How to Contact an Inmate at Facility

If you're planning an in-person visit, timing is the thing that trips people up most. You need to be at the facility 5 minutes prior to your scheduled visit time. Check in more than 5 minutes late? The GTL system automatically cancels your visit. The facility can't override that cancellation. Treat your scheduled time as a hard cutoff and plan your travel accordingly.

Visiting hours are broken into time blocks that differ by day. Monday through Friday, visitation runs 8:30am to 11:30am, 1:00pm to 4:30pm, and 6:30pm to 9:45pm. On Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, hours shift to 10:00am to 12:00pm, 1:00pm to 4:30pm, and 6:30pm to 8:30pm. When you pick a slot, give yourself enough buffer to arrive early and get through check-in.

There are limits on how many visits an inmate can receive: 2 visits per day, up to 14 per week. If several people want to see the same person, coordinate ahead of time. Group size is capped, too. Each visit allows either 2 adults and 1 child, or 1 adult and 2 children. If your group doesn't fit one of those combinations, you'll need to split into separate visits (while staying within the daily and weekly limits).

If getting to the facility is difficult, there's an at-home option. The facility offers monitored video visitation from home: up to 10 minutes for $4.00 or up to 25 minutes for $10.00. Video visits are available daily from 8:30am to 9:45pm. For legal communication, inmates who aren't on disciplinary lockdown can make unlimited collect telephone calls to their attorneys and advisors during leisure time. If your loved one is on lockdown, phone access may be restricted.

Steps to Follow

• ✓ Arrive at least 5 minutes early for an in-person visit.
• ✓ Do not count on a grace period. If you check in more than 5 minutes after your scheduled time, the GTL system will automatically cancel the visit.
• ✓ Plan as if cancellations cannot be fixed by staff, since the facility cannot override GTL cancellations.

• ✓ Choose a weekday slot (Monday through Friday): 8:30am to 11:30am, 1:00pm to 4:30pm, or 6:30pm to 9:45pm.
• ✓ Choose a weekend or holiday slot (Saturday, Sunday, and holidays): 10:00am to 12:00pm, 1:00pm to 4:30pm, or 6:30pm to 8:30pm.
• ✓ Build your travel time around those windows so you can be there before the 5-minute early check-in requirement.

• ✓ Track how many visits the inmate has scheduled. The limit is 2 visits per day and up to 14 visits per week.
• ✓ Make sure your visiting group fits the allowed combinations for a single visit: either 2 adults and 1 child, or 1 adult and 2 children.
• ✓ If multiple family members want to visit, coordinate who goes when so you do not burn through the weekly limit early.

• ✓ Use monitored video visitation from home if you cannot make it in person. Options listed are up to 10 minutes for $4.00 or up to 25 minutes for $10.00, available daily from 8:30am to 9:45pm.
• ✓ For attorney or advisor contact, expect collect calls. Inmates who are not on disciplinary lockdown may make unlimited collect telephone calls to their attorneys and advisors during their leisure time.

Before you travel, confirm the check-in process and timing. Specifically, verify that the "arrive 5 minutes early" requirement and the GTL auto-cancellation rule (more than 5 minutes late equals cancellation) are still being enforced exactly as described.

Confirm the current visiting hours for the day you plan to go. Schedules can shift. While you're at it, double-check the visit limits (2 per day, up to 14 per week) so you don't lose a trip to a quota issue.

Bringing children or coordinating multiple visitors? Verify the current rules for how many adults and children are allowed per visit. If you plan to use at-home video, confirm session lengths, pricing, and the daily availability window. For legal calls, check how disciplinary lockdown affects phone privileges.