Visiting Information

Our Policy
It is the policy of the Idaho Board of Correction to encourage offender communication with family, friends and relatives through visitation.

Purpose
The Operations Division encourages visitation between offenders and their friends and family. Visitation can be a valuable program that allows offenders to maintain relationships and contact with the outside world. The Operations Division has identified rules and regulations in this Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to ensure a safe environment for visitors, staff and offenders.

Definitions
*Photo Identification: State driver’s license, State ID Card, Military ID Card or a current United States Passport.

  Administrative Procedure

A Privilege
Visitation is a privilege and is therefore at the unreviewable discretion of the facility head.

Immediate Family
Immediate family members of an offender are defined as:

• Mother or father of the offender (including step parent);
• Brother or sister of the offender (whole, half blood or adopted);
• Stepbrother or stepsister of the offender;
• Wife or husband of the offender;
• Children of the offender as follows: natural children, adopted children or step children (must be proved through marriage certificate and notarized approval from the natural parent not married to the offender); or
• Grandparents of blood relation.

Children
Persons under the age of eighteen (18) are prohibited from visiting unless they are immediate family members as described in the definition of immediate family. Their adult parent of guardian, who must also be an approved visitor, must accompany persons under eighteen (18) years of age. Proof of guardianship (certified copy of birth certificate, adoption papers, and/or other court documents) must be provided.

Children who are the victim of the offender will not normally be allowed to visit. Exceptions may be made through the facility head or designee. In these cases a licensed counselor must first evaluate the child to determine if it is in the child’s best interest for visits to be permitted.

To request permission for a minor child to visit an offender, complete the Application to Visit and the Minor Child Supplement.
Upon completion of appropriate authorization forms, juvenile natural children of the offender will be escorted to the visit with the offender by an approved visitor, related to both the juvenile and the offender, either by blood, marriage, notarized paper or legal court appointed guardian of the children.

Between Offenders
Visits between offenders assigned to correctional facilities are prohibited regardless of relationship. Requests for exceptions can only be considered at the Deputy Administrator level.

Visiting More than One Offender
Visitors are not allowed to be on the visiting list of more than one (1) offender unless they are immediate family members as previously described. For other than immediate family, a six (6) month interval must have passed since being dropped from one offenders visiting list before being permitted to apply and visit another offender

Types of offenders with Restricted Visitation Privileges
The following offenders may be denied or have restricted visitation privileges as designated by SOP: offenders in detention, disciplinary segregation, reception and diagnostic unit, offenders under sentence of death, offenders unavailable due to a facility emergency and offenders at infirmary facilities or town hospital.

Posting of Schedules and Rules
Visiting schedules and rules and regulations will be posted within each facility.

Behavior of Visitors
Offenders and their visitors are expected to conduct themselves and their visits in a quiet, orderly and dignified manner consistent with the visiting SOP and facility guidelines.

Consequences for Not Following Visiting Regulations
Any effort to circumvent or evade visiting regulations may result in the denial of future visits, disciplinary action, and possible criminal prosecution against the visitor in accordance with state law: “If any person delivers or procures to be delivered, or has in his possession with intent to be delivered to an inmate of the Idaho State Correctional Institutions, or dependencies thereon, or upon any lands belonging to the said institution, any letter, articles or thing with the intent that an inmate confined in said institution shall obtain or receive the same, or if any person receives from any inmate of said institution any letter, article or thing with intent to convey the same out of the institution contrary to the rules and regulations thereof, and without the knowledge and permission of the Warden of said institution, or if any person shall purchase, exchange, take or receive from any inmate thereof while he may be working outside the walls of said institution, any letter article or thing, whether state or other property, manufactured or used in an about said institution without the knowledge and permission of the Warden/Deputy Warden of said institution, such person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $300.00 or imprisonment in the county jail for a period not exceeding six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.”

Assisting Escape
Idaho Code Section 18-2503 – Carrying a Prisoner Things to Aid Escape: “Every person who carries or sends into a prison anything useful to aid a prisoner in making his escape, with intent thereby to facilitate the escape of any prisoner confined therein, is guilty of a felony.”
Idaho Code 18-2504 – Private Persons Assisting in Escape: “Every person who willfully assists any prisoner confined in any prison, or in the lawful custody of any officer or person, to escape, or in an attempt to escape, from such prison or custody, is guilty of a felony.”

  Special One-time Visits

Special one-time visits will only be approved in rare circumstances. Special one-time visits are only authorized for approved visitors. The facility heard or designee must approve any special one-time visit in writing.

  Employee/offender Relationships and Visiting

Any former employee, contract vendor or volunteer who applies to visit an offender will be denied visitation with the offender for the first six (6) months after termination of employment/volunteer status with the Department of Correction.

At the conclusion of this six-month period, a person can submit an application for visitation to the facility head where the inmate is housed. The facility head will review the application, the offenders central file and any additional information he/she finds pertinent. The facility head will then do one of two things:

1. Deny the request. A denial of the visiting request may be appealed in writing to the Administrator of Operations within fourteen (14) days.
2. Make recommendation to the Administrator of Operations to approve the request for visitation. Only the Administrator of Operations can approve the visiting request.

Applicants who are denied visitation my resubmit a visitation application on an annual basis. Immediate family members who are denied visitation may resubmit every ninety (90) days.