Colorado Children Sue County Jail to Fight Visitation Ban
For years, the Adams County Detention Facility in Brighton has prohibited in-person visits. But in late October 2025, a group of three children—with the youngest just four years—are suing the Adams County Sheriff and HomeWAV, a telecommunications company, in hopes of lifting the ban and getting to visit their incarcerated parents. The suit, which also lists two mothers whose 18-year-old sons are locked up at the Adams County jail, is part of a trio of cases led by civil rights groups. Called the “Right 2 Hug” project, the other two cases were filed in Michigan (they were both dismissed in 2024, but are currently on appeal).
As reported by Colorado Public Radio, the Plaintiff’s attorneys are seeking an emergency order that would allow the children and mothers to visit their relatives while the case is underway; they are also aiming to win damages from the Adams County Sheriff’s Office as well as HomeWAV, which the jail contracts with for phone and video services.
Across the country, families spend an average of $4,200 each year to stay in touch with their loved ones behind bars. [See: PLN, Aug. 2025, p. 36.] And when the Federal Communications Commission suspended a 2024 rate cap policy in July of this year, that cost has undoubtedly risen. At the Adams County jail, for example, 9News reported this summer that phone calls more than doubled from 7 to 15 cents per minute. While Colorado passed a law in 2023 to make phone calls free for prisoners, the law does not apply to county jails, a loophole that allows companies like HomeWAV to continue price gouging. [See: PLN, Oct. 2023, p. 41.]
Many other jails throughout Colorado also have visitation bans in place, including the Boulder County Jail, which has remained closed for in-person visits since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sources: Colorado Public Radio, 9News
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