If Your Visiting Privileges Are Suspended at CNMCF: Understanding the Appeal Process

If your visiting privileges at CNMCF are suspended or terminated, the facility will notify you in writing. Keep that notice. It's your clearest starting point for understanding the decision and what you'll need to address in an appeal.

CNMCF updates its records promptly when a visitor is approved, disapproved, or suspended. Those updates go into the offender management database, so the written notice you receive should match what staff see in the system when you try to schedule or check in for a visit.

When a visiting violation leads to a suspension or termination, the facility is required to document it. That documentation goes into the inmate's file, and a copy is attached to the inmate's visiting card. If the incarcerated person transfers to another unit, the holding facility must forward the violation documentation with them.

Suspensions are tracked beyond the day-to-day visiting desk, too. Each facility compiles a quarterly list of all suspended visitors and sends it to the Director of Adult Prisons.

You can appeal a suspension or termination of visiting privileges. The appeal process is governed by the Inmate Visitation policy, which serves as the rulebook for how the facility handles visitor appeals.

New Mexico Corrections Department has a specific form for this: the Visiting Suspension Appeal form (CD-100202.8). When you ask staff for the correct paperwork or reference your appeal in writing, using that form number helps you get routed to the right process faster.

1. Read your suspension/termination notice and follow the Inmate Visitation policy - The policy’s appeal process is what governs how to submit your appeal.
2. Get the correct appeal form - Ask for the Visiting Suspension Appeal form, CD-100202.8.
3. Complete and submit the appeal the way the policy requires - Use the method and procedure laid out in the Inmate Visitation policy so your appeal is processed as an official visitor appeal.
4. Watch for record updates after a decision - Visitor suspensions (and other visiting records) are supposed to be promptly updated in the offender management database.

Practical Tips

• ✓ A copy of the facility’s written decision letter (the notice that says your visiting privileges were suspended or terminated)
• ✓ Your identifying information (your full name and the best way to contact you)
• ✓ The offender’s full name and NMCD number, plus DOB and/or SSN if available
• ✓ Your relationship to the offender
• ✓ Any supporting documents you want considered with your appeal
• ✓ A clear, short summary of what happened from your perspective (the facility will also have its own violation documentation in the inmate’s file and on the visiting card)

If you need help figuring out where to start or what information to include, contact Family Constituent Services. Email CDFamilySrvcs@cd.nm.gov, or call (505) 827-8710 or (505) 231-4762. When you reach out, include the offender's full name, NMCD number, DOB and/or SSN (if available), and your relationship to the offender so they can pull up the right record.