How to Visit John Lilley Correctional Center

Getting On the Visitor List

Nobody gets in the door at JLCC without being on the inmate’s approved list first. Here’s the process, start to finish.

1. Request the Visitor Request Form (DOC 030118B). The inmate can mail it to you, or you can ask the ODOC Visitation Unit for a copy. Faster option: use the email box at the top of this page and we’ll send the direct link right now.
2. Fill it out in full. Full legal name, date of birth, current address, and how you’re related to the inmate, along with a copy of your state-issued photo ID or driver’s license.
3. Get it to the ODOC Visitation Unit by Wednesday at 1:00 PM. Anything that comes in after the cutoff rolls into the following week’s batch.
4. Clear the background check. Every visitor 18 or older goes through an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and FBI criminal records check, plus a check against the Office of the Inspector General’s Visitor Alert system.
5. Watch for your approval notice. ODOC’s policy doesn’t set a published turnaround time for this step, so if weeks have gone by with no word, call the Visitation Unit and ask about your status instead of guessing at a deadline. Once you’re approved, you’re good for three years before you have to file again.

Official ODOC form

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Just transferred to JLCC? Someone freshly arrived from Lexington Assessment and Reception Center (LARC), the men’s statewide intake facility, doesn’t have to wait on a fully approved list before seeing family the first time. Anyone already listed in the inmate’s field file can get one visit within 30 days while the formal Visitor Request Form works its way through processing.

Visiting Hours Depend on Privilege Level, Not the Calendar

This trips up a lot of families: JLCC doesn’t post one visiting schedule that applies to everyone. ODOC ties the number of hours an inmate can use each week to two things, their custody classification and the privilege level they’ve earned within it, Level 1 through Level 4. JLCC holds minimum and medium custody men, so most of the people incarcerated there fall in the middle two rows of the table below. Maximum custody is included too, since a reclassification can move someone between levels.

Custody Level	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
Maximum	1 hour, non-contact	Up to 2 hours/week	Up to 3 hours/week	Up to 4 hours/week
Medium	1 hour, non-contact	Up to 2 hours/week	Up to 4 hours/week	Up to 6 hours/week
Minimum	1 hour, non-contact	Up to 4 hours/week	Up to 6 hours/week	Up to 8 hours/week

Visiting days run Saturday, Sunday, and any state-recognized holiday. When a holiday lands on a weekday, that day becomes a bonus “free” visiting day at the inmate’s usual weekly hour allowance. No matter the custody level, Level 1 caps out at one non-contact hour a week. A contact visit, meaning the brief hug and kiss allowed at the start and end of a regular visit, only opens up once the inmate reaches Level 2 or higher. Ask the person you’re visiting what level they currently hold. That number tells you exactly how much time to plan for.

Restricted Housing and Disciplinary Status

An inmate held in special management housing, whether that’s administrative segregation or protective custody, is capped at one non-contact hour of visiting per week, limited to their mother, father, spouse, an attorney, or clergy.

Inmates serving disciplinary time (DU time) don’t get visits at all, aside from an attorney or clergy. If that disciplinary stretch runs past 60 days, the inmate shifts to the same visiting allowance as long-term administrative segregation or protective custody.

Who Else Can Be on the List

Each inmate can have up to 20 approved visitors at once, and children under 18 don’t count toward that number. No more than 5 approved visitors can be present at the same time. ODOC defines immediate family as a spouse, natural or surrogate parents, grandparents, in-laws, children (including step and adopted children), grandchildren, siblings, and aunts or uncles.

A handful of list rules catch families off guard:

• A “friend” listing is exclusive. Someone added as a friend rather than family can only appear on one inmate’s approved visitor list at any ODOC facility or private prison, system-wide.
• Former inmates wait three years. A non-family visitor who was previously incarcerated has to wait three years after finishing their full sentence, including supervision, and the facility head still has to sign off even then.
• You can’t hop straight to another inmate’s list. If a visitor gets removed from one inmate’s list, they’re locked out of joining a different inmate’s list for a full year.
• If the inmate removes you, there’s a cooldown. An inmate who has a visitor taken off their list can’t add that same person back for 120 days.
• Former ODOC staff face the same three-year wait. Anyone who used to work for ODOC or a contracted facility can’t be added as a non-family visitor for at least three years after leaving.

