Penmate Inmate Support Guides
Visitation

Before You Go: CRC's Visitor Processing Deadlines and Session Times You Need to Know

CRC visits run on set session times, but getting in depends on when you clear visitor processing. Show up too late to be processed, and you can lose the whole visit. Timing matters.

• 2 min read • dam.assets.ohio.gov
Before You Go: CRC's Visitor Processing Deadlines and Session Times You Need to Know

CRC offers two daily visiting sessions: AM runs 8:30am to 11:30am, PM runs 12:00pm to 3:15pm. These are the windows when the visiting room is open. Your goal? Be fully processed before the cutoff for the session you want to attend.

Reminder: No reception visiting on weekends - weekend visits are appointment-only. The facility is also closed on State Holidays, including New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Juneteenth, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

Here's where people get tripped up: "visiting session hours" and "visitor processing hours" aren't the same thing. Processing only happens 8:00am to 9:15am and 11:00am to 1:00pm. You can't just walk in anytime during a session and expect to get through. For the AM session (8:30am–11:30am), you must complete processing before 9:15am. For the PM session (12:00pm–3:15pm), the cutoff is 1:00pm. Notice that processing starts before the visiting room even opens in the morning. Plan your arrival around those processing windows - not the session start times.

Quick cutoff check: AM visit = be processed before 9:15am. PM visit = be processed by 1:00pm.

3

  • ✓ Completed Visitor Application (DRC2096)
  • ✓ Signed Declaration of Understanding (DRC2554)
  • ✓ Signed General Visiting Instructions (DRC2274)
  • ✓ Copy of bona fide identification

Don't wait until the morning of your trip to find out you're not approved. Call the facility 10–14 business days after submitting your visiting application to verify approval. Once you're cleared, focus on the part you control: arriving early enough to finish processing before the 9:15am (AM) or 1:00pm (PM) cutoff.

Group size limit: CRC allows a maximum of five visitors at one time, and that count includes walking children.

Before You Go: CRC's Visitor Processing Deadlines and Session Times You Need to Know

Miss the processing window, miss the session. Processing only happens 8:00am–9:15am and 11:00am–1:00pm. If you arrive too late to complete processing before 9:15am (AM) or 1:00pm (PM), you won't get in - even if there's still time left in visiting hours.

  1. Call CRC for direction - Ask what your options are for that day and what you should do differently next time to meet the processing cutoff.
  2. Confirm your next visit plan - If approval status is part of the problem, call 10–14 business days after submitting your visiting application to verify you’re approved before you make the trip again.

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