We had a wild west Carnival back in February. We only had Teachers and Administration arrested and avoided kids and parents. We first went around and checked with every teacher to see if they were going to be at the carnival that night. We then took there pictures and made wanted posters for them in the Jail. The person who paid 50 cents to have there teacher arrested got to wear the sheriff outfit and along with an adult go look for there teacher. The teachers could only be arrested 3x by the students and then they had captured written on there posters. This way they did not end up in jail all night long. We also had uniforms for the teachers to wear and a ball and chain attached to there feet. They only spent 10 minutes in jail each time. The kids got the biggest kick out of wearing the sheriff outfit and looking for the teacher of their choice.
Good Luck

We hosted a jail at our Halloween carnival with great success. We are a Prek- 8 private school. We had a parent be the sherriff to make arrests. That way the adult could decide whether or not the "wanted" person was willing to go to the jail. We had a great dad wear a huge foam cowboy hat so it was all in fun. We took photos of the 8th graders and hung them around our booth for decoration and anyone could be arrested. We also gave candy to those who had been "arrested" as a treat for his "punishment."
Hope that helps!

We only did the jail one year. If memory serves me:

* One (25 cent) ticket to arrest someone.
* One ticket to bail yourself out - or sit for 10 minutes.
* A person could only be held in jail once so their hand was stamped upon arrival at the jail. If they returned another time they were let go without having to pay a ticket or wait for 10 minutes (but the arrester (sp?) still had to pay the one ticket. It's too hard to keep a list of everyone who got arrested after all - and it was only 25 cents....)
* Teachers and Admin could only be taken to jail once. Their name was on a list and if anyone else tried to have them arrested, they were told no.
* Sheriffs and deputies were assigned but older students and guests appointed themselves so the arresting process got out of hand.
* Little ones were to be approached with caution and taken to jail only if they were willing to go (no scaring or being mean!)
* Older students were not allowed to "resist" arrest, causing deputies to chase them around the hallways.
* Market Day chair had a 'bread and water' station in the jail and provided samples of the garlic bread and juices that Market Day offers.

We made a boat load of money on the jail but only got to do it the one year. The scared little kids, resisting big kids and self-appointed deputies caused quite a few problems so we were never allowed to run a jail at the carnival again.

Do you mean "charge" as in dollar amount?
I guess it would depend on what you're charging for other events. We use tickets instead of money (much easier to let volunteers handle) and will only charge two tickets to arrest and two more to be released. Our tickets are the equivalent of a quarter each. HTH

I would like to start by saying these messages boards are sooooo helpful. I have been on PTO for 2 years now and we haven't done a lot. Next year we are going to make a lot of changes so that we can have a better year.

We are planning a fall carnival and have started getting ideas now. These boards have helped a whole lot.

My question is everyone has talked about having a jail with a sheriff and deputy. I was wondering has anybody printed up any warrants to hand out to the people being arrested?? Have the person that is having that person arrested fill it out and then the sheriff can give it to the person being arrested so that they know who did it to them.

How much do you charge to have someone arrested or to get out of jail??

Thank you for all the help that you have provided me.

Amy