Visiting Hours

The inmate visiting schedule is not the same in all correctional facilities in the U.S. You need to figure out the schedule of the facility you want to visit.

Most detention centers provide visit application forms to the new inmates, who will fill out their details and mail the filled-out forms to their potential visitors. Potential visitors will, in return, fill out the form where necessary and mail it back to the inmate.

The facility’s administration will review the application form request and conduct a thorough background check on the potential visitor before their request is denied or approved. After this, the potential visitor will have to wait for feedback from the inmate, who will either confirm the approval or deny the request.

In other areas, like Bergen County, you do not have to wait for the inmate to send you the visit application form. You can always request to visit through the Bergen County Sherriff’s visiting Scheduling website.

In Bergen County, after a request has been submitted, there will be the usual background check of the potential visitor, after which they will receive email feedback on whether their request was approved.

How To Know Inmate Visiting Hours In The U.S.

When you have been approved to visit a loved one in prison, the second best thing to know is the visiting schedule. You wouldn’t want to mess that up and risk losing future chances of seeing them. Therefore, how would you know the best time to visit an inmate?

Ask The Inmate

Ask the inmate to brief you on the visiting schedule. They will either send a handwritten one or a printed one by mail. In some facilities, visiting schedules are printed and given to inmates so they can send them to their family members in preparation for the visit.

Call The Institution

You may also call the correctional facility and ask about their visiting schedule. Most contact information about a prison or jail can now be found online.

As long as you know the name of the correctional facility, you can always visit their contact page, get their phone number and call the institution for inquiries concerning visiting an inmate.

Get The Visiting Schedule On The Internet

You can visit the facility’s website to acquire the inmate visiting schedule. In most cases, an entire county will have a similar inmate visitation schedule.

For example, all correctional facilities have the same visitation schedule in Tarrant County. To know about the schedule, you have to visit the Tarrant County, Texas, inmate visitation page.

You can also visit the website of a single correctional facility like the Allegheny County Jail. To know more about their visitation schedule and any other thing related to visiting an inmate, you will need to visit the Allegheny County Jail visitation schedule page.

General Visiting Hours

Each correctional facility in the U.S. may have its visiting schedules. Also, as observed earlier, an entire country may come up with a single visiting schedule for all the correctional facilities within the county.

How long a visit should take may also vary from facility to facility; for Tarrant County, Texas, all inmates are limited to one 30-minute visit per day. At the same time, the Philadelphia Department of Prisons allows each inmate visitors for one hour each week.

Below are inmate visiting hours and days from three states in the U.S.

Location	Days	Visiting hours
Philadelphia- Curran-Fromhold Correctional Center (CFCF)	Monday to Friday	9 A.M. to 10 A.M. 1 P.M. to 2 P.M. 3 P.M. to 4 P.M.
Philadelphia- R.C.F. Alternative and Special Detention Modular Unit (RCF ASDMOD3)	Saturday	9 A.M. to 10 A.M. 1 P.M. to 2 P.M.
Texas- Tarrant County	Sunday to Thursday	9 A.M. to 9 P.M
Texas- Tarrant County	Friday	9 A.M. to 3 P.M.
New York State- Green Haven Correctional Facility	Daily	7:30 A.M. to 2:30 P.M.
New York State- Mohawk Correctional Facility	Weekends and Holidays	8:30 A.M. to 3:30 P.M.

The above findings prove that correctional facilities have different visiting hours and days.

Despite being found in the same State, Philadelphia, the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Center (CFCF) and R.C.F. Alternative and Special Detention Modular Units (RCF ASDMOD3) have different inmate visiting schedules.

One facility allows visitation from Monday to Friday, while the other only allow visitation on Saturday.

The second finding proves that visiting hours may change, therefore, do not always assume that the time you are used to is when you can always visit an inmate.

For instance, in Tarrant County, you can always visit an inmate every day from 9 A.M. to 9 P.M. except on Friday. Inmates will only be visited from 9 A.M. to 3 P.M. each Friday in Tarrant County.

According to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, in places like New York State, visiting hours and days vary from one facility to another. You might even visit for certain days of the week while others are not scheduled as visiting days.

The above table proves that the Green Haven Correctional Facility and Mohawk Correctional Facility are both in New York State. However, to visit an inmate in any of the two, you must know their visiting hours and days since they are entirely different.

You can visit an inmate in Green Haven Correctional Facility any day from Monday to Friday; however, to visit an inmate in Mohawk Correctional Facility, you must schedule a visit on the weekend or on the holidays.

Special Visits

Special visits include visits with inmates either in a hospital or in segregation. Visiting hours for inmates in hospitals will depend on the visiting hours of the hospital the inmate is currently in.

