How to Visit Lexington Assessment and Reception Center

Why Visiting LARC Works Differently Than Other ODOC Facilities

Every man sentenced to ODOC time comes through Lexington Assessment and Reception Center first, or through its sister intake site, before he’s classified and sent to the facility where he’ll actually serve his sentence. That means LARC’s population turns over fast. It’s common for someone to be processed and moved on within a matter of weeks. If you’re planning a visit, the single most useful thing you can do first is check the ODOC Offender Lookup to make sure he’s still listed at LARC and hasn’t already been transferred somewhere else. Note also that LARC shares its physical grounds with Lexington Correctional Center (LCC), a separate medium-security prison next door with its own visiting rules. This page covers LARC, the intake and reception unit, only.

New Arrivals: the 30-Day Visit

This is the rule that matters most here, because LARC exists for exactly this situation. A man who just arrived and hasn’t had time to get a Visitor Request Form processed yet isn’t automatically cut off from family. Under ODOC policy, family members already documented in his field file can receive one visit within 30 days of his arrival, while the formal visitor application and background check work through the system in the background. If your loved one just started his sentence, call the ODOC Visitation Unit at (405) 768-3269 and ask about this option directly instead of waiting for the standard approval process to finish.

Getting on the Approved Visitor List

Beyond that initial 30-day window, every visitor needs to go through the full application process to stay on the list long term.

1. Request the Visitor Request Form (DOC 030118B). The inmate can mail it to you from intake, or skip that step entirely and use the email box at the top of this page.
2. Fill it out completely. Your full legal name, date of birth, home address, and relationship to the inmate, plus a copy of your state-issued photo ID or driver’s license.
3. Get it to the ODOC Visitation Unit by Wednesday, 1:00 PM. Forms received after the cutoff move to the following week.
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 screen against the Office of the Inspector General’s Visitor Alert list.
5. Get your confirmation. ODOC’s policy doesn’t publish a guaranteed turnaround for this check, so if you haven’t heard anything after a couple of weeks, call and ask rather than assuming a set deadline. Once you’re approved, you’re good for three years before needing to reapply.

Official ODOC form

Get the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center visitor schedule form

Once your visitor application is approved, use this form to schedule your visit. Enter your email and we'll send the direct link to your inbox.

Email me the link

By continuing, you agree to receive emails from Pigeonly. Unsubscribe anytime. See our Terms and Privacy Policy.

How Much Time You Actually Get

ODOC doesn’t hand out the same visiting window to every inmate. The hours you’re allowed each week come from a combination of the inmate’s security classification and a privilege level he earns over time, Level 1 through Level 4. Because incoming men at LARC haven’t been through classification yet, the assessment and reception unit runs at maximum security by default during intake processing, which puts most new arrivals at the low end of the table below until they’re reclassified and moved.

Security 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

A brand-new arrival almost always starts at Level 1, meaning a single non-contact hour a week, since privilege levels are earned over time and intake inmates haven’t had the chance yet. Contact visits, a short hug or kiss allowed at the start and end of a visit, don’t become available until Level 2 or higher. Visiting days run Saturday, Sunday, and state holidays; if a holiday lands on a weekday, it becomes an extra “free” visiting day at the inmate’s usual weekly allowance. Confirm exact hours with the ODOC Visitation Unit at (405) 768-3269 or LARC at (405) 527-5676, since scheduled windows can shift with intake volume.

Segregation and Restricted Housing

Some men held for administrative or protective reasons during processing are limited to one non-contact hour per week, and only with a mother, father, spouse, an attorney, or clergy. ODOC’s policy carves out an exception to that one-hour cap at only three facilities statewide: Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Lawton Correctional Facility, and Mabel Bassett Correctional Center. LARC isn’t one of them, so the standard one-hour, non-contact limit applies here without exception for anyone in that housing status.

An inmate under disciplinary sanctions can’t have visits at all, aside from an attorney or clergy, and if that status runs past 60 days, he shifts to the same visiting limits as long-term administrative or protective custody.

Who Can Be on the Visitor List

Each inmate can have as many as 20 approved visitors, and children under 18 don’t count toward that number. No more than 5 approved visitors can show up for the same visit. ODOC counts spouses, natural or surrogate parents, grandparents, in-laws, children (including step and adopted children), grandchildren, siblings, and aunts and uncles as immediate family for this purpose.

A handful of lesser-known rules trip people up:

• A visitor added as a friend, rather than family, can only appear on one inmate’s approved list anywhere in the ODOC system at a time.
• A former inmate who isn’t family has to wait three years after finishing his full sentence and supervision, and still needs the facility head’s sign-off.
• Getting removed from one person’s visiting list means a full year before you can join a different inmate’s list.
• If the inmate himself asks to have you removed, he can’t add you back for 120 days.
• Anyone who used to work for ODOC or a contracted facility has to wait three years before being added as a non-family visitor.

Bringing Children

A child who belongs to the inmate needs to come with an approved adult visitor. Any other child needs their own parent or legal guardian along, with proof of the relationship, like a birth certificate or adoption paperwork, in hand. A child who turns 18 has to go through the standard Visitor Request Form process from that point forward like any adult. ODOC can restrict a child’s visitation if it receives documentation from a court, DHS, a legal guardian, or a district attorney saying the visit isn’t in the child’s interest.

