Common sense 101.
Do NOT bring cell phones, toys or food into the prison. Just bring yourself and any medication
needed, for example, asthma inhalers or other medications. Check with the list of what is acceptable to
bring into each particular prison on BOP.gov.
Make friends with officer. The first person you will encounter at the
prison is your spouse’s officer. Be
prepared…the visiting room can be a scary place full of strangers and prison
officers. The prison officers can be
very scary and try to make conversation with them. See if they have children, especially if you
do. For example, I make contact on a
personal level with the officers where my husband is incarcerated. I always ask a new officer “Do you have
children?” If they say “Yes”, then I
always say “You must feel some sympathy for me and my children because this is
the last place I ever thought I would bring my children.” This makes the officer come to my level and
makes him feel sympathy for my children and myself.
Dress nicely. Your
spouse will want to see you looking good.
Make sure your children look nice as well. Try to keep their spirits up by presenting a
nice image to them.
Keep extra clothes in the car. Check on the Internet at bop.gov for specific
colors you can’t wear. Each federal
prison has certain color clothing that visitors cannot wear. I ALWAYS keep an extra set of clothes for
each person visiting the prison on a regular basis in the car…to be turned away
for the wrong color clothing could ruin your day and your spouse’s day. By keeping an extra set of clothes in the
car, disaster can be avoided.