Penmate Inmate Support Guides
Visitation

How to Add Someone to Your Inmate's Visitors List at Hodge Unit

Getting on an inmate's approved visitors list at the Hodge Unit starts with the TDCJ Online Visitation Scheduler. You'll need the correct ID number and to submit a relationship request for unit staff to verify.

• 3 min read Verified from official sources

To add someone in the TDCJ Online Visitation Scheduler, you'll need the inmate's 8-digit TDCJ number or 8-digit SID number. The scheduler only accepts an 8-digit number, so double-check you have the full number before you start.

  1. Use TDCJ Offender Search to find the number - If you don’t know the inmate’s TDCJ or SID number, look it up there first.
  2. Return to the scheduler and add the inmate - Once you have the 8-digit number, enter it in the scheduler so you can move on to the relationship request.

Once the search pulls up the correct person, select your relationship from the dropdown and click Request Approval. That request goes to the inmate's unit of assignment (in this case, the Hodge Unit), where TDCJ staff verify the relationship before it can be approved.

Note: Approval doesn't happen instantly. The request goes to the unit for verification and will sit as pending until staff review it.

A "pending" status in the scheduler means the unit still needs to verify your relationship request. Until that verification goes through, you won't be able to schedule a visit online.

Call the unit: If the Schedule Visit button is missing or replaced with "Call Unit," you'll need to call the inmate's unit of assignment (the Hodge Unit, for example) to schedule your visit by phone.

TDCJ caps each inmate's Visitors List at 10 names. If the list is full, someone needs to be removed before a new person can be added.

How often the list can change depends on the inmate's status. Institutional inmates (those housed at TDCJ units) can request changes to their Visitors List once every six months.

The timeline is different for state jail, intermediate sanction facility (ISF), and substance abuse felony punishment (SAFP) inmates. They can request Visitors List changes once every 60 days.

Confirm Help

  • ✓ Confirm the inmate is assigned to the unit you plan to visit and has visitation privileges.
  • ✓ Call the unit for final confirmation before you travel (visitation information is updated daily).
  • ✓ If the scheduler shows “Call Unit” or you don’t see a Schedule Visit button, contact the inmate’s unit of assignment to schedule or get clarification.

Stuck in pending? Not sure your relationship request went through? Seeing "Call Unit" where you expected to schedule online? Contact the Hodge Unit (or whichever unit the inmate is housed at). It's also smart to call before you travel, since visitation details get updated regularly and the unit can give you final confirmation.

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How to add someone to your loved one’s Visitors List at Hodge Unit

Before you can visit someone at Hodge Unit, you'll need to get approved through the TDCJ Online Visitation Scheduler. Here's how the relationship request process works, what to do inside the scheduler, and what limits might slow things down.