Telford Unit Visiting Hours. Weekends Only, Video Opens at 7 AM

Telford’s Schedule, Including the Early Video Hour

Here is the visiting schedule for the Barry B. Telford Unit, read from TDCJ’s Unit Visitation Schedule:

Type	Days and hours
Contact	Saturday and Sunday, 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM
Regular	Saturday and Sunday, 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM
Restricted	Saturday and Sunday, 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM
Video/Tablet	Saturday and Sunday, 7:00 AM to 5:30 PM

Most Texas units run video on the same 8:00 AM start as in-person visits. Telford is in the smaller group that opens video an hour earlier, which gives you a slot before the day fills up.

Why Telford Offers All Three In-Person Types

Telford houses G1 through G5 plus Security Detention and Safekeeping in one place. That is an unusually wide custody spread for a single site, and it is why the unit runs contact, regular and restricted visits rather than a narrower set.

Which one you get depends on his custody level and status, not on what you request.

Contact is the same room. TDCJ’s rules allow embracing and kissing once at the start and once at the end, and holding hands with hands on top of the table. It is limited to immediate family unless unit administration approves otherwise.

Regular is behind glass. TDCJ’s rulebook states that general visits “are also referred to as non-contact and regular visits,” and describes visitors and inmates separated by a glass wall or partition. Regular does not mean standard here, it means separated.

Restricted appears as a column on TDCJ’s schedule but is not defined in the April 2025 visitation rules. The nearest published rule covers inmates in security detention, who receive one general visit a week at Level 1, two a month at Level 2, and one a month at Level 3. Since Telford houses security detention, that is likely the relevant rule, but TDCJ does not say so and we are not going to assert it. Call (903) 628-3171 to confirm what applies to him.

The Family Liaison Officer

TDCJ assigns a Family Liaison Officer at each unit, typically a duty warden, whose job is to help families resolve problems that affect a visit. Telford’s unit page names Cynthia Skipper as its Family Liaison Coordinator. If a visit gets denied or something goes wrong at the gate, that is the role to ask for.

Getting on the Visitors List

The list is submitted by the inmate on Form RO-1 and holds up to 10 names. There is no public version for a visitor to download, and changes are allowed once every six months. Once approved, visits are booked through TDCJ’s online visitation portal, one to seven days ahead.

Traveling to New Boston

Telford is in New Boston, Bowie County, in the far northeast corner of Texas near the Arkansas line. For most Texas families that is a long drive, which is what makes the 7:00 AM video option worth knowing about.

TDCJ allows the warden to approve an extended visit of up to four hours for anyone traveling more than 250 miles one way, if time and space allow. It is discretionary and arranged through the warden’s office ahead of time.

What TDCJ Does Not Publish for Telford

Session length, visitor capacity, the arrival cutoff, parking and lockers are not published for this unit. The published window is the unit’s operating span, not the length of your visit. Worth asking about on the same call.