Ulster County Jail Visiting Hours and Rules

Four Days, Three Sessions

Session	Start
First	7:45 AM
Second	9:30 AM
Third	12:30 PM

Visits run Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Both weekend days are covered, and the early session starting before eight in the morning is genuinely useful if you can take a morning rather than a whole day.

The Calendar Is the Whole Trick

Visits are scheduled by housing pod, and each pod is scheduled twice a week on a rotating cycle.

The county publishes the rotation as a twelve month calendar, month by month, naming which pods have which of the three sessions on which exact date. The pods appear as A, B, C, D, F, G, H, I and K, along with Medical and Dorm 2, and they are paired up, so a given slot might read Apod and Hpod, or Bpod and Medical.

That is better than almost anything else in New York. At most jails you ring to ask. Here you can look up a Saturday in March and know whether it belongs to your person’s pod.

The one thing you need is which pod they are in, which they can tell you. If they move pods, your day changes with them.

There Is No Appointment, So Arrive Early

This is the rule that decides whether the drive was worth it.

Seating is first come, first served, and the county states outright that you may not get in during busy visiting days.

There is no slot held in your name. Turning up at the start of the session on a popular day is the difference between getting in and going home.

Two Visitors, and the Under Threes Are Free

Two visitors per visit, not including children aged three and under.

That is more generous than most county jails in New York, where every child takes one of the two places. Here a parent can bring a toddler and still have a second adult place available.

Identification

The county lists what it accepts, and it is a longer list than most:

• A valid driver’s licence with a photograph, or a non-photo licence accompanied by a birth certificate
• A non-driver identification card with a photograph issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles
• A passport with photograph and date of birth
• A Department of Social Services card with photograph and date of birth
• A county or local municipality senior citizen card with photograph and date of birth
• Certified birth certificates for visitors under 18, with guardian permission

Identification is taken from adults at check in and returned when the visit ends. You sign in with your name, address and your person’s name.

If a visitor is named in an active order of protection, the order has to specifically state that visitation is allowed during incarceration.

Lockers, and the 50 Cents Nobody Warns You About

Lockers cost 50 cents, and the county says plainly that it does not have change and cannot hold items for you.

Everything goes in: valuables, purses, wallets, loose change, keys, coats, jackets, hats, ties, sweaters, and hair accessories including beads, barrettes, ties and bobby pins. Jewellery goes in too, with two exceptions, wedding bands and reasonably sized religious medals. Medical alert bracelets and necklaces are permitted.

Bring two quarters.

The Dress Code

Prohibited outright: clothing with excessive metal, overalls, hooded sweatshirts, sleeveless shirts, halter tops, tank tops, miniskirts, underwire bras, see-through or mesh garments, ripped clothing, excessively tight clothing, and low cut or short shirts and blouses.

The underwire rule is the one that turns most people away, because it is the one nobody thinks to check before leaving.

Getting Through Security

After signing in you sit until an officer calls you to line up for scanning. Everyone is subject to search and has to complete the scanning process to enter, with children remaining with their guardians.

You walk through a metal detector, get scanned with a hand held scanner, have your mouth visually checked, turn your pockets inside out, unroll pant legs and sleeves, and have hairpieces, wigs and headwear checked.

The county notes you may be turned away if you cannot be cleared.

Inside the Visiting Room

Not permitted in the room: food, beverages, gum, candy, baby bottles, pacifiers, bibs and blankets.

Contact is a brief embrace, a kiss with no open mouth, or a handshake, once at the beginning and once at the end. No groping by anybody. Children two and under may be briefly held by the inmate, once during the visit. Children may not sit on the counter or wander the room.

Seating and hands: stay in your assigned seat, keep hands above the counter and in view at all times, no hand holding, no reaching across, and no cross visiting with other inmates or visitors.

Locker keys stay in your pocket or in view. Inmates and children must never hold them.

Use the restrooms before you go in. If you ask to leave for any reason, the visit is terminated.

Officers announce the end of the session. Say goodbye, follow the exit directions, and take your belongings.

Two Rules for the Building, Not the Room

No packages will be accepted for inmates, so do not bring anything to hand over.

Cell phones and electronic devices are prohibited in the facility, not merely in the visiting room. That includes the lobby.

And nobody, child or pet, may be left unattended in the lobby, the car park, the grounds or a vehicle.

What Happens If You Break a Rule

The county closes its policy with one line, in bold: failure to comply results in the termination of the visit, suspension of visitation, and/or criminal charges being filed.

If Kingston Is Too Far

Four days a week is generous, but the Hudson Valley is a long way from much of the state, and a first come first served system rewards people who live nearby. Letters do not have that problem, and at this jail the paper you post ends up in your person’s property rather than a contractor’s bin. Pigeonly sends letters and photos to Kingston between visits.