Chautauqua County Jail Visiting Hours and Rules

The Five Sessions

Session	Times
First	7:25 AM to 8:25 AM
Second	8:40 AM to 9:40 AM
Third	9:55 AM to 10:55 AM
Fourth	12:05 PM to 1:05 PM
Fifth	1:20 PM to 2:20 PM

Visits run Wednesday through Sunday, which includes both weekend days, so this is a friendlier schedule than most upstate jails for anyone working a standard week.

Each person gets two visits a week, and the county requires them to fall on different days. You cannot stack both into one Saturday.

Booking Is Online, and the Window Is Narrow at Both Ends

There is no phone booking. Everything goes through the county’s online scheduler.

Setting up takes a few minutes the first time. You register with a valid email address, confirm it from the message you are sent, then log in with a temporary password and change it. If the confirmation email never arrives there is a support line on 855-208-7349.

Then the two limits that catch people:

Visits must be scheduled at least two days in advance but cannot be scheduled more than three weeks in advance.

So you cannot decide this morning to visit this afternoon, and you cannot lock in a date two months out. The planning window is a specific fortnight and a bit.

Cancelling, and the No-Show Rule

If you cannot come, cancel at least 24 hours before the visit starts. The county states that otherwise you are expected to show, and are deemed a no-show if you do not.

That is stricter than most and worth taking seriously, because a no-show is a record against a slot your person could have given somebody else.

Being Late Costs More Than the Lost Minutes

Two separate rules apply here, and they are both unusual.

Arrive 15 minutes or more before your visit is scheduled to begin.

If you are less than 30 minutes late, you are not turned away, but you wait until the half-way point of the session before you are let in. So a 20 minute delay costs you half the hour.

If you are more than 30 minutes late, your person is returned to their housing unit and the visit is over.

Identification

A photo ID is required for all visitors at check in. For a minor child, the county asks for an original birth certificate.

Two Visitors, and Children Count

The maximum is two visitors at one time, and the county is explicit that children count as one visitor no matter their age.

So one adult and one child fills the visit. One adult and two children will not get in.

Rules for Children in the Visiting Room

Chautauqua sets these out in detail, and they are firm:

• Children must stay on the visitor side of the bench
• They may not sit on the divider or run around
• A child crying or screaming excessively means the visitor may be asked to step out
• No child may be left unattended in the visiting waiting room
• If there is no adult to supervise the children, you will not be able to visit

That last one matters if you were planning to take turns going in while somebody minds the children in the lobby. It does not work here.

What You Can Wear and Carry

Clothing has to be acceptable by public standards. Specifically ruled out: overly revealing shorts, T-shirts and miniskirts. Also no hoodies, coats or jackets in the visiting room, so plan for that in a Chautauqua winter and expect to leave outerwear behind.

Nothing may be brought into visiting, and the county names papers, property and candy among the examples.

Contact, and the Car Park

You may briefly hug and kiss at the beginning and end of each visit. There is no physical contact during it.

Visitors who appear to be sick, coughing for instance, may be denied the visit.

And one detail almost nobody publishes: use the Jail Visitation Parking, not the Post Office parking area. Worth knowing before you circle Mayville looking for a space.

Losing Visits

The county cites the state minimum standards, section 7006.9a, in effect since 12 August 1998: somebody found guilty of misbehaviour may have up to one hour of visitation per week taken away, or be moved to non-contact visits for a period.

Since the weekly allowance is two hours, that is half of it.

If Mayville Is Too Far

The far west of New York is a long drive from most of the state. Letters reach your person’s tablet wherever you are, and the same tablet carries messages. Pigeonly handles letters and photos to the Syracuse box that feeds it.