Joseph Duggar is quickly realizing that life in county jail is anything but a good time.
During a phone call from jail to his wife Kendra last week, the former Counting On star— who has been in Washington County Jail in Arkansas since last week, after he was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a nine-year-old girl in 2020— revealed what his days behind bars have been like.
People obtained the audio of a jailhouse call made by Joe to Kendra.
“I’ve been spending a lot of time praying and reading the Bible,” Joe told Kendra during the March 20 call— just hours after Kendra herself was bailed out of jail. (As The Ashley previously reported, Kendra— as well as Joe— were each charged on March 20 with four counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of false imprisonment. Kendra bonded out and picked up by Joe’s mom Michelle Duggar after her release from jail, but Joe is being held without bail due to his charges from Florida.)
Although Kendra herself had just been through the humiliating process of being booked into jail, she seemed to be more concerned about how her husband was holding up.
Joseph informed her that he’s being held away from other inmates. (It is unknown if Joe is being held in solitary confinement due to the nature of his charges, or if it’s because he’s a well-known public figure.)
“I’m in solitary [confinement],” Joe tells Kendra during the call. “So I’m in the cell for 23 hours of the day.”
“Really?” Kendra replied sadly.
“Yeah, so it’s like an 8 x 10 area, pretty much,” Joe told her. “So it’s a small area.”
“Wow,” Kendra responded.
@theashleysrealityroundup AUDIO: Joe Duggar Calls Wife Kendra From Jail; Talks About Being in Cell 23 Hours a Day For all the details go to: https://www.theashleysrealityroundup.com/2026/03/27/joseph-duggar-tells-wife-kendra-in-jail-phone-call-hes-spending-23-hours-a-day-in-his-cell-reading-his-bible-not-sleeping-well/ #fypp #fypシ #fypage #RealityTV #theashleysrealityroundup #TheAshley #FYPp #FYP #FYPpage #Duggars #Duggar #duggarfamily #josephduggar #duggartok #DuggarTea #fypシ゚viral #KendraDuggar #CountingOn #19kidsandcounting #duggarsnark ♬ original sound – The Ashley’s Reality Roundup
Joe then tells his wife— with whom he shares four kids— that he’s using his time behind bars to catch up on his reading, but not his sleep.
“I’ve been able to read a lot, actually, and resting some,” he said. “But I’m not sleeping great through the night.”
Kendra sounds sympathetic to her husband, who then tells her that “it’s good to hear your voice.”
“Yeah, it’s good to hear from you,” she responds.
According to People, Joe had tried to call Kendra twice before on March 20, but she did not answer the call.
People reports that the rest of the phone call is about Joe trying to get his belongings that he checked into jail with signed over to Kendra so she could pick them up. Kendra also revealed in the call that she already has a lawyer for herself.
The magazine also confirmed on Friday that Kendra did not go back to the home she shares with Joe after being released from jail. Instead, Kendra said she was taken to someone else’s home, according to what she told Joe on the phone call.
@theashleysrealityroundup JAIL CALL AUDIO: Joe Duggar Calls Wife Kendra from Jail; Talks About Where She’s Staying After Her Arrest For all the details, go to: https://www.theashleysrealityroundup.com/2026/03/27/joseph-duggar-tells-wife-kendra-in-jail-phone-call-hes-spending-23-hours-a-day-in-his-cell-reading-his-bible-not-sleeping-well/ #fypp #fypシ #fypage #RealityTV #theashleysrealityroundup #TheAshley #FYPp #FYP #FYPpage #Duggars #Duggar #duggarfamily #josephduggar #duggartok #DuggarTea #fypシ゚viral #19kidsandcounting #duggarsnark ♬ original sound – The Ashley’s Reality Roundup
“Did you hear that I’m out here with, um, did you hear where I’m at and everything?” Kendra asks Joe on the call.
Joe tells Kendra he’s not sure that they should reveal that information on the call— which they know will be public record.
“Maybe not,” Kendra agrees before saying that “they brought me to a good place to stay that’s very private.”
“Oh praise the Lord,” Joe replied.
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Kendra then asks Joe if he’s doing OK, to which he replies that he’s “trying to keep my spirits up.”
“I feel like reading the Bible has really been helpful to calm and not think about all the situation,” Joe tells her. “It’s been uplifting.”
“Oh, that’s good to hear,” Kendra replied.
According to Page Six, Kendra is the only person— other than a management consultant— who Joe has called from the clink since he was booked on March 18. He has called her at least once a day from jail since then, sometimes several times a day. (Interestingly, this means that Joe has not called any members of the Duggar Family since his arrest.)
Page Six also revealed that the only person who has visited Joe since he’s been in the clink is his attorney.
Joe is currently awaiting extradition to Florida, where he will face the child molestation charges waiting for him there. However, he and Kendra are still due back in court in Arkansas to answer to their child endangerment/false imprisonment charges on April 29.
As The Ashley previously reported, Kendra has been banned from having any kind of contact— via phone, email, through other people, etc.— with the alleged victims of her crimes until at least that court date. She agreed to the no-contact order as a condition to be released from jail on bond.
According to the court order, if Kendra contacts the alleged victims, she could incur additional charges, be arrested, have her bond revoked and be sent back to jail until her trial.
A spokesperson for the Duggar Family told Us Weekly last week that Kendra’s charges are “unrelated” to Joe’s child molestation charges from Florida, and that Kendra is “not suspected of accusing of participating in his alleged crime.”
The magazine reported that Kendra and Joe’s home was searched by the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS), as well as the Tontitown, Arkansas, Police Department on March 19, which led to the endangerment and false imprisonment charges.
“After his charge, they automatically do a home study if minors live there. They came to her house,” Us Weekly reported. “Apparently, they had two rooms where the lock of the doorknob was on the outside instead of inside. They arrested her and took her kids for that, saying it’s evidence that she wrongly detains her kids.”
(That has not been confirmed by law enforcement, so The Ashley advises you to consider it a “report” until further notice.)
You can listen to all of the audio that’s been released of Joe’s phone calls to Kendra from jail in the video below!
RELATED STORY: Kendra Duggar Reportedly Banned from Having Any Contact with Her Alleged Victims Until After Her Court Date Next Month
One Response
Oh my God he is not sleeping through the night poor pitiful pedophile and he is getting to call her everyday are you kidding me what a joke I hope you never have a restful day or night as long as you live you or your idiot wife