Visiting Applications

 

Departments of corrections in the U.S know how important it is for an inmate to receive visitors. Visitation plays a vital role in the inmate reentry process.  

Most correctional facilities have even gone ahead to create comfortable environments where the family members and the inmates will enjoy their time together during visitation.  

Suppose you want to schedule a visitation with an inmate; you need to know certain essential factors, for instance, the inmate’s location and how to get on the approved visitor list.   

In this article, you will learn about the visitation process of an inmate in most correctional facilities. You will also learn how to apply for visitation and some of the requirements that you need.  

Knowing the Location of the Inmate  

You cannot schedule a visitation with an inmate whose whereabouts you don’t know. Others may even be out of prison on the next visitation date. In contrast, others may have been moved from one correctional facility to another due to population, certain prison benefits, medical conditions, and security concerns.  

With advanced technology, you can easily access inmate information online. Suppose you know the state where the inmate may be locked up in say in Alaska, All you need to do is visit Alaska’s Department of Public Safety website to access their inmate locator tool. The system will ask you to provide certain inmate information, after which you will gain full access to the inmate’s whereabouts in Alaska.  

Alternatively, you may use other online platforms like VINE Link. When you create an account in return, they will keep you in the loop on the status of an inmate at all times.  

Visit Application Procedure  

If you are wondering how the visiting process with your loved one will be established, you are at the right place. You may assume that you will automatically visit someone in prison just because you have a close relationship with them, but this is not the case.  

In some correctional facilities, the inmate has to submit your name first to the administration as one of the visitors they would like to see. The list submitted may be limited to a certain number of people, and your name may not be on the list.  

Specific procedures must be followed for those whose names have been submitted and approved. Below is a step to step procedure you must follow in most correctional facilities.  

1. A visitor’s form has to be filled  

You must fill out a visitor’s form. The form can easily be downloaded on most correctional facilities’ websites; however, the regulations are that you must get it from the inmate via mail. When inmates arrive at a correctional facility, they are given printed visitor forms; they have to fill in specific details on the form about themselves.  

Sometimes when an inmate has just been detained, they may not have been given the visitor forms yet. However, that does not mean that you cannot visit them, especially if you are a close family member and your details can be easily traced on the inmate’s pre-sentence report.  

However, if your details cannot be traced to the inmate to prove you are a close family member, it is better to call the facility for permission before visiting.  

2. Intended visitors have to fill out the visitor application form  

Once the inmate has been given the visitor form and filled in their details, the form has to be sent to the intended visitor via mail. The intended visitors also have to fill out the form providing detailed information about themselves as suggested.  

The visitor’s form may differ from one correctional facility to another depending on the rules regulating a facility’s visitation procedure. Once filled, intended visitors will use the inmate’s address to mail it back to them.  

Ensure the information provided is accurate; false identification information may lead to rejection of the application, and at times may also lead to prosecution. Also, ensure you fill out all the spaces. Incomplete forms will be rejected.  

3. Submission of the visit application form for scrutiny  

The inmate will receive the form back from potential visitors; the form will be given to the facility’s administration, who will decide whether the potential visitors’ request has been approved or denied.  

Approval will depend on several things, from whether the form was correctly filled out to whether the potential visitor has a criminal background.  

Other correctional facilities even go as far as requesting background information on the potential visitor by contacting other law enforcement agencies like the NCIC.  

4. Approval or denial of the visit application request  

After successfully scrutinizing the visit request form, the administration will provide feedback to the inmate on whether the request was approved. 

It will be the inmate’s responsibility to inform the potential visitor whether their request was approved or denied; therefore, you do not have to keep calling the facility for such kind of feedback from them.  

Visit Application for a Minor  

Minors are individuals that are not yet 18 years of age. They too can visit an inmate in prison; however, just like an adult, there are rules and regulations.  

In some correctional facilities, minors must be on the inmate’s visitors approved list, while in other correctional facilities, they only accompany an individual on the inmate visitors approved list.  

Different correctional facilities have different requirements for minors visiting an inmate. For instance, some facilities will only request a certified copy of the minor birth certificate, especially when their parents accompany the minor.  

When a minor is in the company of a guardian or someone else who is not their parents, the person they are with must provide a certified copy of the minor birth certificate or proof of legal guardianship.  

They may also be required to provide a notarized written consent authorization form that the minor’s parents or legal guardians have signed.  

The notarized written consent authorization form is a clear authorization from the minor’s parents or guardians to visit an inmate. The form should clearly state the inmate’s name, I.D., date of visitation and the name of the minor. Also, the form should be updated each year.  

