In the spirit of the holiday season, inmates incarcerated this Christmas in Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s jails will have the opportunity to share the joy of the season through the office’s web based video visitation system.

The technology will allow inmates to be able watch as their kids open presents or to visit with their loved ones as they enjoy the Christmas meal.

Family and friends of the 8,000 plus inmates in jail this holiday can sign up today to schedule a Christmas day visit from virtually anywhere in the world. They must sign up at least 24 hours in advance of the visit. Each visit will last 20 minutes and will cost absolutely nothing, courtesy of the Sheriff and the company who installed the technology, Securus Technologies.

“Normally a 20 minute remote video visit will cost the requesting family member or friend just shy of $13 but in the spirit of Christmas, we are offering Christmas day visits for free this year,” Sheriff Arpaio said.

All that is needed for a remote video visit is either a personal or public computer that has a web camera and a high-speed internet connection. Requestors must also create a user account by visiting the website www.visitfromhome.net/maricopa. New visitation accounts must be approved in-advance before a visit can be scheduled.

If a requestor has not already created an account and had it approved, it is highly recommended the home-user apply for an account as soon as possible. Visitors can now download a Securus app for their Android devices from the google play store allowing outsiders to conduct their visits from an android smartphone or tablet using a wi-fi connection.