How to Visit Someone at Folsom 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 Folsom State Prison, 300 Prison Road, Represa, CA 95671. If you have questions while your application is pending, call the Visiting Sergeant at (916) 985-2561 ext. 4178.

Step 4. Book Through VSA

Once approved, schedule your visit through CDCR’s statewide Visitation Scheduling Application (VSA) at cdcr.gtlvisitme.com/app. FSP’s scheduling windows depend on which day you want to visit, and they’re wider than the standard 8-days-before/5-days-before pattern used at most CDCR facilities:

• Friday visit: the window opens Thursday 6:00am and closes Sunday 11:59pm.
• Saturday visit: the window opens Friday 6:00am and closes Tuesday 11:59pm.
• Sunday visit: the window opens Saturday 6:00am and closes Wednesday 11:59pm.

FSP’s Visiting Hours

• Friday: 12:00pm to 6:30pm.
• Saturday: 7:00am to 2:00pm.
• Sunday: 7:00am to 2:00pm.

Visiting begins once processing and check-in are complete, so plan to arrive early instead of right at the start of the visiting window.

Arrival and Processing Cutoffs

You can arrive on institutional grounds no more than 30 minutes before your processing time: Friday 11:30am, Saturday and Sunday 6:30am. Visitors won’t be processed after 3:00pm on Friday or 11:00am on Saturday and Sunday. Plan your travel around these cutoffs, not the visiting-hours end time.

The 15-Minute Check-In Rule

Every scheduled visitor must check in at the front door within 15 minutes of their scheduled visit start time. The front door closes 15 minutes after each hour.

• Within 15 minutes: you’re processed as scheduled.
• 15 to 30 minutes late: you’re still processed, but with the next scheduled group instead of your original one.
• More than 30 minutes late: you lose your scheduled visit entirely. At that point, you can try the walk-in process if you arrive before 10:00am and space is available, but nothing is guaranteed.

This is one of FSP’s stricter policies compared to other CDCR institutions, so build in extra travel time.

Non-Contact Visiting: Two Different Scheduling Paths

FSP splits non-contact scheduling by housing type, and using the wrong channel means your request won’t be processed.

• General Population (GP) non-contact visits: schedule by emailing [email protected].
• Restricted Housing Unit (RHU) non-contact visits: schedule through VSA at cdcr.gtlvisitme.com/app instead, not by email.

All non-contact visits are 1 hour long and must be scheduled in advance. Walk-ins are never accepted for non-contact visits, regardless of housing type. Non-contact visits allow up to 3 visitors, compared to 5 for contact visits.

Walk-In Visits

Walk-ins are never accepted for non-contact visits. For contact visits, FSP fills only no-show slots on a first-come, first-served basis, a policy in place since July 17, 2023. Walk-ins are not guaranteed and are limited.

Here’s how sign-up works:

1. The door opens for yellow numbered passes at 11:30am on Friday, and 6:30am on Saturday and Sunday.
2. Visitors sign up only on the official FSP Visiting Walk-In Sheet handed out by visiting staff. Don’t rely on any other sign-up method.
3. On Friday, the walk-in sign-up sheet opens at 12:00pm, but the first walk-in isn’t accepted until 1:00pm, and only if a scheduled appointment doesn’t show. The last sign-up accepted is 2:00pm.
4. On Saturday and Sunday, the walk-in sign-up sheet opens at 7:00am, the first walk-in isn’t accepted until 8:00am if a no-show slot opens, and the last sign-up accepted is 10:00am.

Since walk-ins depend entirely on no-shows, a scheduled VSA appointment is the only guaranteed way to see someone, especially if you’re traveling a long distance.

Attire and Dress Code (Title 15, Section 3174)

FSP’s visiting rules cite California Code of Regulations Title 15, Section 3174 directly. Visitors must stay fully clothed at all times in the visiting room.

Appropriate attire: undergarments, a dress, blouse, or shirt with a skirt, pants, or shorts, and shoes or sandals. No bra may have a metal underwire.

Prohibited:

• Clothing resembling state-issued incarcerated-person attire, including blue denim or chambray shirts with blue denim pants.
• Clothing resembling law-enforcement or military-type clothing, including raingear, unless you’re legitimately on active duty or in an official capacity.
• Clothing that exposes the chest, genitals, or buttocks.
• Clothing that, by design, how it’s worn, or lack of coverage, excessively shows anatomical detail or the midriff.
• Sheer, transparent, or excessively tight clothing. If you wear translucent clothing, undergarments must be worn beneath it at all times.
• Clothing exposing more than 2 inches above the knee while standing, including slits.
• Clothing or accessories with sexualized, violent, or offensive language, drawings, or objects.
• Gloves, head coverings other than clear see-through rain gear, and readily removable wigs or hairpieces.

If you’re asked to change because of a dress code violation, or you don’t pass the metal detector, you are not processed until the next scheduled group. FSP frames this as a fairness measure for visitors who are dressed correctly and ready to go. The Friends Outside visitor center, available for changing clothes, is currently open if you need it.

Acceptable ID

Adults must present a valid, unexpired photo ID. An expired driver’s license with a paper renewal form is not accepted, even temporarily, so bring a valid physical license or another form of ID below.

Accepted forms:

• A valid driver’s license, from any state, with a photo.
• A DMV ID card, from any state, with a photo.
• An Armed Forces ID card with a photo.
• A U.S. Department of Justice ICE ID card.
• A U.S. passport with a photo, or a foreign passport with a photo.
• A photo ID issued by the Mexican Consulate.

Visitor Limits

Contact visits allow up to 5 visitors per incarcerated person. Non-contact visits allow up to 3.

Capacity-Based Terminations

If FSP has to end visiting early because of overcrowding, 5 exceptions let certain visitors stay longer than others:

• You traveled 250 or more miles and haven’t visited in the last 30 days.
• A wedding ceremony is happening that day.
• You have a disability and rely on special transportation to get there.
• There’s a family emergency involving a death, serious illness, or injury to an immediate family member.
• You haven’t visited in the last 6 months.

Facility A and the Minimum Support Facility

Both Facility A, which houses medium-custody incarcerated people, and the Folsom Minimum Support Facility (FMSF) for Level I minimum-security men located outside the main security perimeter, are open during normal visiting hours as of CDCR’s June 29, 2026 status update.

Contact Numbers

• Visiting Sergeant: (916) 985-2561 ext. 4178.
• Visiting Lieutenant: (916) 985-2561 ext. 4178, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday only. This shares the same extension as the Visiting Sergeant.
• Family Visiting Coordinator: (916) 985-2561 ext. 3031.
• Family Visiting Email: [email protected].
• General Facility Visitation Email (also the GP non-contact scheduling address): [email protected].

Handbook and Visitor Form Check

We looked for an FSP-specific inmate or family handbook PDF and an FSP-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 or expired ID (including an expired license with only a paper renewal), arriving without a valid VSA appointment for a non-contact visit, or bringing prohibited items. Checking in more than 30 minutes late loses your scheduled visit entirely. Non-contact visits are never accepted as walk-ins. Using the wrong non-contact scheduling channel, email for GP or VSA for RHU, means your request won’t be processed correctly.