South Central Regional Jail Visiting Days and Rules

Thursday, Saturday, Sunday

Day	Hours
Thursday	1:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Saturday	8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Sunday	8:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday have no visiting at all. The Thursday afternoon and evening slot is the one to use if weekends are difficult.

The Person Inside Books the Visit

This is the part that most needs saying, because it reverses what families expect.

West Virginia lets each jail choose between two systems: visitors phoning in to book, or the incarcerated person requesting the visit. South Central uses inmate request. Its own page states that visits are scheduled by offender request on the days the facility has approved.

So the first move is not a phone call from you. It is asking them to put the request in. Once they have, be ready with each adult visitor’s name, address, date of birth, telephone number and driver’s licence number, which is the information the jail wants for the request.

How Often You Can Come

Two official sources disagree, and we would rather show you both than quietly pick one.

The jail’s own page says one visit every 30 days from your last visit. Statewide policy for West Virginia jails says one visit per week.

A facility is allowed to be more restrictive than statewide policy, so the 30-day rule is most likely the one that governs here. Confirm it when the request goes in, because the difference between monthly and weekly is worth knowing before you plan a drive.

Non-Contact, 30 Minutes

Every visit at this jail is non-contact, conducted through a booth. Statewide policy sets jail visits at 30 minutes, and allows a superintendent to approve extra time for good behaviour.

Arriving late does not move your slot. The jail states that a late arrival gets only the time remaining in the scheduled window, so a twenty-minute delay costs you twenty minutes of the visit.

Who Can Come

Two adults, or one adult and two juveniles.

Adults need a valid government-issued photo ID: a driver’s or operator’s licence, a non-driving state ID card, a U.S. passport book or card, or a U.S. military ID. Social Security cards, credit cards, insurance cards and anything self-generated or printable from the internet are all refused.

Children may visit with a parent, another adult immediate-family member, or a legal guardian. A birth certificate works as a child’s ID when they are with one of those people.

The Notarised Form, and Where Not to Take It

Any child visiting needs a Juvenile Visitation Form, and there is one form per child. It asks for the inmate’s name and offender number, the facility, the relationship to the child, and the child’s details including date of birth, height, weight, hair and eye colour. It is signed by the parent or legal guardian and by the adult who will bring the child.

It must be notarised. And the state is explicit on the point that trips people up: the notaries at the facilities cannot notarise this form. It has to be notarised somewhere else.

Turning up at the jail with an unnotarised form and a child in the car is a wasted trip, so get it done before you leave.

What the Jail Turns Away at the Door

South Central publishes a specific list rather than a vague instruction, and it is enforced.

Refused: provocative, tight, see-through or low-cut clothing, with spandex, leggings and jeggings named directly. Tank tops, camisoles and cold-shoulder shirts. All shirts must have sleeves, for men and women, with no exceptions. Skirts or shorts shorter than two inches above the knee. Trousers with holes. Bib overalls. Open-toed shoes and sandals. No piercings and no jewellery. Women are required to wear a bra.

No orange clothing, which the jail attributes to security reasons.

Hats, scarves, coats, jackets, hoodies, keys, lighters, wallets, purses and phones stay out of visitation. Lockers are available.

Screening and Conduct

All visitors and anything they carry are subject to a canine search where available, a magnetometer, x-ray and a pat-down. Visitors are not strip searched and are not subject to body-cavity searches.

Entry can be refused, or a visit ended, for a court order, apparent intoxication, or disruptive behaviour. If that happens, both the visitor and the inmate can appeal to the facility superintendent. Conversations during a visit may be monitored or recorded.

Reasonable accommodations are required for visitors and inmates with disabilities.

Special Visits

A special visit can be approved by the Chief of Security or higher for a family emergency, a hospitalised inmate, an inmate in disciplinary status, clergy, or a visitor travelling a long distance. That last one is worth asking about directly if you are coming from out of state, since it is a published category rather than a favour.