Dress Code

ODOC’s statewide dress code (attachment DOC 030118A) applies to every adult visitor and to children over 11, unless a documented medical condition applies. Any of the following can get you turned away at the door:

• Shorts, skorts, skirts, or dresses that fall above the top of the kneecap, or that fit tightly
• Wrap-around skirts, or dresses and skirts slit above the kneecap
• Tube tops, tank tops, crop tops, halter tops, spaghetti straps, sleeveless tops, or anything sheer or mesh
• Leggings, biker shorts, or body suits
• Spandex, including swimwear
• Blue, periwinkle, camouflage, or orange shirts, since those colors belong to inmate uniforms
• Tight-fitting sweat suits
• Low-cut tops or clothing with rips or cut-outs
• Anything printed with profanity or offensive images
• Headgear other than religious head coverings
• Clothing that shows the midriff, sits off the shoulder, or exposes any part of the breast

Appropriate underclothing is required for everyone. When in doubt, dress conservatively rather than risk being sent home.

What to Bring, and What’s Not Allowed

Bring your state-issued photo ID and not much else. Cell phones, cameras, recording devices, large bags, and bulky outerwear that could hide something should stay in your car.

Contraband covers cell phones and electronics, alcohol, firearms and ammunition, drugs or drug paraphernalia, unauthorized papers, unapproved photos, or anything else that threatens facility security. Trying to bring any of it in, or even leaving it somewhere on the grounds for an inmate to retrieve, can end your visiting privileges for good and lead to felony charges. Passing anything at all between you and the inmate that wasn’t cleared ahead of time, even something completely harmless, ends the visit on the spot and puts your spot on the visitor list at risk. Baby supplies, bottles, diapers, and baby food, are fine everywhere.

Security Screening

Because LARC’s intake unit runs at maximum security, expect the fullest level of screening ODOC uses:

• Pat search. Every visitor 18 and older is searched by hand. Visitors under 18 are not.
• X-ray. Anything you bring in gets scanned.
• Metal detector. You get three attempts to clear it. A fourth failed pass ends the visit.
• Canine screening. A drug-detection dog may check visitors or vehicles at the facility head’s discretion. A first alert cancels that day’s visit only. A second alert on the same person or vehicle brings a 90 to 180 day suspension. A third brings a full year suspension.

You’re allowed one restroom break during a visit, with no extra time added back. If there’s no separate visitor restroom, the inmate is searched again before returning. Refusing a search ends the visit immediately and risks your place on the list. Every adult visitor’s ID is checked against the approved list and their face, every single time, no exceptions for regulars.

Vending Machine Money

Inmates can’t carry cash, so if you want something from the vending machines during your visit, bring it yourself. You’re allowed up to $30 in quarters, kept in a clear, quart-size bag. Machines typically cover sandwiches, chips or snacks, and drinks.

Video Visitation

If getting to Lexington isn’t possible, ODOC runs video visits through Securus Video Connect for anyone already on the approved visitor list.

• Set up a Securus account and apply electronically for LARC specifically. You’ll hear back by email either way.
• Sessions run 20 minutes and need to be booked at least 48 hours out, first-come, first-served, in 30-minute slots.
• If LARC cancels a scheduled video visit for its own operational reasons, ask Securus for a credit toward a future session.
• Only people on the approved visitor list can be on camera. Anyone else showing up in frame gets the visit suspended, or the account shut down for repeat issues.
• A minor can’t run their own account. Their visit happens through an approved adult’s account, with that adult present the whole time.
• You provide your own device and connection. ODOC doesn’t troubleshoot your hardware or Wi-Fi. The same dress and conduct standards from an in-person visit still apply, and every session is recorded and can be watched live by staff.

Pricing is set by Securus, not ODOC, so check current rates when you sign up.

Attorney and Special Visits

Attorneys get the same general access as a regular visitor and may be asked for an Oklahoma Bar Association card. Paralegals, investigators, law students, or expert witnesses on a case may need a letter on the attorney’s letterhead confirming why they’re there. With advance notice and sign-off from the facility head, an attorney visit can happen outside normal hours, without a barrier, and with a laptop or tablet for documents. Staff observe these visits but don’t record the audio.

Special visits cover situations that don’t fit standard hours: someone who traveled a long way, a re-entry program volunteer, a visit tied to hospitalization, clergy, or a visit during disciplinary status (attorney and clergy only in that case). These are arranged case by case with the facility head, so call ahead rather than showing up expecting one.

Conduct Rules and What Happens If You Break Them

A standard visit allows a short hug and kiss at the start and end, and that’s it. Continued embracing, excessive kissing, marks like hickeys, touching of the genitals, breasts, buttocks, thighs, back, or stomach through or under clothing, sitting on laps, straddling, lying down, or using a restroom meant for the opposite sex all end a visit on the spot and put your visiting privileges at risk for a length of time the facility head sets.

Beyond conduct, ODOC uses a three-strike system for rule violations, applied the same way at LARC as at every ODOC facility and contracted private prison:

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

A few violations skip 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 drugs or alcohol, or assaulting staff, another visitor, or an inmate.

These aren’t just internal facility rules. Oklahoma Statutes, Title 57, Chapter 1, Section 21 makes several of them actual crimes. Weapons, drugs, alcohol, or money and financial documents brought in for anyone besides the inmate or their spouse is a felony, carrying one to five years in ODOC custody plus a fine between $100 and $1,000. A cell phone or other electronic communication device brought into a secure area is a felony too, carrying up to two years and a fine as high as $2,500. Tobacco or tobacco products carry a misdemeanor charge, up to a year in county jail and a fine up to $500. Tobacco is banned statewide across ODOC facilities; if you have any on you, it stays locked in your vehicle for the entire visit and can’t be used again until you’re off state property.

Contact

Lexington Assessment and Reception Center 15151 State Highway 39 Lexington, OK 73051 Phone: (405) 527-5676 ODOC Visitation Unit: (405) 768-3269