How to Visit Mack Alford Correctional Center

When Visits Happen

ODOC sets visiting statewide, and MACC’s scheduling window falls between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM. The specific days the facility opens its doors for visits are up to the warden, but how many of those hours a given inmate can actually use comes from the Visiting Privilege Level system covered next. Visiting days include Saturday, Sunday, and any state-recognized holiday, and when a holiday lands on a weekday, it turns into a bonus “free” visiting day at the inmate’s regular weekly allotment. Call the ODOC Visitation Unit at (405) 768-3269 or MACC at (580) 346-7301 before you drive out, both to confirm the current schedule and to get your visit booked.

Why Your Hours Aren’t the Same as the Next Family’s

This is the part that surprises a lot of first-time visitors: there’s no single visiting schedule that applies to every inmate at MACC. ODOC bases the weekly hour allowance on two things, the inmate’s security classification and the privilege level they’ve earned within it, Level 1 through Level 4. Since MACC is built for minimum and medium custody men, most families here will be working off the middle two rows of the table below, though the maximum row is included since a reclassification can shift someone between levels.

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

Regardless of security level, Level 1 always tops out at one non-contact hour a week. A contact visit, the brief hug and kiss ODOC allows at the start and end of a regular visit, isn’t available until the inmate reaches Level 2 or above. The person you’re visiting will know their current level, and that number is the fastest way to figure out how much time to plan for on any given trip.

Special Housing and Disciplinary Status

An inmate held in special management housing, whether that’s administrative segregation or protective custody, is limited under OP-030118 to one non-contact hour of visiting per week, and only with a mother, father, spouse, an attorney, or clergy.

Inmates serving disciplinary time (DU time) don’t get regular visits at all, aside from attorney or clergy visits. Once a disciplinary stretch passes 60 days, the inmate moves onto the same visiting allowance as long-term administrative segregation or protective custody.

How to Get on the Approved Visitor List

No one gets past the front gate at MACC without clearing this process first.

1. Request the Visitor Request Form (DOC 030118B). The inmate can mail it to you, or the ODOC Visitation Unit can send a copy. Faster route: enter your email at the top of this page and we’ll get you the direct link right away.
2. Fill in every section. Full legal name, date of birth, current address, and how you’re related to the inmate, plus a copy of your state-issued photo ID or driver’s license.
3. Get it in by Wednesday at 1:00 PM. Forms received after that time roll into the next week’s processing.
4. Clear the background check. Every visitor 18 or older is run through an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and FBI criminal records check, along with a check against the Office of the Inspector General’s Visitor Alert system.
5. Wait for your approval notice. OP-030118 doesn’t spell out a set turnaround for this step, so if it’s been a while and you haven’t heard anything, call the Visitation Unit and ask about your status rather than guessing at a deadline. Once approved, you’re good for three years before another application is needed.

Official ODOC form

Get the Mack Alford Correctional 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.

Just arrived at MACC? Someone freshly transferred in from Lexington Assessment and Reception Center (LARC), the men’s statewide intake facility, doesn’t have to wait for a fully processed visitor list to see family for the first time. Anyone already named in the inmate’s field file can get one visit within 30 days while the Visitor Request Form works its way through the system.

Who Else Can Be on the List

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

A few of the finer rules trip families up:

• Friends only get one inmate. Someone listed as a friend rather than family can appear on just one inmate’s approved visitor list, system-wide, across every ODOC facility and private prison.
• Former inmates face a three-year wait. 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 approve it on top of that.
• You can’t jump straight to a different inmate’s list. Anyone removed from one inmate’s approved list is locked out of joining a different inmate’s list for a full year.
• A removal by the inmate comes with a cooldown. If the inmate has a visitor taken off their list, that person can’t be added back for 120 days.
• Former ODOC staff wait three years too. Anyone who worked for ODOC, or for a facility under ODOC contract, has to wait at least three years after leaving before being added as a non-family visitor.

Bringing Children Along

Children need documentation every visit, no exceptions. The inmate’s own natural or adopted child has to be accompanied by an approved adult visitor. Any other child needs their own parent or legal guardian present, 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.

What You Can and Can’t Wear

ODOC’s dress code, form DOC 030118A, applies to every adult visitor and to children over age 11, unless a medical condition or disability makes compliance impossible. Any of the following can get you turned away at the door or your visit cut short:

• 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, is extremely tight, sits off the shoulder, or exposes any part of the breast

Appropriate underclothing is required for everyone. If you’re not sure a piece of clothing will clear the line, plan on extra time at screening or bring a backup option.

What to Bring, and What Gets Left in the Car

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

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

Security Screening

Everyone and everything they’re carrying gets checked before entering the visiting area:

• Pat search. Required for every visitor 18 and older. Visitors under 18 aren’t searched.
• X-ray. Because MACC houses medium custody inmates in addition to minimum, visitor property goes through an x-ray machine.
• Metal detector. You get three chances to clear it. A fourth failed attempt ends the visit.
• Canine screening. At the facility head’s discretion, a drug-detection dog may screen visitors and vehicles. A first alert on a person or vehicle denies just that day’s visit. Trigger it a second time with that same person or vehicle and the suspension runs 90 to 180 days. A third alert means a full year suspended.

You get one restroom break mid-visit, with no extra time added to make up for it. If MACC’s visiting room lacks 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 put your spot on the list at risk. Every visitor 18 and older shows a photo ID that’s checked against the approved list and your appearance, every single time, not just your first.

Quarters for the Vending Machines

Inmates can’t carry cash, so if you want something from the vending machines during your visit, bring the money yourself. Visitors are allowed up to $30 in quarters, carried in a clear, quart-size bag. Facilities typically stock sandwich, snack, and beverage machines for visitors and inmates to use together.

Video Visitation When the Trip to Stringtown Doesn’t Work

For weeks when getting to Stringtown isn’t realistic, ODOC offers video visitation through Securus Video Connect, open only to visitors already approved on the inmate’s list.

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

Securus, not ODOC, sets the price for video visitation, so check current rates directly with the provider before setting up an account.

Attorney Visits and Other Special Circumstances

An attorney visit at MACC carries the same general privileges as a regular visit. Attorneys may be asked 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 the facility head’s 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 observe these visits but don’t record the audio.

Special visits cover situations regular hours don’t accommodate: a visitor who traveled a long distance, a re-entry program volunteer, a visit tied to a hospitalized inmate, clergy visits, or a visit during disciplinary status, limited in that case to attorney or clergy only. Length and conditions for a special visit are set case by case by the facility head; contact the facility or the ODOC Visitation Unit to arrange one.

Conduct During a Visit, and What Breaking the Rules Costs

A regular visit allows one brief hug and kiss at the start, and one at the end. That’s the extent of allowed physical contact. 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, and using a restroom designated for the opposite sex. Any of this ends the visit immediately and can get the visitor restricted for a period the facility head sets.

Beyond conduct in the room, 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

A handful of violations skip straight to a permanent restriction on the first offense because of how serious they are: 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 go beyond facility policy, too. 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 stays locked in your vehicle for the whole visit and can’t come back out until you’ve left state property entirely.

Contact

Mack Alford Correctional Center 13001 North Highway 69 Stringtown, OK 74525 Phone: (580) 346-7301 ODOC Visitation Unit: (405) 768-3269