How to Visit Central New Mexico Correctional Facility (NM)

Central New Mexico Correctional Facility is required to give each person in custody written visitation procedures within 24 hours of arrival. That document covers the basics: how visits work and what rules you'll need to follow. If your loved one just got there and you want to visit soon, check that they've received this written guidance first. It's the starting point for everything else.

Expect security screening when you arrive on institutional grounds. Visitors can be searched, and you'll need to sign a statement acknowledging that before you enter. Refuse to sign, or refuse a required strip search, and the facility can cancel or suspend your visit.

Steps to Follow

• ✓ Ask your loved one to confirm they received the facility’s written visitation procedures within 24 hours of arriving.
• ✓ Read and follow the written procedures your loved one received, since that is what the facility expects visitors to follow.
• ✓ Expect to be subject to search while you are on institutional grounds.
• ✓ Be ready to sign the acknowledgement statement before entering.
• ✓ Do not refuse a required strip search. Refusal can cancel or suspend your visit.

• ✓ Bring proper identification for the underage visitor.
• ✓ Make sure the minor is accompanied by a responsible adult relative, parent, or legal guardian, or bring documented proof the minor is legally married to the incarcerated person.
• ✓ Plan for drug-detection device testing for visitors under 18.
• ✓ Know that minors will not be strip searched.
• ✓ If a minor gets a positive result, expect face-to-face non-contact visiting (if available) or denial of the visit for that day if non-contact is not available.

Check how your loved one is supposed to get the facility's written visitation procedures, especially if they just arrived. The rule says the facility must provide that information within 24 hours. In practice, you may need to ask your loved one where it was provided and what steps you should follow based on what they received.

Before you show up, confirm what search procedures are currently in place for visitors and what the acknowledgement statement actually says. Ask how the facility handles a visitor who won't sign the statement or refuses a required strip search. Either refusal can lead to a cancelled or suspended visit.

Bringing someone under 18? Verify what forms of ID the facility accepts for minors and who counts as a "responsible adult" for accompaniment. Ask how drug-detection device testing works for minors and whether face-to-face non-contact visiting is available if there's a positive result. If non-contact isn't an option, a positive result means the minor's visit is denied for that day. Worth confirming the current process before you make the trip.