Jail role playing is by invitation based on the applications. When you come for a role play experience, you will be "arrested", searched, and booked into the jail by an “officer” just as if it was still in operation. When you are booked into the jail, your belongings and clothing are taken from you and stored until you are released. You are given a jail uniform to wear. You are escorted to your cell in restraints. Only those types of restraints that were actually used on prisoners in jails and prison during the period that this jail was operational are used. These include handcuffs, leg irons, belly chains and belly straps, connection chains, high security devices such as handcuff mitts and cuff box, and restraint chair. Not all of these restraints are used on all inmates of course. They are used according to the way the prison role playing proceeds. Only authentic gear is used. We do not use any items of restraints in the role play that would not have been used in a real jail or prison.
Although the use of restraints is a part of the experience, the main event in this jail is the oppressiveness of the jail, and the routine of being an inmate. The jail experience is intended as a chance to find out what jail in the 19th and 20th centuries was really like.
The jail is high security. The cells are metal on all sides with concrete floors. The cell block has a toilet and sink. A shower and additional toilet are located in a secure and private area of the jail as well. Almost everything in the jail, including the shower, doors, sinks, beds, tables, were used by inmates who were incarcerated at the jail when it was operational. The high security cell is a smaller and more oppressive space than the other two in the cell block. Inmates in the high security cell are sometimes chained inside the cell to an attachment point for further restriction of activities as was once done in jails.
We ask that everyone who does role-playing, donate $400 per 24-hour period, to help with restoration, maintenance, insurance, gear, improvements, utilities, and costs involved in the activity (Food, laundry, cleaning, etc.).
There is an optional shuttle service, provided by an outside vendor, from the Des Moines airport directly to the jail. This service costs $120 each way per person and must be set up at least two weeks in advance. (The arrest still happens after you arrive at the jail.)
If you have never done this kind of role playing, I would suggest 3 days. You get a good idea of the way the routine feels.
Application for Role Playing
(The following information is required of all who want to role play. Copy this and then paste it into an email with the information filled in to Hamptoniowajail@gmail.com)
1. Your real name
2. Where you will be coming from
3. Your age
4. Gender
5. Cell Phone Number
6. E-Mail address
7. Tell me why you want to come.
8. What dates do you want to come?
9. Any major physical or mental health problems?
10. Any specific food needs (Include food allergies, religious requirements)
11. If you have ever been convicted of a felony, describe what it was, and when.
12. Include a face picture of yourself.
Rate your interest in the following on a scale of 1 to 10. Ten means you are very interested in it. 1 means it does not interest you at all. 5 would be somewhere in the middle. This is intended for me to get an idea of your personality. It does not suggest things that might happen to you at the jail.
A. Role Playing
B. Intake and jail procedures
C. Restraints
D. Sharing a cell with another inmate
E. Solitary Confinement
F. Pretending to be the bad guy
G. Pretending mistaken identity.
H. Emergency Restraint Chair
I. Handcuffs and Leg Irons
J. Inmate interaction
K. Chain Gang
L. Prison Yard
M. Hard Labor
N. Being arrested
O. Historical use of straitjackets
P. Historically accurate jail
(All role players must sign before participating)
The signed applicant shall be called “prisoner” in this contract. The signed person who is acting as the correctional officer or guard in this role play shall be called “guard” in this contract. The prisoner and guard agree to the following terms:
Prisoner agrees to be locked and imprisoned from:
Date__________________________________ Time_____________________________
Until Date _____________________________ Time______________________________
1. This is a role play where the prisoner is pretending to be an inmate in jail. The prisoner desires to do this role play of his own free will and choice. The prisoner agrees to hold the guard as harmless against any claim of wrongful imprisonment or use of restraints.
2. The prisoner agrees to be locked inside the jail facility and understands that real police type restraints such as handcuffs, leg irons, and other restraints that are or were commonly used in jails between 1880 and the present time may be used on him/her.
3. If the prisoner wishes to change the role play or stop it for a while, he or she can simply tell the guard that they want to stop the role play. Asking to be released will not get you released, but if you say that you want to end the role play, then you will be released.
4. The Prisoner agrees to be fully honest with the following: If the prisoner is sick or injured, they will notify the guard. If the prisoner is aware of any true emergency, he/she will notify the guard. The prisoner will not pretend to be sick or to have an emergency that is not real. If the prisoner says that he/she is sick or has an emergency, he/she will be taken seriously and released from the role play.
5. The guard will be responsible in providing a safe environment for this role play experience. The prisoner’s safety and health will be of prime importance.
6. In the event of sickness, or emergency, the role play will be terminated by the guard. Should the guard determine that he feels that the experience is being detrimental to the mental or physical health of the prisoner, the role play will end, and the prisoner will be released.
7. We agree to abide by the laws of the state of Iowa. Any real assaults to other prisoners or to the guard which are not a part of the role playing will result in termination of the role play.
8. The prisoner and guard agree that this role play will not include any sexual contact or sexual acts of any kind between prisoners or guards.
9. The prisoner agrees to not damage the bedding, uniform, toilet, sink, or items in the prison. The prisoner agrees to pay for any damages willfully done.
10. All agree that there shall be no sadomasochism play, or any other activity that might be dangerous or unsanitary.
11. Both the prisoner and guard agree that any photographs taken will be private and will not be shared on the internet or in any form to the public without consent from both parties.
