Visiting Hours
Do you know someone that is currently in prison? Are you trying to figure out how you can visit them?
We know that visiting someone you know in jail is probably one of the hardest things to do but finding out when you can and cannot visit them tends to be a little bit harder.
Luckily for you, we did all your homework, and all you must do is find grab the correct information you need and be on your way to visiting your friends and family behind bars.
Where to Find Prison Visitation Hours
This can be tricky. Trying to find prison visitation hours can be in a few places depending on what type of prison they are in; city, county, or federal.
City Jails
City jails will the hardest on trying to find visitation hours. If you know what city jail they are in, you will have to do a Google Search for that jail’s visitation hours. What can be a pain about this is not all city jails have their visitation hours public. If you run into that problem, which you more than likely will. You will want to give that city jail a call directly and inquire about their visitation hours directly.
County Jails
County Jails are pretty much like city jails. They don’t have a unified database of where you can find visitation hours. Many of the county jails don’t have their visitation information public either. If that’s the case for the county jail you are looking at, you will want to call that county jail direct and inquire about their visitation hours.
Federal Prisons
Federal prisons are a little bit better by far when it comes to displaying their visiting hours. Unlike the city and county jails, they have an easy to use locator of all federal prisons in the United States of America. All you will need to know is what prison you are looking for and search for it.
By the off chance that they don’t have their visitor information listed, you will want to give that prison a quick phone call to collect the information you need.
Can I Bring Gifts When Visiting?
All prisons whether they are city, county, or federal are all the same. You cannot bring gifts when visiting. When visiting an inmate behind bars, you cannot bring anything on your prison either. Most prisons will allow you to bring a diaper, diaper bottle for your child and your key for your car. Everything else must stay in your vehicle.
The reason behind nothing can be on your person is to cut down anything getting into the prison without anyone noticing. Contraband is a huge thing in prisons, and one way to keep that to a minimum is to not allow anyone to bring anything with them when they go and visit.
If you would like to give gifts, you will have to read up on the rules of sending packages to their prisons.
What Happens if Correctional Services Visiting Hours Don’t Fit into My Schedule?
If you are looking at the schedule for visitation, you may have notice that they only have visitation on a few days. Some prisons only have visitations one day a week. If that day doesn’t work for you, you are probably thinking you will never be able to see them until they get released.
That is not always the case. There are times that prisons will work with you. Especially if you are not local. The best thing you can do is contact the prison, tell them your situation and see if they can work with you with visiting hours.
If they choose to not work with your situation, then you will have to manage making the time that they have for visitation.
What’s an Inmate, Visiting List?
Happen to go down to the prison and find out you need to be on a visitation list, and you do not know what that is or how to get on it?
Visitation lists are for inmates to fill out. This is their approved list of people that can visit them. Not anyone can visit someone behind bars. Most prisons will only allow close friends and immediate family members to visit. They do not want bad influences visiting since it can be detrimental to the process the inmate is going through.
The best thing you will need to do before making that mistake is calling up the prison and see if there is a visitation list. If so, check to see if you are on it. If you are not, ask them how you can be added on it. If you are a close family or friend, majority of the time, you will be approved. If you are not, chances are you could be denied, especially if you didn’t know the offender prior to conviction.
Requirements for Visiting an Inmate
Congrats on collecting the hours of when you can visit an inmate, but here are the requirements you must meet before being able to visit them.
- You must NOT be a Felon
- Keep in mind that visitation is heavily monitored
- Most visitation is no-contact (ie kissing, hugging, etc.)
- Follow the prison dress code
- Have your government ID ready
- Visitation rights can be denied at any time for any reason
- Be on time.
Tips on Visiting Hours
Always keep in mind that visiting in prison is not a right, it is, in fact, a privilege. Visiting rights can be revoked at any given time.
Visiting hours can change without notice. It is best to contact them, if you have not visited in a little while. If you have visited in the past week, you should be okay and follow the prison timetable that they gave you.
Make sure you arrive to the facility no earlier than 15 minutes before your scheduled visit time. This will allow you to get through check-in quickly and efficiently before visiting time starts. If you arrive late, you may get denied visitation.