Alden is the only Erie County jail where the published schedule pairs each sign-up window with the visit window it feeds, so you can plan the whole evening. Connect with your loved one in minutes.
Connect with your loved one in minutes
Alden takes visitors on three days a week across eight sessions, and it is the one Erie County facility where the published schedule tells you both when to sign up and when the visit itself runs. Wednesday is the long day, with four sessions ending at half past ten at night. Everything is walk-in: you arrive inside a sign-up window, put your name down, and are seated in order.
Erie publishes both halves for Alden, which it does not do for the Buffalo facility. Sign-up always closes before or as the visit window opens.
| Day | Sign up | Visit runs |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | 7:00 to 11:00 AM | 7:30 to 11:30 AM |
| 12:30 to 1:30 PM | 1:00 to 2:30 PM | |
| Wednesday | 7:10 to 11:00 AM | 7:30 to 11:30 AM |
| 12:15 to 1:30 PM | 1:00 to 2:30 PM | |
| 3:15 to 4:30 PM | 3:30 to 5:15 PM | |
| 6:00 to 9:30 PM | 6:30 to 10:30 PM | |
| Thursday | 3:15 to 4:15 PM | 3:30 to 5:15 PM |
| 6:00 to 9:30 PM | 6:30 to 10:30 PM |
Two things worth reading off that grid:
The late evening sessions, running to 10:30 PM, are unusually generous for a county jail and make Alden reachable after a full working day, even with the drive out from Buffalo.
There is no appointment system at Alden and nothing to book online. You arrive during a sign-up window and put your name down in person.
That means the sign-up window closing time is the real deadline, not the visit time. Turning up at 9:45 PM on a Wednesday for a session that runs until 10:30 will not work, because sign-up shut at 9:30.
There is also no visitor application, no approved-visitor list and no background check to clear beforehand. That is a published feature of how Erie operates rather than a gap in the county’s information.
Two hours of visiting time per person per week, and Erie counts it from the moment the visit begins rather than from your arrival. The county states that an incarcerated person’s visiting time begins when they are seated in the visiting area with their visitor, so queueing and security do not eat into it.
No more than two visitors in the visiting room at any one time. Visits are contact visits unless the county specifies otherwise.
The same rules run across both Erie facilities, and they are enforced strictly because of contraband brought in through visits.
Accepted photo ID: a New York State driver’s license, a New York State non-driver ID, a driver’s license from another state or province, or a United States passport or passport card.
Refused clothing:
The sergeant assigned to the visiting area makes the final call on whether an outfit passes.
Two rules combine and the result is tighter than it looks. Only one child per adult, and only one child and one adult may visit a person at any one time. A visit involving a child is therefore a two person visit.
Anyone under 18 must be with a parent or legal guardian and needs one of:
Children may not be left in the lobby without a parent or guardian, and may not run, scream or shout in the visiting area.
ICSolutions provides video visitation for both Erie jails. Registration is free at icsolutions.com and there is an ICS Mobile app. Offsite video costs $8.75 for 25 minutes, and the vendor does not refund sessions affected by your own connection problems.
Ignore one line on the vendor’s page claiming video replaces face to face visits. Erie County says visits are contact visits unless otherwise specified, and the county governs its own jail.
6 of 8 questions
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday across eight sessions. Tuesday has two, Wednesday has four, and Thursday has two afternoon and evening sessions. The evening sessions on Wednesday and Thursday run until 10:30 PM, which is late for a county jail and makes the facility reachable after work.
VisitationWednesday, comfortably. It is the only day with a morning, an afternoon, a late afternoon and an evening session. Thursday has no morning session at all, with the first sign-up at 3:15 PM.
VisitationBefore the sign-up window closes, which is always earlier than the end of the visit window. For the Wednesday evening session, sign-up runs 6:00 to 9:30 PM while the visit runs 6:30 to 10:30 PM, so arriving at 9:45 is too late even though visits are still going on.
VisitationNo, and you cannot. Erie runs walk-in sign-up at both of its jails, so you arrive during a window and put your name down in person. There is no online booking, no appointment and no visitor application to complete beforehand.
VisitationEach person in custody has two hours of visiting time per week, and the clock starts when you are seated together rather than when you arrive. Time spent queueing and clearing security does not come out of the allowance.
VisitationNo. Only one child is allowed per adult, and only one child and one adult may visit a person at any one time. So a visit with a child is a visit of two people, not two adults plus a child.
VisitationOrange clothing of any kind is the most common. Also see-through clothing, hats, scarves or hoods, shirts with inappropriate symbols, suit coats and anything overly revealing. Failing the metal detector three times will also end the visit before it starts, and metal in footwear is the usual cause.
VisitationYes, through ICSolutions, serving both Erie jails. Registration is free and there is a mobile app. An offsite session costs $8.75 for 25 minutes, and connection problems at your end are not refunded. It is an addition to in-person visits here, not a replacement, whatever the vendor's own page says.
VisitationCheck the facility code before the drive out.
View ArticleNothing can be handed over in the visiting room.
View ArticleNo cashier's window here, unlike Buffalo.
View ArticleDifferent days, and only sign-up times published.
View ArticleSearch for your loved one and start sending photos, letters, and messages today.
Search for Your Loved OneFree Inmate Search
All information on this page comes directly from official government and facility sources. How we verify information › Last verified September 17, 2026. Official source: www4.erie.gov/sheriff/visiting-information ›