12. Unless agreed in writing, no videos or pictures may be taken by guests or guards for the purpose of monetization. Any such materials become the property of the owner of the jail.
13. The prisoner understands that there are risks involved in role playing and assumes those risks. He/she will not hold the guard or Franklin County Historic Jail as responsible for any accidental injuries that may occur. The guard agrees to keep safety in mind to try and keep the prisoner from sustaining any injuries.
14. All parties to this agreement have read the rules of play and rules of conduct as displayed on the Hamptonjail.com website and agree to follow them. In addition, all parties have read the city of Hampton zoning ordinances and agree to not engage in any activity that would not be allowed such as “adult entertainment” that would not be permitted within this zoning.
I hereby agree, under penalty of perjury, that at all times, I will and did abide by all of the rules in this agreement. I understand that non-compliance to this agreement could result in my being ejected from the Franklin County Jail with no refund of any monies paid.
Signature________________________________________________________________________
Print name______________________________________________________________________
Date____________________________________________________________________________
We do not permit anything that could be considered as adult activities at the Franklin County Historic Jail. Just for clarification for anyone who wonders what that means, the following document is the official zoning ordinance for the City of Hampton, Iowa, defining adult-oriented establishments. We are not an adult-oriented establishment, nor are we located in a zoning that would allow it. We follow the rules that the city has outlined without exception. Do not ask us to bend the rules because we won't.
City of Hampton, Iowa
ADULT-ORIENTED ESTABLISHMENT
REGULATIONS
126.01 PURPOSE. The City Council of the City of Hampton, Iowa, finds:
1. Adult-oriented establishments require special consideration in order to protect
and preserve the health, safety, and welfare of the patrons of such establishments as
well as the citizens of Hampton;
2. Adult-oriented establishments, because of their very nature, have a
detrimental effect on both existing establishments around them and surrounding
residential areas adjacent to them;
3. The concern over sexually-transmitted diseases is a legitimate health concern
of the City that demands reasonable regulation of adult-oriented establishments in
order to protect the health and well-being of the community;
4. Adult-oriented establishments, due to their very nature, have serious
objectionable operational characteristics, thereby contributing to blight and
downgrading the quality of life in the adjacent area;
5. The City of Hampton wants to prevent these adverse effects and thereby
protect the health and welfare of its residents; protect residents from increased crime;
preserve the quality of life; preserve the property values and character of the
surrounding neighborhoods; and deter the spread of blight;
6. It is not the intent of this chapter to suppress any speech activities protected
by the First Amendment, but to enact content-neutral regulations that address the
secondary effects of adult-oriented establishments as well as the health problems
associated with such establishments.
126.02 DEFINITIONS RELATED TO ADULT-ORIENTED ESTABLISHMENTS.
1. ADULT BOOKSTORE: An establishment that has a facility or facilities,
including but not limited to booths, cubicles, rooms or stalls for the presentation of
"adult entertainment," including adult-oriented films, movies, or live performances for
observation by patrons therein; or an establishment having a substantial or significant
portion of its stock-in-trade for sale, rent, trade, lease, inspection, or viewing of books,
films, video cassettes, magazines, or other periodicals which are distinguished or
characterized by their emphasis on matters depicting, describing, or relating to
specified anatomical areas or specified sexual activities as defined below.
2. ADULT ENTERTAINMENT: Any exhibition of any motion picture, live
performance, display, or dance of any type which has as its dominant theme or is
distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on any actual or simulated specified
sexual activities or specified anatomical areas as defined below.
3. ADULT MOTION PICTURE THEATER: An enclosed building used for
presenting material having as its dominant theme or distinguished or characterized by
an emphasis on matters depicting, describing, or relating to specified sexual activities
or specified anatomical areas as defined below for observation by patrons of the
building.
4. ADULT NOVELTY SHOP: An establishment or business having as a
substantial or significant portion of its stock in trade and sales in novelty or other
items which are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis on or design for
sexual activity or simulating such activity.
5. ADULT-ORIENTED ESTABLISHMENT: Any premises including, without
limitation, "adult bookstores," "adult motion picture theaters," or "adult novelty shop."
It further means any premises to which public patrons or members are invited or
admitted and which are physically arranged so as to provide booths, cubicles, rooms,
compartments, or stalls separate from the common area of the premises for the
purposes of viewing adult-oriented motion pictures, or wherein an entertainer provides
adult entertainment to a member of the public, a patron, or a member, where such
adult entertainment is held, conducted, operated, or maintained for a profit, direct or
indirect. "Adult-Oriented Establishment" further includes, without limitation, any
premises physically arranged and used as such whether advertised or represented as an
adult entertainment studio, exotic dance studio, encounter studio, sensitivity studio, or
any other term of like import.
6. OPERATORS: Any person, partnership, or corporation operating,
conducting, maintaining, or owning any adult-oriented establishment.
7. SPECIFIED ANATOMICAL AREAS: Less than completely and opaquely
covered human genitals, buttocks, female breasts below the areola; or male genitalia.
8. SPECIFIED SEXUAL ACTIVITIES: Simulated or actual (a) showing of
human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal; (b) acts of sexual activity,
sodomy, or sadomasochism; or (c) fondling or erotic touching of human genitals,
buttocks, or female breasts.