Can You Visit If You've Been Incarcerated Before? Rules for Former Inmates, Employees, and Volunteers

If you're a former inmate or offender and not an eligible family member, you generally can't visit for three years after completing all active sentences. That three-year clock applies whether you finished your sentence while incarcerated or while on supervision. Even after the waiting period ends, you don't automatically qualify. Visits by former inmates require approval from the facility head - your request has to be reviewed and signed off before you can be added to anyone's visiting list.

Facility-head approval is separate from the three-year waiting period. Don't assume you're eligible just because enough time has passed. The facility head still has to approve your visit, and that approval isn't automatic.

A separate rule applies to people who worked for a private prison or the department. If you leave for any reason - resignation, termination, or retirement - you won't be added to an inmate's visiting list as a non-family member for at least three years.

1. Confirm you’re requesting a family visit - employee visitation is addressed in the policy as visiting family members who are inmates.
2. Get your supervisor’s approval - your supervisor must approve before the visit can be allowed.
3. Get approval from the involved facility head - the facility head also has to approve the visit.
4. Ask whether a background check will be required - the facility head may waive the background check for an employee visiting an incarcerated family member.

If you volunteer with ODOC and want to visit someone who's incarcerated, the key question is whether your relationship existed before that person was incarcerated. Volunteers may be allowed to visit incarcerated family members or friends when the relationship pre-dated the incarceration. To make this request, submit it to the facility volunteer coordinator and provide evidence of the prior relationship. The volunteer coordinator is your starting point for getting the request reviewed.

• ✓ Submit your visit request through the facility volunteer coordinator
• ✓ Provide evidence that your relationship with the incarcerated person existed before the incarceration

1. Figure out which category applies to you - former inmate/offender, current employee visiting an incarcerated family member, volunteer with a pre-existing relationship, or a family member who is currently under agency supervision.
2. Route your request to the right decision-maker - former inmates/offenders need facility-head approval; employees need supervisor approval plus the involved facility head; volunteers submit through the facility volunteer coordinator; supervised family require approval from both facility heads.
3. Submit your request and supporting information - for volunteers, that includes evidence your relationship existed before incarceration; for other categories, provide the information the approving officials need to review your situation.
4. Wait for approval before making plans to travel - these categories require approvals, so you’ll want confirmation you’ve been approved before you count on being able to visit.

If the person who wants to visit is a family member under agency supervision - including PPCS/GPS - the visit may only be allowed with approval from both facility heads. This isn't a single-signature situation; both sides have to sign off before the visit can move forward.