Understanding Prison Visiting Hours

All prisoners in the United States will usually be granted visitation rights, at least when a prisoner first enters a prison. When a person is person first enters the penitentiary, part of the paper work that must be filled out will include a list of family members and friends that are allowed to visit the prisoner during the incarceration sentence.

Visitation rights will be limited on a monthly basis and each person listed for visitation privileges must be approved prior that actual visitation. Those not included in the list may also be allowed visitation, though they must be approved and may entail a waiting period before visitation rights are granted.

Visitation rights are to be considered more along the lines of privileges due to the fact that they can be revoked. Furthermore, in some cases, visitation privileges may not be granted to some inmates due to the nature of the person's crime. However, once in prison and visitation rights are granted, an inmate can be limited visitations and even have them suspended on the basis of behavior while incarcerated.

Visiting hours in most prisons will usually coincide with those of a normal work day, typically on a 9am to 5pm schedule, though this will vary depending on the facility. At lower level penitentiaries, visiting hours are held in what resembles a waiting room, with many others having visitors at the same time. In maximum level prisons, visiting hours are done through a glass window with the use of telephones. Such visitations are always supervised by guards and those visiting may be subject to search before and after each visit.

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