What You Can and Can't Bring to a Visit at Orleans Parish Prison
Orleans Parish Prison allows visits under Louisiana Department of Corrections policy, but what you can bring is strictly limited by security requirements. Keep it simple - empty pockets and nothing in your hands - and check-in will go much faster.
Prohibited Items
- ✓ Any telecommunications equipment or component hardware, including cellular phones, pagers, beepers, SIM cards, portable memory chips, batteries, and chargers
- ✓ Cameras or any recording devices
- ✓ Any article of food
- ✓ Any toiletries
- ✓ Any clothing items
- ✓ Any currency or coin over the amount allowed at the institution (the allowed amount is set in the facility’s visiting guidelines)
Note: Leave phones, chargers, cameras, and anything that records in your vehicle before you walk up to check in. These items are explicitly prohibited during visitation.
Prescription medication isn't a blanket exception. Only life-saving or life-sustaining medication is allowed, and it must be in the original pharmacy container. Bring just enough for the visit, nothing more. Let staff know you have it as soon as you reach the visiting desk.
Tip: Tell the visiting desk about your medication as soon as you arrive so staff can handle it the right way. Keep it in the original pharmacy container and only bring the amount needed for the visit.
While the Department sets baseline visitation rules, each facility adjusts for its own security needs and physical setup. If you need an exception - say, something outside the normal property limits - ask facility staff directly. They can route your request to whoever handles authorization.
A prior criminal conviction won't automatically disqualify you from visiting. However, you can still be denied if the nature of your offense suggests your presence could threaten facility security or stability.
Current Department employees - or former employees who left within the past 10 years - can only visit immediate family members. You'll need to submit a request through the right channel: if you worked primarily in a prison setting, submit to the Warden (or designee) at the facility; if not, submit to the Chief of Operations.
Tip: If you have a prior conviction or you’re a current/former DOC employee, contact the facility ahead of time so you know what approvals or requests are required before you show up to visit.
Need an accommodation for a disability? Give the facility advance notice. They're expected to reasonably accommodate visitors with disabilities, but notifying them ahead of time is how you make sure what you need is actually available when you arrive.
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