What Happens When the Visiting Room Gets Crowded at Green Haven (who gets asked to leave)

When the visiting room needs space, Green Haven’s first move isn’t to pick someone and kick them out. Staff will start by asking for voluntary termination - meaning they’ll request that any visitor choose to end their visit so the room can stay within space limits.

If no one volunteers - or if the room is still too crowded - Green Haven moves to time limits for “local” visitors. If you traveled within 100 miles of the facility, visits can be terminated after three hours, and staff do it on a first in, first out basis. In plain terms: the visits that started earliest are the ones that get ended first when space is tight.

If the room still needs space after that, the policy expands to include visitors who traveled over 100 miles. Those long-distance visits can also be terminated after three hours, again using first in, first out. So distance can buy you some protection from being in the first group asked to leave - but it doesn’t guarantee an unlimited visit if overcrowding continues.

Some visits may be considered differently before staff start ending them for overcrowding. Green Haven’s policy says visits with special permission, and visits for incarcerated individuals who have not received a visit within the past six months, are given special consideration before termination. Those calls are made by the Superintendent or the Officer of the Day, not by visitors in the room.

S4

• ✓ If staff ask for volunteers to end visits, be ready for that request and decide ahead of time what you’ll do.
• ✓ Watch the clock: when overcrowding forces terminations, three hours is the cutoff point used in the policy.
• ✓ If you’re within 100 miles, understand you’re the first group affected once voluntary termination doesn’t solve the space issue.
• ✓ If you traveled over 100 miles, know you may still be ended after three hours if the room remains crowded.
• ✓ Remember that terminations follow first in, first out - earlier-started visits are ended first when space is needed.

If you think your visit should get special consideration, focus on the two categories the policy actually names: visits with special permission, and visits for someone who hasn’t had a visit in six months. Green Haven’s policy puts those decisions with the Superintendent or the Officer of the Day, so the practical move is to ask staff how to raise that request through the right channel. If you’re trying to understand the bigger “why” behind the rules or how they’re supposed to be applied, it can also help to ask DOCCS for clarification, since DOCCS has the authority to develop and enforce the rules and regulations used to implement New York State laws.