WARREN, Ohio - The Trumbull County Jail has changed its visitation policy. Inmates no longer see any visitors in-person, with the jail having moved to virtual-only meetings.

“People are going to realize it’s a better way to go,” Trumbull County Sheriff Mike Wilson said. “It’s new to us at Trumbull County Jail but it's been in corrections for a while.” 

The new policy went into effect this past week following in the footsteps of jails across the country and other local jails like in Columbiana County. 

The inmates sit at a kiosk and can see and hear their visitors through a screen. If someone at home doesn't have a computer they can come to the jail and use one in the visitation room.

Tiffany Newsome has tried to virtually visit her partner in the jail four times. Each time they ran into a different technical issue.

“We couldn't hear, half the time the screen glitches and it freezes and you can't hear or see until it's done glitching and then the other person doesn't know what you said,” Newsome told 21 News. 

With the new policy visitors are charged by the minute for the call. That money goes to the company running the system, not the jail. Each inmate also gets two free visits a month. 

Sheriff Wilson explained the change is supposed to be more flexible by extending the hours inmates and visitors can talk, and allowing them to have multiple calls a week. 

“It gives inmates more time with their loved ones. It gives loved ones more access to their inmates,” he said. “I think it's going to be beneficial.”

But Newsome said it’s having the opposite effect on the inmates. 

“They don’t get to have visits. They don't get to see their kids, their family, nothing because nothing works,” she said. 

Sheriff Wilson doesn’t currently have any plans to bring back in-person visits.