharif at the Susan Kay building, and had to wait in line for 30 minutes. When I finally arrived at the desk, the officer told me that I could not visit because Sharif did not have a visitors card on file.
When I spoke to Sharif Friday evening he told me that he was transferred to that building at 6pm on the 19th. Earlier that morning I spoke with the court clerk who said he was already there.
Saturday August 20, 2005Sharif's friend went to visit Sharif to inform him that his mom in Fl. has cancer is very ill. She made it to the facility at 2:30pm. She waited in line with her two children in the hot heat because there was not a waiting room in the jail for visitors to wait.
When she was the 4th in line at the door, at 3:20pm the officer come back out and said that they are not letting any more people visit for the day. The policy says if you are not there prior to 30min before the end of visiting hours you will be able to visit. Sharif's friend had been waiting for over an hour.
She informed me of this incident around 5pm on Saturday. I called and spoke with the sergeant in charge at that time, Sergeant Womack, and explained to him the urgency of that visit. His response was that there were rules posted on the door and that it was not the responsibility of the officer minding the door to see who was there before the 30 min deadline. When I told him that I would be speaking with Lt. Pharr he said that he doesn't care who I call and was real quick to give me the number, knowing that Lt. Pharr was not going to be at work on a Saturday.
Sunday August 21, 2005I tried again to visit Sharif. When I arrived at the jail at 8:15am, the line was extended all the way back to the drive way. I stood in line along with several others for over an hour.
While in line an elderly lady around 60-70 years of age was waiting behind me. She eventually could not bear to stand any longer, so her daughter went into the jail facility to see if they had a chair for her to sit in. The daughter came back and said that the officer told her mother to sit on the concrete wall because they did not have a chair.
About 9:20 my head began to swim as if I was having a heat stoke. I am currently 8 months pregnant and I was with my 9 year old son and my 3yr old daughter. I began to feel faint and I left the line, not consciously knowing how long I had been standing there until I arrived back to my car and saw the time was 9:27 am.
There was also a lady who was able to get in to visit. She made a comment to another lady that she was at the jail at 5:15 that morning to assure her way in the door.
As many of the different housing facilities that Dallas County has, Susan Kay is the worst of all for visiting. The officer's don't have compassion for the people standing in this hot Texas heat whatsoever, and the facility is not big enough to accommodate the visiting schedule. There are always people in line complaining about the fact that they have been turned away. This is absurd. Someone definitely needs to be made aware of this problem." A. Smith
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Kay Lee
