Step 2: Supplemental Documentation

Visitors with Disabilities

Visitors who require a reasonable accommodation for a disability must contact the staff member responsible for processing visitors after scheduling each visit. We highly encouraging mentioning you have completed the ADA Request Form when contacting your Facility Visitation Coordinator.

Request Reasonable Accommodation for Your Visit

Staff Members

Staff shall notify the Superintendent in writing whenever a friend or relative is committed to the Department. A staff member may be permitted to visit an offender who is an immediate family member. Additionally, with sufficient justification, a staff member may be permitted to visit an offender who is a family member but not an immediate family member. In these cases, the staff member shall provide the facility with sufficient information to verify the relationship and the need for such visits.

A staff member must complete the application process and obtain prior written approval to visit an offender. The staff member shall obtain State Form 51058, “Request for Staff Contact with Offender,” from the facility. The form shall be submitted to the staff member’s Superintendent.

Former Employees

Ex-employees who wish to visit an offender must complete the application process and make a written request for approval to the Superintendent of the facility housing the offender prior to the visit. Generally, ex-employees shall not be allowed to visit an offender who has been housed in the same facility in which the ex-employee was employed and who was incarcerated at the facility during the time the ex-employee was employed there. The Superintendent shall review the request and recommend whether the visit is in the best interest of the facility and the individuals involved. Unless the ex-employee and the offender are immediate family members or special circumstances exist, visits by ex-employees shall not be authorized until one (1) year after the ex-employee's separation from the Department. Ex-employees shall not be permitted to visit an offender if the relationship between the offender and the ex-employee started or resulted from contact between the ex-employee and the offender during the ex-employee’s period of employment with the Department. The Superintendent shall forward the request to the appropriate Regional Director for review and approval/denial. The Regional Director shall render a decision and so notify the Superintendent submitting the request. The decision of the Regional Director shall be final. Ex-employees shall not be allowed to visit an offender until the request to visit has been approved by the Regional Director. If the decision is to deny the request to visit, the ex-employee may submit another request one (1) year from the date of the denial.

In cases where an ex-employee has been terminated from employment, allowed to resign prior to termination, or during an investigation arising from a violation of Department rules or procedures involving an offender, (e.g. trafficking, inappropriate contact) the ex-employee shall be denied visitation privileges permanently from all Department facilities. Such denials shall be noted in the offender information system. If the request is approved and the offender is transferred to another facility, the approval shall continue to be in effect unless the Superintendent or designee of the new facility determines that there is a reason to require the ex-employee to submit a new request.

Volunteers

Visits by volunteers as a part of an approved volunteer program at the facility shall be in addition to an offender's normal visiting schedule. Volunteers shall be advised of the facility's visitation rules/procedures during the volunteer's orientation training.

Persons who are providing services to offenders in a volunteer capacity may be allowed to visit one (1) offender outside of the approved volunteer program. Persons who are on an offender's visitation list may be permitted to provide volunteer services at the facility housing the offender if the volunteer’s program duties are such that visiting the offender would be in the best interests of the program and the offender. Volunteers may be allowed to visit an offender at a facility not receiving their services. However, they are to report to the Superintendent or designee of the facility where their services are provided and the Superintendent of the facility housing the offender that they are visiting an offender at another Department facility.

Former Volunteers

Ex-volunteers who wish to visit an offender must make a written request for approval to the Superintendent of the facility housing the offender prior to the visit, in addition to completing the application process in Section V. The Superintendent shall review the request and recommend whether the visit is in the best interest of the facility and the individuals involved. Unless the ex-volunteer and the offender are immediate family members or special circumstances exist, visits by ex-volunteers shall not be authorized until one (1) year after the ex-volunteer's separation from the Department. The Superintendent shall forward the request to the appropriate Regional Director for review and approval/denial. The Regional Director shall render a decision and so notify the Superintendent submitting the request. The decision of the Regional Director shall be final. Ex-volunteers shall not be allowed to visit an offender until the request to visit has been approved by the Regional Director. If the decision is to deny the request to visit, the ex-volunteer may submit another request one (1) year from the date of the denial.

Victims of Incarcerated Individuals

Victims generally shall not be allowed to visit offenders, unless the visit is for therapeutic reasons and a therapist has requested the visit and will be a part of the visit, or the Superintendent or designee determines that the visit will be in the best interests of the offender’s re-entry into the community. Victims who are immediate family members of an offender may submit a request to the Superintendent of the facility housing the offender if they wish to visit the offender. The Superintendent or designee shall determine whether the offender has a Victim Notification (VN) flag involving the victim seeking to visit the offender. The Superintendent or designee shall review the records regarding the actual crime and determine whether it appears that the victim and offender can safely visit. Visits between victims and offenders, if approved by the Superintendent and completion of the application process in Section V, may be non-contact visits or other restrictions may be placed on the visits, including a requirement that the visit be supervised. Visits with victims as a part of a victim reconciliation or restorative justice program may be approved by the Superintendent, if the program provides details of the program and supervision of the visit is provided and it does not appear that the visit will be a threat to the safety and security of the facility or the persons involved. If a visit between an offender and a victim is approved and the offender has a Victim Notification flag, the Superintendent or designee shall contact the Victim Notification Section in Central Office to advise of the intended visit. An offender who is approved to visit with a victim may be permitted to meet with a Mental Health staff member either before or after the visit in accordance with the facility’s procedures for requesting Health Services.