Visiting With Children

A child needs paperwork to visit, every time. If it’s the inmate’s own natural or adopted child, an approved adult visitor has to bring them. Any other child needs their own parent or legal guardian along, plus proof of the relationship, such as a birth certificate or adoption papers. Once that child turns 18, they go through the standard Visitor Request Form process just like any other adult.

ODOC can restrict a child’s visitation if it receives documentation from a court, the Department of Human Services, a legal guardian, or a district attorney showing the visit isn’t in the child’s best interest.

Dress Code at the Gate

ODOC’s dress code (form DOC 030118A) applies to every adult visitor and to children over age 11, unless a medical condition or disability prevents compliance. Any of the following can get you turned away or your visit ended early:

• Shorts, skorts, skirts, or dresses shorter than the top of the kneecap, or anything tight-fitting
• Wrap-around skirts, or skirts and dresses with a slit above kneecap height
• Tube tops, tank tops, crop tops, halter tops, spaghetti-strap tops, or sleeveless, transparent, or mesh tops
• Leggings, biker pants, or body suits
• Spandex clothing, including swimwear
• Blue, periwinkle, camouflage, or orange shirts, since those colors are reserved for inmate uniforms
• Tight-fitting sweat suits
• Low-cut clothing, or clothing with rips or cut-out designs
• Clothing printed with profanity, offensive wording, or offensive images
• Headgear, except religious head coverings
• Clothing that exposes the midriff, sits off the shoulder, or exposes any part of the breast

Everyone needs appropriate underclothing on underneath. If you’re not sure something clears the bar, plan for a screening delay or just wear something else.

What You Can Bring, and What Gets You Turned Away

Bring your state-issued photo ID and not much else. Cell phones, cameras, recording devices, large bags, and outerwear that could conceal something all need to stay in the vehicle.

Contraband covers a long list: cell phones and accessories, any electronic device, alcohol, firearms, ammunition, drugs or drug paraphernalia, unauthorized paperwork, photos that weren’t approved beforehand, or anything else that could threaten the facility’s security. Trying to bring any of it in, or leaving it on facility grounds for the inmate to pick up later, can end your visiting privileges and lead to felony charges. Passing anything at all between you and the inmate that wasn’t cleared in advance, even something harmless, ends the visit on the spot and puts your spot on the list at risk. Infant care items like bottles, diapers, and baby food are allowed at every ODOC facility.

Screening Before You Reach the Visiting Room

Every visitor and everything they bring gets checked before entering:

• Pat search. Required for everyone 18 and older. Visitors under 18 skip this step.
• X-ray. Because JLCC houses medium custody inmates as well as minimum, visitor property is scanned by x-ray machine.
• Metal detector. You get three tries to clear it. A fourth failed attempt ends the visit.
• Canine screening. At the facility head’s discretion, a drug-detection dog may check visitors and vehicles. A first alert on a person or vehicle denies just that day’s visit. A second alert on the same person or vehicle brings a 90 to 180 day suspension. A third alert means a full year suspended.

You’re allowed one restroom trip mid-visit, with no extra time added to make up for it. If the visiting room doesn’t have separate restrooms for visitors and inmates, the inmate is strip-searched before rejoining the visit. Refusing any part of the screening ends the visit immediately and can get you removed from the list. Everyone 18 and older shows a photo ID that’s checked against the approved visitor list and your physical appearance, every single visit, not just your first.

Quarters for the Vending Machines

Inmates aren’t allowed to carry cash, so if you want to grab something from the vending machines during your visit, bring the money yourself. Visitors can carry up to $30 in quarters, kept in a clear, quart-sized bag. Facilities typically run sandwich, snack, and beverage machines for visitors and inmates alike.

