Can I interchange 'at the jail' and 'in prison' in the following sentence?

Question

Can I interchange 'at the jail' and 'in prison' in the following sentence?A lawyer visited Alexa at the jail/in prison.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Depending on the country you live in, jail is not always the same as prison.
eg Here are some American differences
http://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=31513

Anonymous · Answer

Assuming this is a U.S. question:

If Alexa has been convicted of a serious crime, such as robbery, sexual assault or homicide, Alexa would likely be in prison. Under standard terminology, you only go to prison after you are convicted of a crime. Typically, people sentenced to prison are serving sentences in excess of a year of incarceration, and in most cases the sentence will be considerably longer. A lawyer might visit a person who is in prison in association with an appeal of their conviction.

If Alexa has been arrested and is waiting for a trial date, Alexa would most likely be in jail. People who are waiting for a trial date, but are unable to post bond, are going to be held in a jail (or, for federal crimes, a federal detention center). People who are convicted of less serious offenses may be sentenced to jail -- in most states, a jail sentence cannot exceed one year of incarceration.

There's a lot more explanation and detail in this article.

Can I interchange 'at the jail' and 'in prison' in the following sentence?

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