How to Visit Someone at Western Kentucky Correctional Complex: A Complete First-Timer's Guide
Your first visit can feel like a lot, especially when you're worried about doing something wrong at the gate or in the lobby. This guide covers how to plan your arrival, what you're allowed to bring, and the common mistakes that cost people their visit time.
Visitation at Western Kentucky Correctional Complex (WKCC) is held on either Saturday or Sunday, and the location rotates monthly between the WKCC Compound (male population) and the Ross-Cash Center (female population). Before you head out, confirm which site is hosting visits for the current month. Showing up at the wrong location means losing your visit.
Note: WKCC visiting schedules can change at any time. Confirm the current rotation and timing before you travel.
If the person you're visiting is in Meritorious Housing, or the visit is at Ross-Cash, visiting hours run from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Plan your morning around that start time. Check-in and security screening eat into your visit if you arrive late.
For non-meritorious housing, visitation runs from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. That's a shorter window, so arriving early matters if you want as much time together as possible.
Tip: WKCC recommends arriving at 6:30 a.m. so you can clear all security processes and receive your entire four-hour visit time.
You can enter the institution no earlier than 30 minutes before 7:00 a.m. WKCC specifically recommends arriving at 6:30 a.m. so you have time to clear security processing without cutting into your visit.
Warning: No visitors will be processed after 9:00 a.m. If you're not checked in by then, you won't get in.
You don't need an appointment to visit at WKCC. Just show up during visitation hours, as long as you meet the facility's visitor requirements.
WKCC limits each inmate to two adult visitors at a time. If your group is larger, decide ahead of time who will go in together so you're not sorting it out at the front desk.
There's no limit on the number of minors who can visit, as long as each child is on the inmate's approved visitor list. The adult bringing a minor must be the parent or legal guardian. If someone else is bringing the child, they need notarized written permission from the parent or legal guardian stating the minor is allowed to enter the institution with that approved visitor.
What to Bring Vending
- ✓ Identification card
- ✓ Debit card
- ✓ Vehicle key
Each adult visitor may bring a debit card for the vending machines. No cash is allowed (no bills, no coins), and the debit card cannot be given to or handled by an inmate.
WKCC requires modest clothing appropriate for a correctional setting. Undergarments must be worn and can't be visible. Shirts need to fully cover your shoulders, cleavage, and midriff. Footwear is required at all times.
- ✓ Provocative, revealing, see-through, or excessively tight-fitting clothing
- ✓ Shorts, dresses, or skirts that are more than 2 inches above the knee when standing
- ✓ Tank tops, halter tops, tube tops, or any sleeveless shirts
- ✓ Spandex, leggings, or yoga pants worn as the outermost garment
- ✓ Clothing with obscene language, images, or symbols, gang-related insignia, or content that is offensive, derogatory, or disruptive
- ✓ Head coverings of any type (religious head coverings are permitted but subject to search)
Note: Facility staff have sole discretion on whether your clothing meets the dress code. If you arrive in violation, they may let you fix it, or they may deny entry if the issue can't be corrected.
Enter the WKCC property through the gate next to New Bethel Church on US Highway 641. If you enter from the direction of US 62, you'll be turned back and may not be allowed to visit.
Park in the designated inmate visiting area at the lower end of the parking lot. Handicapped visitors can use the handicapped parking area. Once you're on the property, stay in the approved visiting areas at all times.
Reminder: WKCC visiting schedules can change at any time. Always verify the current schedule before you travel.
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