When a loved one goes to prison, it can be really hard being apart from them. Oddly enough, that’s not the hardest thing to go through. Visiting someone in prison comes with all kinds of rules and if you don’t follow them, you can be suspended or banned from visiting your loved one. No one wants that to happen so if you make notes of the points in this article, your visitation at the prison should go relatively smoothly.
Tips For Visiting An Inmate In Prison #1 Be careful of what clothing you wear
Many people don’t think anything of the clothing they’re wearing but prisons do. For instance, a woman can not wear an underwire bra for visitation with a prisoner at many prisons. If you think about it, the reason is obvious. The wire could be taken out and used for something unsafe. Some visits are even terminated if a woman is not wearing a bra at all. A lot of clothes these days have little decorative spikes and that is something else you really don’t want to wear when you finally get to visit your loved one. Some states even require you to wear a shirt that comes up to your collarbone, no short sleeves allowed and your stomach can NOT show if you raise your arms. If your a female visiting an inmate, your dress or skirt must be well below the knees.
Tips For Visiting An Inmate In Prison #2: Lose The Attitude
As hard as it is, you really don’t want to have an attitude with anyone while you go visit your loved one. If you get into an argument with the prisoner you’re visiting, your visit will be cut short and you could face being banned. Another big no no is to have an attitude with the Corrections Officers. Corrections Officers have the power, whether you like it or not. They could come up with any reason that they want, to send you home without being allowed your visitation and by the time you try to fight it with someone higher up, you’ve wasted a lot of chances to visit your loved one. My advice? Grin and bear it (unless the CO is doing something really horrible). A lot of the time, you may have traveled hours to visit your loved one and it would be a wasted trip if you were suspended or banned because you copped an attitude with the Corrections Officer on duty.
Tips For Visiting An Inmate In Prison #3: Don’t try to touch more then you’re allowed too
At a lot of prisons, you’re allowed to hug and kiss at the beginning and end of the visit. During the rest of your visit, you’re usually not allowed to touch although a few prisons allow hand holding. A Corrections Officer can kick you out, just for extra hugs or kisses. It is hard to
see your loved one and not be able to touch them but think about how much harder it would be to not see them at all because you wanted one extra kiss. If you know another inmate, don’t try to hug or talk to them because you’re only allowed to talk to the inmate you’re there to see.
Tips For Visiting An Inmate In Prison #4: Contraband? Don’t bring it!
Whether your inmate has requested that you sneak some contraband in to him/her or you want to bring it on your own, don’t do it. Even if it’s a legal drug, still don’t do it because that is against the rules. Do you really want your visits terminated because you tried to sneak in some drugs? Plus, you could be arrested if it’s illegal!
Tips For Visiting An Inmate In Prison #5: If you take legal medication, get in the shower before you visit your inmate
Many prisons now have an ionic scanner to use on people visiting prisoners. An ionic scanner is a small device that picks up minute particles off your person and tests for drugs. Some legal medication will show up and the prison will automatically assume that you’ve been doing illegal drugs. Before you go to visitation, take your pills in the morning and then shower before you visit your inmate. Taking a shower will help wash off what you’ve sweated out onto your skin. Also, try not to handle money until after your visit too because money in the US often has traces of drugs on it. If the ionic scanner picks up any traces off of you, you may be suspended or even banned, depending on what prison you are at. If you’re suspended first, you’ll have to jump through loop holes and be tested again to prove that you’re clean.
Learning how to visit an inmate successfully can be hard but by following the advice written in this article, it can be a little easier. Some days you might get a Corrections Officer that will want to find trouble with you, no matter if you do anything wrong or not. You just have to manage the best that you can. To learn more about your inmate’s prison, contact the prison directly and ask for a list of rules.
