How to Visit Someone at Calipatria State Prison

Step 1. Get on the Approved Visitor List

The person you want to visit has to request CDCR Form 106, the Visitor Questionnaire (current revision date 05/17), sign it, and send it to you. This confirms they’re adding you to their approved visitor list.

Step 2. Fill Out the Questionnaire Completely

The form asks for your full arrest and conviction history, even anything that never led to charges. CDCR checks your answers against law enforcement records, and mismatched information is a common reason an application gets denied. If you’re unsure of an exact date, give your best estimate instead of leaving the field blank. A new Form 106 has to be resubmitted for continued approved-visitor status no more than once every 2 years, if the institution initiates a periodic update.

Step 3. Mail the Questionnaire In

Send the completed form to Calipatria State Prison, 7018 Blair Road, Calipatria, CA 92233. If you have questions while your application is pending, call the Visiting Lieutenant at (760) 348-7000 ext. 5712, or the Visiting Sergeant at ext. 5718.

Step 4. Book Through VSA

Once approved, schedule your visit through CDCR’s statewide Visitation Scheduling Application (VSA) at cdcr.gtlvisitme.com/app. The request window opens 8 days before the visit date and closes 5 days before. CDCR recently increased Calipatria’s visiting room capacity, so the VSA now offers up to 40 appointments at a time across the Facility A, B, and D visiting rooms, up from 23 before the increase.

Calipatria’s Visiting Hours

• Friday: 11:30am to 6:00pm. No one is processed after 4:30pm.
• Saturday: 8:30am to 3:00pm. No one is processed after 1:30pm.
• Sunday: 8:30am to 3:00pm. No one is processed after 1:30pm.

The last visitor is processed 60 minutes before the visiting room closes each day.

The 15-Minute Grace Period

If you have a scheduled VSA appointment, you get a 15-minute grace period after your scheduled start time. Arrive within that window and you’re processed as scheduled. Arrive more than 15 minutes late, and staff will process you as a walk-in instead of using your appointment slot, meaning you’re no longer guaranteed to get in and you may have to wait in the walk-in line behind others.

Walk-In Visits

Walk-in visits happen after scheduled appointments are processed, on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to availability. Unlike appointments, there is no grace period for walk-ins.

Walk-in processing windows:

• Friday: 2:30pm to 4:30pm.
• Saturday: 11:30am to 1:30pm.
• Sunday: 11:30am to 1:30pm.

Visitors are not allowed to wait in the visiting parking lot before the walk-in process opens. Instead, you line up along Blair Road in the order you arrive. Cutting the line can get your visit denied for the day, so arrive early and hold your place honestly.

Vehicle Security

Before you leave your vehicle to enter the facility, lock all doors and roll up every window. Staff check the visitor parking area, and an unsecured vehicle results in that visitor’s visit being terminated for the day, no exceptions. Take a moment at your car to double-check this before you walk in.

Visitor Screening and Form 888

Every visitor passes through a metal detector, either a walk-through unit or a hand-held wand, and personal items get thoroughly searched. This includes an inspection of wheelchairs and other assistive devices, unless a documented medical condition or disability prevents the visitor from passing through the detector. Staff may require additional screening, including a clothed or unclothed body search, if there’s reasonable cause. Visitors sign CDCR Form 888, the Notice of Request for Search, to consent to any such search. You can decline a clothed or unclothed body search, but declining means your visit is denied for that day.

Non-Contact Visitation

Non-contact visiting at Calipatria covers the Restricted Housing Unit (RHU), the D5 Housing Unit, and anyone else assigned non-contact status. This process is entirely separate from regular contact visiting and VSA scheduling.

Requests go by email only to [email protected], and the submission window is open only from Saturday 8:00am through Monday 8:00am each week. Submit one request per email; don’t bundle multiple non-contact requests into a single message.

All non-contact visits, whether for RHU, D5, or general non-contact status, are capped at 1 hour. There are no walk-ins for non-contact visits. Visitors must arrive 30 minutes before their scheduled non-contact appointment. A 15-minute grace period applies from that arrival time, but arriving later than the grace period allows gets the visit denied, with no exceptions.

Increased Visiting Room Capacity

CDCR recently increased how many appointments Calipatria’s VSA system can offer at once. The Facility A, B, and D visiting rooms now hold up to 40 scheduled appointments at a time, up from 23 before the change. This means more families should be able to get a scheduled slot than in the past, though weekend and holiday demand can still fill up fast, so book as early in the 8-day window as you can.

Attire and Dress Code

General rules: don’t wear clothing that resembles what incarcerated people wear, don’t wear clothing that resembles custodial staff uniforms, dress conservatively and modestly with no excess jewelry, no layered outfits, and no strapless shoes, and don’t wear anything that can’t be removed and won’t clear a metal detector, like an underwire bra or metal-buttoned clothing.

Specific prohibitions:

• No strapless, halter, bare-midriff, sheer, or transparent clothing.
• No plain white or gray t-shirts.
• No camouflage of any color.
• No bandana-pattern clothing of any color.
• No skirts, dresses, or shorts that expose more than 2 inches above the knee, front or back.
• No biker shorts.
• Nothing that exposes breasts, genitals, or buttocks. Any exposed skin under this rule means you’ll be asked to change, refused entry, or have the visit terminated.
• Nothing tight or form-fitting.
• No wigs, hairpieces, extensions, or headpieces, except with prior approval for a documented medical reason.
• No hats or gloves, except with prior approval or during genuinely bad weather.
• No disinfectant wipes.

