What to Expect During Your Background Check: Why Riverbend Visitor Applications Take Time
Waiting for your visitation application to clear can feel like limbo. At Riverbend, the timeline usually comes down to one step: a background check that must be completed before you're fully approved.
Every visitor application goes through an NCIC background check. This is standard, and it's the main reason approvals don't happen instantly. Your information has to be reviewed and cleared before you're added to the approved list.
Good news: you don't have to track down the form yourself. Blank copies of the TDOC Visitation Application (CR-2152) are given to inmates, so your loved one can get one to you.
Complete the CR-2152 and return it with a current photograph. Send both to the Deputy Superintendent/Associate Warden in charge of visitation. The form needs to be returned within 30 days.
Timeline to expect: Applications should be approved or denied within 30 days of receipt.
There's one exception that can help right after someone is first committed. Immediate family members of newly committed inmates may be temporarily added to the approved visitors list while the application is still pending - up to 60 days from the inmate's intake date.
How the exception works: Normally, no visitor is admitted until the application is approved. The one carve-out: immediate family of newly committed inmates can be temporarily added to the approved list for up to 60 days while the application is pending.
Common Reasons for Delay or Denial
- ✓ The CR-2152 wasn’t completed fully or correctly, or the required current photograph wasn’t included
- ✓ Information on the application doesn’t match what turns up during the NCIC background check
- ✓ The review takes longer than the “within 30 days of receipt” target because the application needs extra processing before a decision can be made
The NCIC check is a pass/fail checkpoint, but it can also slow things down. If the background check returns a possible match or something that needs confirmation, expect additional review time. A disqualifying record means denial.
- Mark the 30-day window - TDOC policy says applications should be approved or denied within 30 days of receipt, so use that as your baseline.
- Follow up with the visitation decision-maker - If you’re past that window, contact the Deputy Superintendent/Associate Warden in charge of visitation and ask about the status of the CR-2152 you submitted (and confirm it included a current photo).
When to check in: If 30 days have passed without an approval or denial, follow up. Ask whether your application was received and if it's still under review.
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