Visiting Erie County Prison: How to Get on the List, Find Your Pod's Day, and Use the 20‑Minute Slots

Erie County Prison assigns visiting days by housing pod. First step: find out the pod name and its weekly day. Here's the schedule: A‑Pod - Fridays; B‑Pod - Saturdays; C‑Pod - Sundays; D‑Pod - Mondays; F‑Pod - Tuesdays; G‑Pod - Wednesdays; J‑Pod - Thursdays; E‑#1 - Tuesdays; E‑#2 - Tuesdays; A‑RHU - Fridays; Special Housing - Tuesdays. Show up on the wrong day? You're making a wasted trip. Confirm the pod before arranging transportation, childcare, or time off work.

You can't sign yourself up at the door. The inmate has to add your name to the visiting list for their pod's day - if your name isn't there, you'll be turned away. Handle the list first, then plan around the pod's assigned day. Otherwise, you might arrive on the right day and still get denied.

• ✓ Ask your loved one to sign your name on the visiting list for their pod’s visiting date.
• ✓ Confirm which pod they’re housed in so you can match it to the correct visiting day.

For several pods, visits run in short, fixed blocks. AA, BB, CC, DD, GG, and JJ pods each have one weekly visiting day broken into three 20‑minute slots. Maximum visit length: 60 minutes total. You're not planning "an hour visit" in the abstract - you're working with three separate 20‑minute windows.

Timing varies depending on where someone is housed. Those AA/BB/CC/DD/GG/JJ pods use three 20‑minute slots (up to 60 minutes total), but other housing areas have their own set hours. E‑#1 visits, for example, happen Tuesdays from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. If you're coordinating rides or trying to visit before work, that one-hour window can make or break your plan.

Thinking about requesting a "special visit" because the regular schedule doesn't work? Be careful. Special Visit Requests exist for inmates in administrative segregation or other special circumstances - they're handled case by case. They're not meant for visitors who can't make the assigned times. "My work schedule conflicts" usually won't qualify. Your best bet is still planning around the pod's normal day and time structure.

Some schedules target specific groups, and it's easy to miss if you're only focused on the pod's day. B‑Pod has a designated Youthful Offender Visits slot from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. E‑#1 visits also run Tuesdays from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. If your loved one is a youthful offender or housed in an area with a narrow morning window, plan for that early start - arriving after the visiting period ends means no visit.

Checklist Avoid Denied

• ✓ Make sure the inmate has signed your name on the visiting list for their pod’s visiting date (if you’re not signed in, the visit can be denied).
• ✓ Confirm the inmate’s pod and match it to the correct weekly visiting day.
• ✓ If the pod uses 20‑minute slots, plan your arrival around the slot(s) you expect to use - three 20‑minute slots is the maximum 60 minutes.
• ✓ Bring a valid government-issued photo ID (common-sense requirement for facility entry, even when the policy details aren’t in front of you).

For visitation questions - or anything else like charges, bond, sending money or mail, property, medications, and phone use - call the Erie County Corrections office at 814-451-7500. Dealing with a last-minute issue, like not knowing the pod or needing to confirm you're on the list? Call before you make the trip. It can save you a lot of time.