Before Your First Visit to a Colorado DOC Facility: What to Bring and What to Leave Behind
Your first Colorado DOC visit goes smoother when you show up with the right documents and leave everyday items in the car. Use this as a quick packing guide so you don't get turned away at check-in.
You'll need ID for two separate steps: the application and the actual visit. When you submit your visiting application, include a copy of a valid, unexpired government-issued photo ID. The address on that ID must match what you put on your application - mismatches can get your application denied. On visit day, every approved visitor over 18 must present an actual, valid picture ID (state driver's license or state picture ID) with that same matching address. Photocopies and digital IDs won't work. If you're applying to visit at Buena Vista, mail your completed application to P.O. Box 2017, Buena Vista, CO 81211, or email it to doc_bvcc_visiting@state.co.us. Double-check your ID is unexpired and your address is current before submitting - fixing a mismatch after the fact slows everything down.
Dress code trips up more visitors than almost anything else. CDOC requires you to be fully dressed, and your upper-body clothing can't expose cleavage, your back, or your midriff - whether you're standing, sitting, or bending. Thin or spaghetti straps aren't allowed, and undergarments must stay hidden. Bottoms get the same scrutiny. Pants must be worn as intended (no sagging). Skirts, dresses, and pant legs need to reach at least the top of your knee while standing. Shorts of any style are off-limits, and so are cargo pants. Skip anything sheer, transparent, ripped, or with holes. Shoes are required - no slides, no going barefoot, even for a quick visit.
Note: Steer clear of colors that look like offender attire - solid gray, green, orange, white, yellow, and camouflage are all prohibited. Also skip outfits with heavy adornments that could be used as a weapon.
Keep jewelry simple. In the visiting area, CDOC only allows a wedding ring set, one religious medallion, and medical alert badges. Everything else - extra rings, bracelets, necklaces, watches, and similar items - is best left at home or locked in your car so you don’t get delayed at the door.
Prohibited
- ✓ Cell phones, tablets, smart glasses, pagers, portable radios, portable computers, or any other portable electronic communication device (unless specifically authorized by the CDOC executive director)
- ✓ Cigarettes, tobacco products, tobacco substitutes, vaping products, e-cigarettes, or vaping liquid
- ✓ Outside food or drinks (baby food is the one exception)
If you need medication during the visit, bring only what you’ll need for the duration of the visit - nothing extra. It must be prescription medication in the original pharmacy-issued container with the pharmacy label attached. Don’t combine different medications into one bottle.
Bringing a minor (anyone under 18)? Handle the paperwork before you show up. Minors must be listed on the legal guardian's Visitor Application. If someone other than the parent or legal guardian will bring the child, the parent needs to complete Form 300-01F (Authorization for Minor Child Visitation) or provide documentation like a birth certificate or an adoption/guardianship order.
Expect a short check-in process before you're allowed in. You'll complete AR Form 300-01B (Offender Visitor Consent to Search Authorization) when you enter. It stays on file for one year, so you won't redo it every visit. At facilities housing medium- or higher-custody offenders, visitors (except children under three) get the back of their right hand stamped with an ultraviolet marker. Staff use that stamp under a black light to confirm your identity when you leave.
Quick
- ✓ Bring an actual, valid, unexpired government-issued photo ID (no photocopies or digital IDs)
- ✓ Make sure the address on your ID matches the address on your visiting application
- ✓ If you take prescription meds, bring only what you need for the visit in the original pharmacy container with the label attached
- ✓ If you’re bringing a minor, confirm they’re listed on the guardian’s application; if a non-guardian is bringing them, bring Form 300-01F or a birth certificate/adoption/guardianship order
- ✓ Leave all portable electronic communication devices in the car (phones, tablets, smart glasses, pagers, portable radios, portable computers)
- ✓ Leave tobacco and vaping items behind (cigarettes, vape devices, e-cigarettes, vaping liquid)
- ✓ Don’t bring outside food or drinks (baby food is the exception)
- ✓ Before you drive out, confirm the current visiting schedule with the facility
Find an Inmate at Buena Vista Corrections Facility, Co
Search for a loved one and send messages and photos in minutes.
