What You Can and Can't Do During a TDCJ Contact Visit

TDCJ calls non-contact visits

That “limited” part matters. Contact visits aren’t a free-for-all - TDCJ spells out exactly what kinds of touch are okay, when they’re allowed, and where your hands need to be during the visit.

Embracing and kissing are allowed during contact visits - but only twice: once when you arrive and once when you leave. A brief greeting, a brief goodbye. That's it. Ongoing hugs, kisses, or physical affection throughout the visit falls outside what's permitted and can get your visit cut short.

You can hold hands, but there's one strict rule: your hands must stay on top of the table, in full view of staff. Hands that drop below the tabletop, slip into laps, or move out of sight can be treated as a violation - even if you weren't doing anything wrong.

Assume your visit can be monitored. TDCJ allows electronic monitoring of all inmate visits except attorney-client meetings. Staff can also see everything happening in the visiting area - which is why rules like

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• ✓ Use your one greeting hug/kiss at the start, then stop - save the second one for the end of the visit.
• ✓ Keep hand-holding “tabletop only”: hands on top of the table and fully visible to staff.
• ✓ Don’t let hands drift into laps or below the table, even for a moment.
• ✓ Treat the visit like it may be electronically monitored (unless it’s attorney-client).
• ✓ If staff corrects you, adjust immediately and keep the rest of the visit strictly within the rules.

If staff warn you about your hands or physical contact, adjust immediately. The safest approach during a contact visit: keep your hands on top of the table where they're visible, and save the hugs and kisses for hello and goodbye. Since visits (other than attorney-client) may be electronically monitored, assume both your behavior and your conversation could be observed.