How the 18-Person Visitor List Works in North Carolina Prisons (and When You Can Change It)
North Carolina prisons use an approved visitor list with two limits you need to plan around: how many people can be approved overall, and when you can make changes. Here's how the 18-person cap works, when open enrollment happens, and how session limits fit in.
Each offender in North Carolina prisons can have up to 18 approved visitors total. Kids count toward that same 18-person limit, so plan accordingly.
You can only change the approved visitor list during open enrollment, which happens every six months. The timing is based on the offender's admission date to prison, so the update windows follow that admission month on a six-month cycle.
Example: If the admission month is January, open enrollment falls in July and then again in January.
If you want to add someone new, plan around that six-month rhythm. Since the list maxes out at 18 people (adults and minors combined), think ahead about who needs to be included now versus who could wait for the next open enrollment.
- ✓ Write down the next open enrollment month based on the offender’s admission date (it comes every six months)
- ✓ Decide who you want on the list for the next six-month stretch
- ✓ Count everyone (adults and minors) and make sure the total stays at 18 or fewer
The 18-person list is about who can visit at all. But there's a separate session cap: only three approved visitors can be in the room during a single visit. So even if you have 18 people approved, only three can visit at one time.
Find an Inmate at Dan River Prison Work Farm, NC
Search for a loved one and send messages and photos in minutes.
