When and Where to Visit Someone at Smith County Jail (Central & North campuses)
Visiting someone at Smith County Jail comes down to two things: which campus they're at and which day visitation is offered. Here are the exact days, hours, and sign-up windows so you can plan a visit that actually happens.
Smith County operates two jail campuses. Central Jail sits at 206 E. Elm Street. North Jail is at 2811 Public Road and houses low and medium risk inmates. Not sure which campus your person is at? Find out first. Showing up to the wrong location can cost you the whole visit.
The two-campus setup is about capacity. Central Jail uses linear style and direct supervision housing with 680 beds total. North Jail has a podular direct observation design with 432 beds. The practical point: people can be housed at either campus, so double-check the location before you drive over.
Visiting someone housed as a woman inmate? Plan for Tuesday or Sunday - those are the only two days for on-site visits.
For men inmates, visitation happens Monday and Saturday. Miss those days and you'll have to wait for the next scheduled slot - there's no showing up on off days.
General visitation runs 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. That's a four-hour window, but you can't just walk in whenever. Check-in and sign-up (covered below) have their own timing, so plan around those too.
Time limit: Visits are limited to 20 minutes, so it helps to go in with a short list of what you want to cover.
Sign-up happens in person on the day of your visit at the Low-Risk Facility. The window is 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. This matters as much as the visiting hours themselves - miss sign-up, and you may miss your visit entirely.
Trustee visitation runs on an evening schedule: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, with sign-up from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM. Visiting someone with trustee status? Use these evening times, not the general 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM hours.
Practical Tips
- ✓ Confirm which campus (Central vs North) your loved one is housed at before you leave.
- ✓ Arrive early enough to complete sign-up within the posted sign-up window.
- ✓ Plan your conversation ahead of time since visits are short.
- ✓ If you’re traveling from out of town, build in extra time for parking and check-in so you’re not rushing.
Verify Before You Go
- ✓ Verify you’re going on the correct day (women: Tuesday/Sunday; men: Monday/Saturday).
- ✓ Verify the general visiting hours (1:00 PM–5:00 PM) or trustee hours (6:00 PM–8:00 PM), depending on the person’s status.
- ✓ Verify where you’re supposed to sign up and show up during the correct sign-up window (general sign-up is at the Low-Risk Facility from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.).
- ✓ Verify the Low-Risk Facility’s address before you drive - this location is required for sign-up, but the street address isn’t included in the schedule details above.
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