Video Visits vs. In-Person Visits at Piedmont Correctional: Which Option Is Right for You?
Choosing between video and in-person visits at Piedmont Correctional comes down to three things: approval requirements, scheduling flexibility, and whether the visit will be contact or non-contact.
Piedmont Correctional offers both in-person and video visits. Each option helps you stay connected, but they work differently. The rules around who can visit, how you schedule, and whether physical contact is allowed vary based on custody status and the type of visit you choose.
Here's the biggest requirement for video visits: you must already be on the incarcerated person's approved visitors list. Video isn't a workaround if you haven't been approved. Getting on that list is the first step to video visiting.
- Use the Getting Out Visits platform - Download the Getting Out Visits app to conduct a video visit or to make a video visit appointment.
- Choose on-demand or scheduled (when available) - Video visits can be on-demand or scheduled for a future time and date, depending on availability.
- Set up for video from home (if you are not using a kiosk) - Home video visits can be done with a personal computer, internet connection, webcam, microphone, and a recent web browser.
In-person visits at Piedmont Correctional require an appointment. To schedule one, call or email the facility directly.
- ✓ Call the prison the day before your scheduled in-person visit to confirm the facility’s visitation status.
- ✓ Ask whether your scheduled visit is still on and whether any visiting conditions have changed since you made the appointment.
Video visits work on a different schedule than in-person visits. Depending on availability, you might connect on-demand or book a session for a specific time. Planning ahead helps if you're juggling work, school pickups, or limited quiet time at home.
Your loved one's custody status can affect what in-person visits look like. People on administrative or disciplinary segregation, or in control status (except protective control), are limited to non-contact visits by appointment. You can still visit, but there won't be physical contact, and you'll need to schedule ahead.
Note: The facility warden can change visiting times, visit frequency, visit duration, and the number of visits based on security or operational needs.
Security Threat Group (STG) validation also affects visiting. STG Level 2 allows contact visits with approved immediate family members. STG Level 3 restricts visits with approved immediate family to non-contact only.
Decision Guide
- ✓ You are on your loved one’s approved visitors list (video visits are limited to approved visitors).
- ✓ You want the flexibility of video that can be on-demand or scheduled for a future time and date, depending on availability.
- ✓ You can reliably do the visit from home with a computer, internet connection, webcam, microphone, and a recent web browser.
- ✓ Using the Getting Out Visits app is the easiest way for you to handle video visits or video visit appointments.
- ✓ You want an in-person visit and you are able to schedule it directly with the prison (in-person visits are appointment-only).
- ✓ You can call ahead the day before the visit to confirm the facility’s visitation status.
- ✓ Your loved one’s current status allows the type of in-person visit you are hoping for (for example, some statuses are restricted to non-contact visits).
- ✓ STG level matters for your situation: Level 2 allows contact visits with approved immediate family members, while Level 3 is limited to non-contact visits with approved immediate family members.
Final tip: Before you travel or take time off work, confirm the current visiting conditions with the facility. The warden can adjust visiting rules for security or operational reasons.
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