Sally Port
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Secure gate leading to drive-through vehicular sally port |
Persons held in pretrial detention and persons convicted and remanded to the custody of the state must be transported to and from the courthouse in a safe and secure manner.The courthouse should have a secure vehicular sally port for the secure transfer of in-custody persons to and from transport vehicles. Many courthouses make use of a drive-through sally port in order to eliminate the need for a turnaround area.
Courthouses with a direct connection to a jail may not require a separate sally port if detainees coming to court from other facilities are able to be processed through the jail.
The sally port and associated spaces should be designed to enhance the court's security functions.
There should be space for at least one large transport van to park and turn around within the sally port. In large courthouses with a high volume of in-custody defendants space may need to be provided for two vans to be parked in the sally port at the same time. If more vans need to be accommodated it may be better to park them in a secure parking area either within a secure parking garage that is used by the sheriff or security officials or outside within a secure surface parking area. Sally ports range in size, but one bay area should be at least 800 to 1,000 square feet to accommodate a large van.
Sufficient space should be provided for moving in-custody individuals from transport vehicles to the holding area entrance.
The sally port needs to be well ventilated and lighted.
All prisoner areas should be accessible to persons with disabilities and conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The sally port should be located within secure parking and have a security gate. There should a direct, secure entry into the prisoner holding area. In-custody detainees should enter the building’s central holding area directly from the sally port.
In those instances where prisoners must be transported from the jail to the courthouse by vehicle, there should be a secure sally port for the delivery of prisoners.
All areas of the sally port, parking areas, entrances and exits should be monitored by CCTV cameras by the building central security station.
The sally port entrance and interior should be monitored by CCTV.