It is not always that a birth certificate is required when a minor visits an inmate; however, it also depends on the inmate’s charges. If an inmate has been sentenced on a charge involving a minor victim, the minor’s birth certificate may always be necessary each time they visit.  

Visit Application for Individuals Not Related To an Inmate  

An inmate can also receive visitors from people who are not on their visitor list. These include religious groups, civic groups, former employers, sponsors, Parole advisors, social services agency representatives and attorneys.  

Since such individuals can not follow the above procedure to be approved to see an inmate, they need to contact the prison facility and arrange their visit with the inmate.  

Media personalities that would like to cover a story about an inmate should also seek the prison’s administration and follow all visitor’s application processes before they do their work.  

Who Is Eligible To Fill Out A Prison Application Form?  

Suppose someone is in prison, and you would like to visit them; the question in your mind is whether you are eligible to fill out the visit application form.  

The first group of people that can fill out a visit application form to visit an inmate in prison are the immediate family members. They include the inmate’s parents, step-parents, foster parents, siblings, spouse, and children.  

Remember, if the correctional facility has a limited number of people that are supposed to visit an inmate, not all immediate family members will be on the list.  

The second group of people that can fill out an inmate visit application form are the inmate’s relatives. These are also family, but not immediate, for instance, cousins, uncles, aunties, grandparents, and in-laws.  

The third groups are friends or people the inmate may have considered close but unrelated. They include workmates, church mates, schoolmates, attorneys, sponsors, parole advisors, etc.  

Some correctional facilities have a limit to the number of people who can visit an inmate who is not related to them. For instance, on certain occasions, an inmate cannot be allowed more than ten visitors who are not family members.  

Video Visitation Application  

Video visitation is the current still upcoming method where inmates and their loved ones can meet and spend some time together just like they would when meeting physically.  

However, for video visitation to occur, the correctional facility must have agreed with telephone communication organizations like G.T.L. and ConnectNetwork to develop such communication platforms within the facility.  

It would help if you also had a strong internet connection, a computer, or a phone to enable the process to run smoothly.  

How to Apply For Video Visitation with an Inmate  

First, you need to determine whether the prison the inmate is in allows these services by clicking and going through the ConnectNetwork facilities website.  

Once it is established that the facility offers video visitation services, you will need to register with the service: 

• Provide your details 
• Select the facility where the inmate is incarcerated  
• Provide the inmate identification details 
• Create an advancePay account for an inmate  
• Credit the account  

Once the account has been created and credited, you can always schedule your meeting on the same platform. Ensure to sign into the site at least 15 minutes before time to ensure the connection is stable during the visitation time.  

Important Factors to Note about Inmate Visitation in the U.S  

• You may or may not be allowed to visit two inmates in the same prison  

Rules governing visitation are not the same in all correctional facilities in the U.S. For instance, some states will only allow one visitor for one inmate in the same correctional facility. 

At the same time, other facilities may allow one visitor to see two inmates as long as the visits are scheduled at different times or on different days.  

• An inmate visitor’s list may remain the same in the Statewide Visit System 

If an inmate is transferred to another prison or jail in the same state, their visitor list may remain the same in the Statewide Visit System. However, the inmate should remember to inform the visitors of their transfer to another facility.  

• An inmate may terminate your visit request whenever they wish  

An inmate can also remove you from their approved list of visitors or request the administration to resume visits with you if they had earlier removed you from the list.  

However, if your name is to be reinstated, you need to apply for another visitation request that will go through all the above steps.  

• You can always request to visit another inmate after rejection from another  

Suppose an inmate removes your name from their visitor’s list, and you can no longer visit them like before; you can always request to visit another inmate. 

However, you must wait for at least 90 days before submitting your application form for approval. At the same time, you do not have to wait for the entire 90 days if you have never visited the other inmate.  

Conclusion  

Inmate visit application depends on whether you are on the inmate visitor’s approval list. Most correctional facilities expect you to receive the form from the inmate via mail before sending it back for approval.  

It is the inmate’s responsibility to inform you whether your request has been approved. They should also inform you of their transfer so that you don’t go looking for them in a correctional facility they no longer reside in.  

You shouldn’t feel bad if you don’t receive a visiting application form from an inmate; some correctional facilities have limited slots, and maybe the inmate was overwhelmed.  

Apart from physical visitation, you may also opt for video visitation, which also requires an advance application and scheduling.