When You'll Actually Get to Visit: Meal Times, Counts, and the 30-Minute Wait Rule at Greenville County
Visiting at Greenville County can feel unpredictable if you don't know what stops the process. Here's how meal periods, count times, and the 30-minute wait rule affect when you'll actually get in.
At Greenville County Detention Center, you might be asked to wait if the visitation booths in your loved one's housing unit are full. The same goes for arrival during a meal period - you'll wait until a booth opens or the meal ends. Here's the key: that wait is capped at 30 minutes. So even if you don't walk straight in, you know the longest you should be waiting under those circumstances.
Note: Visits run in 30-minute intervals, so turnover is built into the schedule. That’s why a short wait often lines up with the next booth opening.
Meal Periods
- ✓ Breakfast: 05:30–07:00 - sign-outs/interviews aren’t honored during this meal period.
- ✓ Lunch: 11:00–12:30 - sign-outs/interviews aren’t honored during this meal period.
- ✓ Supper: 16:00–17:30 - sign-outs/interviews aren’t honored during this meal period.
Greenville County runs institutional counts three times daily: 07:00, 15:00, and 22:00. During a count, staff verify who's in each housing unit - movement and activities pause while this happens. Treat those times as
Heads up: Visits and interviews are not honored during regular institutional counts.
Want to maximize your chances of getting in smoothly? Avoid two dead zones: meal periods and count times. Show up during a meal, and you'll wait until it ends. Hit a count, and visits won't be honored at all. Visits run in 30-minute intervals, so booths open on a predictable rhythm. If they're occupied when you arrive, you can be asked to wait - but that wait is capped at 30 minutes when it's due to full booths or a meal period. The practical approach: pick an arrival time that's comfortably outside meal windows (05:30–07:00, 11:00–12:30, 16:00–17:30) and not right at count start (07:00, 15:00, 22:00). This gives you the best shot at starting promptly - or, if delayed, catching the next 30-minute turnover instead of losing the whole trip.
- ✓ Avoid breakfast (05:30–07:00)
- ✓ Avoid lunch (11:00–12:30)
- ✓ Avoid supper (16:00–17:30)
- ✓ Avoid count start at 07:00
- ✓ Avoid count start at 15:00
- ✓ Avoid count start at 22:00
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