Medication

If you’re bringing medication with you, it needs a clear label with valid prescription information plus a doctor’s note. Unlabeled medication or medication without documentation can be turned away at screening.

What You Can Bring

• Cash: $100 limit per adult, $50 per child, in quarters or dollar coins only. Change machines in the Visitor Processing Center take $1, $5, $10, and $20 bills, nothing larger than $20.
• A small transparent bag, generally 6x8 inches. Larger bags may be allowed for visitors bringing minor children.
• Two keys on a ring, with nothing else attached. One of the two may be an electronic key fob.
• A government-issued photo ID: driver’s license, state ID, passport, or consulate ID.
• A non-metallic comb or brush with no pointed ends or detachable parts.
• A small unopened pack of tissues or a handkerchief. No bandanas.
• Prescription glasses.
• Up to 10 photographs, no larger than 8x10, not Polaroids. You can show them during the visit, but you take them back out with you afterward, and staff check them during processing.
• Up to 10 pages of documents, no larger than standard 8.5x11 paper. Also checked by staff and taken back out afterward.

Bringing an Infant or Toddler

For young children, you can bring a combination of 6 factory-sealed single-serving baby formula packets or 4 transparent plastic bottles or cups, either empty or filled with premixed formula, milk, almond, soy, rice, or lactose-free milk, juice, or water, plus a breast pump and supplies, with refrigerated or frozen breastmilk allowed. You can also bring 6 non-glass sealed containers of baby food or snacks, 2 plastic spoons, 10 disposable diapers, 1 sealed package of baby wipes, 3 changes of clothing, 2 small blankets, 2 pacifiers, 3 burp cloths, diaper cream, a baby carrier or wrap, and a clear plastic diaper bag.

Access to the Administration Building

Visitors are not permitted inside the Administration Building. If you need a restroom, help with an outreach program, or access to a clothing exchange, use the Friends Outside Trailer instead. Appropriate attire under the dress code above is still required everywhere on institution grounds, including at the trailer.

Family Visiting (Overnight)

Overnight Family Visiting at Calipatria happens Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Arrive at the Visiting Processing Area by 9:00am. If you’re running late, call the Family Visiting Officer at (760) 348-7000 ext. 5730 to let them know. Visitors arriving after 11:00am are not processed for family visiting. If you’re scheduled for a family visit and don’t show up without notifying the institution, family visiting privileges can be suspended.

Marriages

All marriages at Calipatria happen in person during a scheduled visit, and at least one approved visitor has to be present to serve as a witness.

Quarantine and Testing

If the person you’re visiting is in a quarantine or outbreak housing unit, they can still take part in regular programming if they consent to Point-of-Contact COVID-19 testing on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 of the quarantine period. That testing option does not apply to overnight family visiting, though. If overnight family visiting is affected by a quarantine, expect it to be paused for that housing unit until the quarantine period ends.

Minors

Children under 18 must be with an approved adult visitor. With a parent, a certified copy of the child’s birth certificate is enough. With a legal guardian who isn’t the parent, you’ll also need proof of legal guardianship. With anyone else, you need the certified birth certificate plus a notarized written consent authorization form signed by the parent or legal guardian, naming the incarcerated person, the adult authorized to bring the child, and the specific visit date or dates. The notarization has to be on the original form and renewed every year. This is a statewide CDCR form, available through the “Prepare to Visit” guidelines on the Facility Visiting Status page, not a Calipatria-specific document.

Temporary Construction Notice

As of this guide’s last verification, Calipatria has ongoing construction affecting the parking lot, which started around mid-April 2026 and was expected to run about 60 days. Some walkways may be blocked or replaced with gravel paths during this time. Watch your step and expect possible detours if you’re visiting while this work is still underway. Call (760) 348-7000 ext. 5716 if you want to confirm current conditions before you drive out.

Contact Numbers

• Visiting Lieutenant: (760) 348-7000 ext. 5712
• Visiting Sergeant: (760) 348-7000 ext. 5718
• Family Visiting Officer: (760) 348-7000 ext. 5730
• Visitor Information Line: 1-800-374-8474
• General visiting questions and non-contact scheduling: [email protected]
• Family visiting questions only: [email protected]. Other kinds of questions sent to this address will not be answered.

Video Visitation

CDCR’s own page for Calipatria lists video visitation as “Not Applicable.” This is consistent with CDCR discontinuing video visiting statewide, not something unique to Calipatria.

What’s Not Allowed

Visitors can be turned away for dress code violations, missing ID, arriving without a valid VSA appointment or without lining up correctly for a walk-in slot, an unsecured vehicle in the parking lot, declining a required Form 888 search, or bringing prohibited items. Non-contact visits require the request to have gone through the [email protected] email during the Saturday-to-Monday window, cap at 1 hour, and have no walk-in option. Arriving more than 15 minutes late for a scheduled appointment means being processed as a walk-in instead of automatic admission, and non-contact visitors arriving late beyond their grace period are denied outright.