Visitors will also be restricted to only close family members. However, during the hospital visits, the duty officer has to be present, and the visitors also have to report to the correctional facility’s administration of their visit to the inmate in the hospital.

Visiting inmates in detention or segregation may occur in special unit housing or visiting rooms. However, there are occasions when an inmate may request a special visit, which the Associate Warden must approve.

For instance, unique Housing Unit visits conducted in Philadelphia must be approved by the F.D.C. Philadelphia or Federal Detention Center Philadelphia.

In some correctional facilities, visitors from distant places may be given more time to spend with their inmate loved ones than visitors from neighboring towns. For instance, in Tarrant County, visitors who come further than 150 miles from Fort Worth City limits are granted 40 minutes with their inmate friends, while the rest are allowed 30 minutes per visit.

What is Expected of You During Inmate Visiting Hours

After approval to visit an inmate and knowing the day and time, the next thing to do is schedule a visit. Remember that you cannot schedule a meeting with an inmate in most U.S. correctional facilities unless you are on the visitor’s approved list.

Below is what is expected of you before and during visiting hours.

Before visiting hours, you are expected to look for the facility’s rules and regulations governing visitation in the correction facility you plan to visit. Go through them and ensure you are prepared to follow them to the letter so your visitation is not revoked or terminated before the meeting.
Arrive at least 15 minutes to 30 minutes before the scheduled visiting time.
Expect to go through a metal detection scan to detect drugs and drug residue.
During visiting hours, as a visitor, you should remain in the facility’s building until the meeting hour is done. Most correctional facilities do not allow in and out of the building unauthorized.
Each correctional facility has a specific dress code that may or may not be allowed during visits. Generally, certain clothes are not allowed, for instance, bathing suits, revealing shirts, miniskirts, backless tops, pajamas, sleeveless, high-cut split skirts and tops. Certain institutions will not allow clothes of the same color and designs as prison clothes to avoid confusion.
Visitors cannot bring certain items like cameras—recording devices, unlabeled medicine, purses, bags, tobacco, lighter, or matchboxes. You are also not permitted to bring food or drinks from outside into the facility.
For visitors with infants, you are only permitted to carry a single diaper, a baby blanket that fits into the diaper bag, baby bottles that also fit into the bag, and an infant carrier.
You are expected to provide valid identification details about yourself; for instance, you should give a valid driver’s license from any state in the U.S. Alternatively, you may offer a valid I.D. from any state or a valid passport that complies with the U.S. Department of State regulations.
Suppose you are accompanied by a young person who is not yet 18, in other states 16 years, you must provide their birth certificate or a passport.
Suppose you are an immigrant, you should be ready to provide an immigration card with a clear photo. The card must have been issued by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service.
You must avoid visiting any correctional facility while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
During the meeting, you are expected to talk in a low voice.
You should respect the property of the correctional facility you visit.
As a parent or guardian, you are responsible for controlling the behavior of the children you visit the facility with.
Some facilities still conduct the covid 19 temperature screening, and you may be required to reschedule your visit if your temperature is higher than the recommended one.

Termination of visits can occur any moment the conduct of both inmates and visitors threatens the safety and how things run in the correctional facility.

Possible Reasons Why Your Inmate Visiting Request Was Denied

You provided false or unprovable identification details about yourself.
You are still under probation or parole supervision.
You are currently an employee or former employee of the correctional facility you intend to visit.
You are a victim of an inmate in that specific correctional facility.
You were a former volunteer of an activity in that correctional facility some time back.
You are an ex-inmate of the same correctional facility; however, in this case, some correctional facilities will allow you if you have been out of prison for a maximum of 12 months and if you are a close family member to the inmate you want to visit.
If it is believed you have a potentially detrimental effect on the inmate you are visiting.
If it is believed you are a threat to the security of the inmate and the entire correctional facility.
You had your visiting privileges suspended due to improper conduct during your last visit.

You can always request special permission from the facility’s warden to visit an inmate if any of the above prevents you from seeing an inmate.

Conclusion

All correctional facilities in the U.S. have visiting hours and days. However, they vary from one facility to another.

Before you look for visiting hours and days, first make sure you know where the inmate has been incarcerated and also ensure you get your visiting application request approved. However, there are certain scenarios when the request may be rejected, as stated above.

If you are unsure about the visiting hours, ask the inmate to send you a written or printed schedule via mail, call the facility or get the schedule from the facility’s website.

During visiting hours, there are certain things you are expected to do as a visitor to prevent the termination of your future visitation privileges. It is also wise to go through these expectations before visiting an inmate so that you come prepared.