Having an inmate for a friend or family member is a serious matter, especially if you are planning to keep in contact with them throughout the duration of their sentence. Prison facilities such as the Pelican Bay state penitentiary enforce several restrictions to anyone visiting their inmates, regardless if you agree with them or not. Here are a few tips to make sure that your visit at the jailhouse will go as smoothly as possible.

1. Plan Your Visit Beforehand. Each prison enforces different visiting rules for inmates so it would be a good idea to know what rules are in effect in prisons like Pelican Bay and coordinate with them before you visit. After all, you don’t want to spend a few hours of driving to the site only to discover that your friend or relative has already reached his maximum number of visitors per day.

2. Dress Appropriately. Prisons like the Pelican Bay state penitentiary reserves the right to turn down visitors who do not dress appropriately. The reason is simple: there had been instances when visitors have been threatened and called all types of derogatory terms by inmates just for being too flashy with their clothing. In other words, the facility is doing you a favor by asking you to follow their dress code.

3. Mind What You Bring. Prison facilities search visitor and whatever items they bring inside the site to prevent the smuggling of contraband and weapons in and outside of prison. If you don’t want to spend a lot of time being questioned by officers at the holding area, it would be best that you leave all unnecessary valuables like jewelry at home. Also, never bring anything that can be fashioned into a weapon or is a weapon by design inside the facility.

4. Keep Your Safety in Mind at All Times. Remember that only walls and a few guards are what stand between you and perhaps the most dangerous individuals in your state. When visiting prisons like Pelican Bay, it would be best that you follow all rules and never ever go where you are not supposed to.

A prison facility like Pelican Bay makes it a must for everyone to follow the rules to ensure the safety of everyone inside the building. By learning what your local prison expects of you when inside the premises, you can make certain that your trip to see your friend and family member inside will go as smoothly as possible.