What to Bring (and What Not to Bring) Into the Visiting Room at Toledo Correctional

Leave your electronics behind. Toledo Correctional doesn't allow any electronic devices during visits - cell phones, smart watches, pagers, none of it. If it can communicate, record, or connect to anything, assume it's staying outside the visiting room.

Bags are another common reason visitors get turned away. Purses, handbags, backpacks - none of these are allowed inside. Don't show up expecting to carry one through. Your best bet: leave it at home or locked in your car before you head in.

Bringing an infant? You can use a carrier for the visit. It will be searched on entry - that's standard. Give yourself a few extra minutes so the screening doesn't feel rushed.

• ✓ Clear diaper bag with a reasonable number of diapers
• ✓ Baby wipes (in a clear bag or container)
• ✓ Up to three clear plastic baby bottles
• ✓ Up to three clear plastic containers of baby food
• ✓ One pacifier

1. Bring only what you’ll take during the visit - prescription medications are authorized, but only if they’re the meds you need to take while you’re there.
2. Present them at the officer’s desk when you arrive - don’t wait until you’re already headed into the visiting area.
3. Have them logged on entry - staff must log your prescription medication at the officer’s desk before you go in.

Don't try to hand anything to the person you're visiting - even if it seems harmless. Packages, letters, money, and printed materials all have to go through the mail per facility policy. Cash is specifically prohibited under the facility's Declaration of Understanding tied to Ohio Revised Code 2921.36. Bringing money onto prison grounds can create serious problems.

• ✓ Send correspondence through the mail process required by policy (not through the visiting room)
• ✓ Handle money only through approved processes (not by bringing or handing over cash)
• ✓ Send packages through the mail process required by policy (not by dropping them off during visitation)
• ✓ Don’t bring printed materials to pass to an incarcerated person; use the mail process instead

These aren't just house rules. Toledo Correctional's visitor policies are backed by a Declaration of Understanding that references ORC 2921.36. That law prohibits knowingly conveying - or attempting to convey - weapons, drugs, intoxicating liquor, cash, and electronic communication devices onto detention-facility grounds. Show up with a prohibited device or bag? You might lose your visit. Attempt to bring in something covered by the law? The consequences get much more serious.