The 48-Hour Cancellation Rule at South Carolina DOC: How No-Shows Affect an Inmate's Monthly Visits
If you schedule an in-person visit with South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), treat that appointment like it matters—because it does. Cancel late or don't show up, and the visit still counts against the inmate's limited monthly allotment.
SCDC’s rule is straightforward: if you can’t make a scheduled in-person visit, you need to cancel at least 48 hours ahead of time. If you don’t cancel within that window, the visit still counts toward the inmate’s monthly visit total - even though the visit didn’t happen.
Why this matters: SCDC limits general population inmates with visitation privileges to four in-person visits per month. A no-show or late cancellation can use up one of those visits anyway.
General population inmates with visitation privileges get four in-person visits per month. That's the hard cap. Once those visits are used up, there's no way to squeeze in extra face time later in the same month.
There's also a pacing rule: inmates can have only one in-person visit per weekend. Even if multiple people want to visit, you can't stack visits back-to-back on the same weekend to catch up. If a weekend visit gets burned by a late cancellation or no-show, you're not just losing that day - you may be losing one of the few weekend slots available that month.
Bottom line: With a maximum of one visit per weekend and up to four visits per month, a late cancellation can effectively shrink the inmate’s usable visits for the month - because the “missed” visit can still count toward the monthly total.
- Try to cancel in the SCDC/GTL scheduler right away - Visits are scheduled through the SCDC/GTL system, and you’ll need to be registered and on the inmate’s approved visitation list to manage scheduling.
- Call the Visitation Inquiry Line - Use 803-896-1838 if you need help with visitation questions (press 1 for application questions or to leave a message).
- Email the Visitation office - Send details to visitation@doc.sc.gov, including who the visit was for and the scheduled date/time.
- Document what you did and when - Save timestamps for your cancellation attempt(s) so you have a clear record, especially if you were close to the 48-hour cutoff.
- ✓ Screenshot any cancellation confirmation (or error message) in the scheduler
- ✓ Save the email you sent (and any reply)
- ✓ Take a screenshot of your sent email showing date/time
- ✓ Keep your call log showing the number you dialed and the time
- ✓ Write down the scheduled visit date/time and what happened (no-show, emergency, etc.) while it’s fresh
Tips Avoid Loss
- ✓ Put the visit on your calendar the moment you schedule it, with a reminder set more than 48 hours ahead
- ✓ Make sure you’re on the inmate’s approved visitation list and registered in the SCDC/GTL scheduling system before you try to schedule or manage changes
- ✓ Re-check your plans the day before the visit so you have time to cancel within the 48-hour window if something changes
- ✓ Keep your scheduling confirmations and any screenshots in one place so you can pull them up quickly if there’s a problem
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