What Contact Visits at Evans Really Mean (No More Plexiglass)

Evans Correctional Institution is a medium-security prison in the South Carolina Department of Corrections system that allows contact visits. That means you're not separated by plexiglass during an in-person visit. This distinction matters. A lot of families hear "visitation" and assume it always means a booth, a barrier, or a screen. At Evans, "contact visit" means the facility is set up for in-person visits without that plexiglass separation.

Even though Evans allows contact visits, you can't just show up and get in line. All in-person visits have to be scheduled ahead of time through the SCDC/GTL scheduler.

• ✓ Be on the incarcerated person’s approved visitation list
• ✓ Register on the SCDC/GTL scheduling website

For general population inmates with visitation privileges, there are limits on how often contact visits can happen. The basic rule: one in-person visit per weekend, with a maximum of four in-person visits per month. If you're trying to plan ahead, think of the monthly limit as the ceiling and the weekend rule as the pacing. Even in a long month with five weekends, the total still tops out at four in-person visits.

Evans also limits how many people can be in a visit at one time. Inmates may have up to four visitors at once, and at least one must be an adult. If you're coordinating a family visit, plan your group with that headcount in mind. More than four people who want to visit? You'll need to split them across separate visits rather than bringing everyone at once.

Weekend in-person visits are scheduled in two-hour blocks between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. When you use the scheduler, you'll pick one of those two-hour time slots within that window.