How to Visit Someone at Centinela 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, sign it, and send it to you. This adds 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.

Step 3. Mail the Questionnaire In

Send the completed form to Centinela State Prison, 2302 Brown Road, Imperial, CA 92251. If you have questions while your application is pending, call the Visiting Sergeant at (760) 337-7900 ext. 5804.

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.

Centinela’s Visiting Hours

• Friday: 11:45am to 6:30pm. Overcrowding terminations can start as early as 3:30pm, and no one is processed after 5:30pm.
• Saturday: 8:15am to 3:00pm. Overcrowding terminations can start at noon, and no one is processed after 2:00pm.
• Sunday: 8:15am to 3:00pm. Same as Saturday: overcrowding terminations can start at noon, and no one is processed after 2:00pm.

The 1-Hour Grace Period

If you have a scheduled VSA appointment, Centinela gives you a full 1-hour grace period after your scheduled start time to arrive. This is more generous than the shorter grace periods at some other CDCR institutions, but don’t count on it as a reason to arrive late. Getting there close to your scheduled time still gives you the most visiting time with the person.

Walk-In Visits

Walk-in visits are first-come, first-served, based on availability after scheduled appointments are processed.

Walk-in processing windows:

• Friday: 3:30pm to 5:30pm.
• Saturday: Noon to 2:00pm.
• Sunday: Noon to 2:00pm.

You can arrive as early as the day’s first scheduled appointment time, but walk-ins are only processed based on space, up to the cutoff times above.

Entry Procedure at the Gray Brick Wall

Visitors arriving at Centinela form a line in their vehicles at the gray brick wall outside the institution. You wait there until the Outside Patrol Sergeant arrives in a state vehicle and clears visitors to come onto the grounds. Don’t try to drive past the wall on your own before the sergeant arrives.

Capacity-Based Terminations

If the visiting area reaches maximum capacity, CDCR may need to end the visit of whoever has been visiting longest to make room for others, even someone with a scheduled appointment. Five situations are treated as exceptions to this rule:

• The visitor traveled 250 or more miles and hasn’t visited in the last 30 days.
• A wedding ceremony between the incarcerated person and the visitor is happening that day.
• The visitor is disabled and depends on special transportation to reach the institution.
• There’s a family emergency, meaning a death, serious illness, or injury to the incarcerated person’s immediate family.
• The visitor hasn’t visited in the last 6 months.

Visitor Screening

Every visitor passes through security screening before entering the visiting area. Staff may require additional screening, including a search, if there’s reasonable cause. Bring only what you’re allowed to carry in, since unapproved items can slow down or block your entry.

Jewelry Limit

Centinela limits how much jewelry a visitor can wear: no more than 2 rings, 2 necklaces, 2 charms, and 2 bracelets. Spandex and biker shorts aren’t allowed either.

Attire and Dress Code

Dress conservatively and modestly. Don’t wear clothing that resembles what incarcerated people wear or what custodial staff wear. Avoid anything that can’t be removed and won’t clear a metal detector, like an underwire bra or metal-buttoned clothing. Spandex and biker shorts aren’t allowed, and jewelry is limited to the counts listed above.

Minors Need an Original Birth Certificate Every Time

An adult bringing a child (18 or younger) must present an ORIGINAL certified birth certificate for that child at every single visit, no matter how many times the child has visited before. There’s no exception for repeat visits. Without the original certificate, entry is denied. The accompanying adult also needs a valid, unexpired photo ID.

Legal Documents Must Be Originals

All legal documents brought into a visit, including notarized documents, must be original copies. Photocopies aren’t accepted, so plan ahead if you need to bring paperwork.

Bringing an Infant or Toddler

For children under 12 months and toddlers 12 to 36 months, you can bring a combination of 6 factory-sealed single-serving baby formula packets or 4 transparent plastic bottles or cups, either empty or premixed with 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 bag to hold all of it.

Non-Contact Visitation

Non-contact visiting at Centinela covers Restrictive Housing Unit C6 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. Your email needs the incarcerated person’s full name and CDCR number, the full name and date of birth of each approved visitor, a valid ID type and number for each visitor, and each visitor’s relationship to the incarcerated person.

All non-contact visits, whether for C6 or general non-contact status, are capped at 1 hour. There are no walk-ins for non-contact visits.

Friends Outside Trailer

The Visitor Center, run through the Friends Outside Trailer, offers transportation help and attire assistance for visitors. If you’re approved to visit but need help getting around institutional grounds, contact the Visitor Center at (760) 352-2466. Visitors who are not approved to visit are not allowed to drop off or pick up other visitors inside institutional grounds; use the Visitor Center for transportation help instead.

Visitor Center hours:

• Tuesday: 7:30am to 11:30am.
• Friday: 11:00am to 7:00pm.
• Saturday and Sunday: 7:30am to 3:30pm.

Contact Numbers

• Visiting Sergeant: (760) 337-7900 ext. 5804.
• Facility Visitation Email: [email protected].
• Visitor Center (Friends Outside Trailer): (760) 352-2466.

Handbook and Visitor Form Check

We looked for a Centinela-specific inmate or family handbook PDF and a Centinela-specific visitor application form beyond the standard process. We didn’t find either. The only visitor application is the standard, statewide CDCR Form 106 process described above.

What’s Not Allowed

Visitors can be turned away for dress code violations, missing ID, exceeding the jewelry limit, arriving without a valid VSA appointment or without lining up correctly for a walk-in slot, or bringing prohibited items. A minor without an original birth certificate is denied entry, even if the child has visited before. Legal documents that aren’t original copies aren’t accepted. 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. Visitors who aren’t approved to visit can’t drop off or pick up other visitors inside institutional grounds.