Visiting by Video When the Drive Isn’t an Option

If a trip out to Boley doesn’t work for a given week, ODOC offers video visitation through Securus Video Connect, but only for visitors already approved on the inmate’s list.

• Create a Securus account and submit an electronic application for JLCC through their site. You’ll get an email once ODOC approves or denies it.
• Once you’re cleared, sessions run 20 minutes and have to be booked at least 48 hours out, first-come, first-served, in 30-minute blocks.
• If the facility has to cancel a scheduled video visit for its own operational reasons, you can request a visitation credit from Securus for a future session.
• Only people on the inmate’s approved list can appear on camera. Anyone else showing up in frame gets the visit suspended, or the account terminated.
• A minor can’t run their own account. Their visit has to happen through an approved adult’s account, with that adult present the entire time.
• You supply your own device and internet connection. ODOC isn’t responsible for connection quality or hardware problems, and the same dress code and conduct rules apply as an in-person visit. Every video visit is recorded and can be monitored live by staff.

Pricing for video visitation is set by Securus, not ODOC, so check current rates directly with the provider before you set up your account.

Attorney Visits and Special Circumstances

An attorney visit carries the same general privileges as a regular visit. Attorneys may need to show an Oklahoma Bar Association card, and paralegals, investigators, law students, or expert witnesses working the case may need a letter on the attorney’s letterhead confirming why they’re there. With advance notice and facility head approval, an attorney visit can happen outside normal visiting hours, can be barrier-free and contact, and can include a laptop or tablet for document review. Staff watch these visits but don’t record the audio.

Special visits cover situations regular hours don’t fit: a visitor who traveled a long distance, a re-entry program volunteer, a visit tied to a hospitalized inmate, clergy, or a visit during disciplinary status, which is limited to attorney or clergy only in that case. At JLCC, special and attorney visits are arranged on Mondays and Thursdays by prior arrangement with the facility or the ODOC Visitation Unit. Exact length and conditions are set case by case by the facility head.

Conduct in the Visiting Room, and What Breaking the Rules Costs You

A regular visit allows one brief hug and kiss at the start and one at the end, and that’s the extent of it. Prohibited behavior includes continued embracing or excessive kissing, hickeys, touching or fondling the genitals, breasts, buttocks, thighs, back, or stomach through or under clothing, sitting on laps, straddling legs, lying down, or using a restroom designated for the opposite sex. Any of this ends the visit right away and can get the visitor restricted for a period the facility head sets.

Beyond conduct, ODOC applies a formal violation ladder to any rule infraction, the same across every ODOC facility and private prison holding ODOC inmates:

• First violation: temporary restriction of 90 to 180 days
• Second violation: temporary restriction of 180 to 365 days
• Third violation: permanent restriction, which only a regional administrator or higher can lift

Some violations jump straight to permanent restriction on the first offense: helping someone escape, bringing in a weapon, bringing in a cell phone or other electronic device, bringing in illegal drugs or alcohol, or assaulting staff, a visitor, or an inmate.

These aren’t just internal facility rules, either. Oklahoma Statutes, Title 57, Chapter 1, Section 21 makes bringing unauthorized items into a state penal institution an actual crime:

• Weapons, drugs, alcohol, or money and financial documents for anyone besides the inmate or their spouse: a felony carrying one to five years in ODOC custody, a fine of $100 to $1,000, or both.
• Tobacco or tobacco products: a misdemeanor carrying up to a year in county jail, a fine up to $500, or both.
• A cell phone or any electronic communication device brought into a secure area: a felony carrying up to two years in ODOC custody, a fine up to $2,500, or both.

Tobacco and tobacco-like products are banned system-wide. If you’re carrying any, it has to stay locked in your vehicle for the whole visit, and it can’t come back out until you’ve left state property completely.

Contact

John Lilley Correctional Center 407971 Highway 62 East Boley, OK 74829 Phone: (918) 667-3381 ODOC Visitation Unit: (405) 768-3269