Understanding Erie County Prison's Time Slot System: How Long Can You Visit?

Visiting time at Erie County Prison is capped by "time slots," and the number you get depends on the housing area. For AA, BB, CC, DD, GG, and JJ Pods, you can book up to three 20-minute slots on the pod's scheduled visiting day - 60 minutes total. F‑Pod allows two 20-minute slots, maxing out at 40 minutes. Restrictive housing, segregation, or special housing? One 30-minute slot on the scheduled day.

If your loved one is in AA, BB, CC, DD, GG, or JJ Pod, you can reserve up to three 20-minute visiting slots. That's where the 60-minute maximum comes from - three slots, no extra time beyond that. Visits happen on the pod's scheduled weekly day. The facility posts these schedules (for example: A‑Pod Fridays; B‑Pod Saturdays; C‑Pod Sundays; D‑Pod Mondays; F‑Pod Tuesdays; G‑Pod Wednesdays; J‑Pod Thursdays). Before you make the trip, confirm which pod your loved one is in and which day that pod has visiting.

F‑Pod works the same way, just with fewer slots. On F‑Pod's visiting day, you can book two 20-minute slots - 40 minutes total.

Restrictive housing, segregation, or special housing is different. Instead of multiple 20-minute blocks, you get one 30-minute slot on the scheduled visiting day. If you're used to general population visits, expect a shorter, single visit window.

Your time slots fit within the prison's posted visiting-hour windows for that housing area and day. Take A‑Pod general population: visiting hours include a midday window from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. and an evening window from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Even though those windows span several hours, your actual face-to-face time still depends on how many slots the pod allows. Some visits - like administrative segregation, protective custody, medical, and RHU special visits - require appointments during specific morning windows. Examples include 7:30–8:00 a.m. (by appointment for administrative segregation/protective custody/medical) and 7:30–8:30 a.m. for other listed morning appointments, plus RHU special visits by appointment. If your situation falls into one of these categories, treat the appointment time as your anchor - it's not the same as walking into a general population visiting window.

Practical Tips

• ✓ Confirm the housing area first (pod vs. restrictive housing), because the maximum time changes: some pods get three 20-minute slots, F‑Pod gets two 20-minute slots, and restrictive housing gets one 30-minute slot.
• ✓ Ask what “scheduled visiting day” applies to your loved one’s housing area so you don’t show up on the wrong day.
• ✓ If you’re trying to arrange a special visit, know that special visit requests are meant for administrative segregation status or other special circumstances - not for making up missed assigned visiting times.
• ✓ If your loved one is in administrative segregation/protective custody/medical or needs an RHU special visit, expect appointment-based morning windows (the schedule lists morning examples like 7:30–8:00 a.m. and other morning appointment blocks).
• ✓ For general questions about Erie County Prison inmates, including visitation policies and times, call 814-451-7500.