Penmate Inmate Support Guides
Visitation

How Often Can You Visit? NC’s One‑Visit‑Per‑Week Rule and Session Limits

Planning prison visits is hard enough without guessing at the rules. Here are the baseline limits North Carolina sets for visit frequency, session length, and how many people can attend, plus a few practical ways to plan around them.

• 2 min read Verified from official sources

Under normal circumstances in North Carolina, an offender is allowed one visiting session per week. So if you're hoping to visit more than once in the same week, you won't be able to schedule a second session.

Each weekly session is capped at two hours. Plan your travel and arrival time with that window in mind.

The normal maximum is three approved visitors per session. If your family has more than three people who want to attend, you'll need to rotate from week to week to stay within the limit.

Security Threat Group (STG) status can change the type of visit allowed. If an offender is validated as STG Level 2, they can still have contact visits, but only with approved immediate family members.

STG Level 3: Offenders validated as STG Level 3 are restricted to non-contact visits with approved immediate family members only.

Practical Planning

  1. Call the day before your scheduled visit - confirm the facility’s visitation status so you do not make the trip only to find out visiting is not available.

When you request an appointment, build your plan around three limits: one session per week, two hours per session, and a maximum of three approved visitors. If your group is larger than three, pick who will attend this week and rotate the rest into the following week's visit. Traveling a long distance? Factor in time for arrival, parking, and check-in so those logistics don't eat into your two hours.

Find an Inmate at SCOTLAND CI

Search for a loved one and send messages and photos in minutes.

Exact spelling helps find results faster

Free to search · Used by families nationwide
Woman using phone to connect with loved one

More from SCOTLAND CI

Finding Someone in NC Prisons: How to Use the NCDAC Offender Locator and NC SAVAN Alerts

Trying to find someone in the North Carolina prison system? Start with the NCDAC Offender Public Information Search. Once you pull up the right person, you can also sign up for NC SAVAN alerts to get notified about custody status changes.

How Inmates at Scotland CI Can Learn Job Skills: Sewing Plant and Braille Transcription

Scotland Correctional Institution offers on-site Correction Enterprises jobs that help incarcerated people build practical work skills - particularly through the Laurinburg Sewing Plant and a Braille transcription shop.

How Many People Are Housed at Scotland Correctional Institution? (Explaining Conflicting Official Numbers)

Trying to figure out how many people are housed at Scotland Correctional Institution? The official department page gives you three different numbers. One spot lists an offender capacity of 1,652. Another says Scotland CI "houses more than 1,700" adult male offenders. A third describes it as a "1,756-bed" high-security facility. That's confusing - especially when you're trying to understand crowding levels or confirm where your loved one is located.