FCI Aliceville Visiting Hours & Rules

Confirmed Visiting Hours

FCI Aliceville’s Visiting Room is open on Saturday, Sunday, and all federal holidays, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The facility stops processing visitors in after 2:00 p.m., so arrive with enough time to clear screening before that cutoff. These hours come directly from the facility’s official Admissions & Orientation Handbook, so you can plan around them with confidence, unlike many state facilities that don’t publish hours at all.

Getting Approved to Visit

Before you can visit, you need to be on the incarcerated person’s approved visiting list. This starts with her, not with you. She submits your name to her Unit Team, which runs a background check before approving you. No specific, named visitor application form was confirmed for FCI Aliceville in official materials, so ask her to start this process through her Unit Team as soon as you know you want to visit, since the background check can take time.

A visitor’s application can be turned down for several reasons, according to the facility’s official handbook:

• Inaccurate or incomplete information on the application.
• Failing to sign the required background-check authorization.
• Providing false information.
• Being convicted and/or incarcerated within the past 10 years.
• Being on probation, parole, or supervision without that supervising officer’s approval.
• Having no relationship with the incarcerated person that existed before her incarceration.
• Being previously denied and not yet waiting out the required one-year period to reapply.

Visitor Limits

Up to 5 adults and 5 children are allowed per inmate at one time. If you need to bring more people than that, ask the Unit Team for advance approval before your visit date. Children under 16 must be accompanied by a responsible adult who is also on the incarcerated person’s approved visiting list. Visitors age 16 or older who aren’t accompanied by an adult need to bring current photo ID (a driver’s license, state ID, military ID, or passport) and must be on the visiting list themselves.

Cash and What You Can Bring

Visitors may carry up to $30.00 in cash for use during the visit, and it must be carried in a clear plastic coin purse no larger than 8x8 inches. Almost everything else is left outside the Visiting Room; see the Prohibited Items section below for the full list and the specific exceptions made for infants.

Dress Code

FCI Aliceville’s handbook lists specific prohibited attire for visitors:

• Tight clothing or spandex
• Halter tops or sleeveless shirts
• Clothing with holes
• Hats or caps
• Wrap-around skirts
• Camouflage patterns
• Transparent or see-through clothing
• Tank tops
• Plunging necklines
• Open-toed shoes or sandals
• Shorts or skirts that fall above the top of the knee when standing

All visitors must wear shoes, and clothing with gang-affiliated or profane wording is not allowed. Plan your outfit around these specific rules instead of guessing, since visitors have been turned away at the door for violating them.

Prohibited Items in the Visiting Room

The following items are not allowed in the Visiting Room: handbags or purses, lotion, paperwork, wallets, lipstick or chapstick, packages, toys, newspapers, greeting cards, food, candy, gum, magazines, photographs, umbrellas, baby strollers, pagers, infant carriers, cell phones, tobacco products, diaper bags, or any electronic devices.

Two exceptions apply. One car key or remote per visiting group is allowed. Specific infant items are also permitted after inspection: a small receiving blanket, diapers, unopened baby food, baby bottles, baby wipes, and sippy cups. Pre-mixed infant formula bottles are allowed, but opened baby food products are not.

Physical Contact Rules

A brief embrace and kiss are allowed at the start and end of a visit. Outside of that, no other physical contact is permitted, though it may be appropriate for the incarcerated person to hold small children during the visit.

Reasons You Could Be Turned Away at the Door

Even if you’re already an approved visitor, the facility’s handbook lists reasons staff can turn you away when you arrive:

• Improper dress that doesn’t meet the rules above.
• Not currently on the approved visiting list.
• Failing to clear the metal detector.
• Failing an ION Scanner drug-residue test and being unable to accommodate the resulting processing procedure.
• Refusing a search.
• Failing to provide valid ID.
• Inappropriate behavior.
• Failing to follow institution rules.

Security Screening

Expect standard federal prison security screening, including a metal detector and an ION Scanner test for drug residue. If you fail the ION Scanner test, ask staff what the resulting processing procedure involves, since the handbook notes you may not be able to accommodate it depending on the circumstances.

What’s Not Allowed

Bringing drugs, alcohol, weapons, or unauthorized electronic devices into the Visiting Room is against federal policy and can lead to criminal charges. Do not attempt to pass any item to or from an incarcerated person during a visit unless staff have specifically approved it in advance.

Confirm Before You Travel

Confirm the person is still housed at FCI Aliceville, and specifically whether she’s in the main FCI or the Satellite Prison Camp, using the BOP inmate locator before you make the trip. Call (205) 373-5000 if you have questions about your specific visiting list status or upcoming visit.