07-140/00 Visiting

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

PURPOSE OF ORDER:     The purpose of this unit order is to establish procedures for the operation of the North County Correctional Facility (NCCF) visiting center.

SCOPE OF ORDER:          This order applies to all personnel assigned to and/or working at NCCF.

ORDER:

Refer to the Custody Division Manual (CDM) sections referenced above for general procedures pertaining to visiting.  Refer to the Pitches Detention Center (PDC) South facility unit order referenced above for procedures pertaining to PDC’s main visiting center.

VISITING DAYS AND TIMES

Visiting is held at NCCF every Saturday and Sunday, and the following holidays:

• New Year’s Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day

Each inmate shall be allowed at least two visits totaling one hour per week. On the above listed holidays, inmates may receive one extra thirty (30) minute visit.

VISITING HOURS

Visiting hours are Saturday/Sunday from 0800 to 1400 hours but may be extended at the discretion of the watch commander.  Notification to the main visiting center shall be made to ensure transportation buses remain available to transport any visitors with extended privileges.

Attorney and professional visits are conducted Monday through Friday from 0700-2000 hours. Refer to NCCF unit order 07-015/00, “Attorney and Professional Visits.”

MAIN VISITING CENTER

Absent a legal guardian or parent, minors under eighteen (18) years of age who are not the inmate’s legal spouse, or children, must have a notarized letter from their parent/legal guardian indicating whom they are allowed to visit, and be in the company of an adult.

Legal guardians must be in possession of court documents confirming their guardianship status at the time of the visit.

Absent a legal guardian or parent, minors under sixteen (16) years of age who are the inmate’s legal children, must have a notarized letter from their parent/legal guardian indicating whom they are allowed to visit and be in the company of an adult.

All notarized letters allowing a minor to visit an inmate must contain the following information:

• The name and booking number of the inmate the minor is requesting to visit
• The relationship of the minor to the inmate
• The date of the visit
• The name of the adult accompanying the minor

The name and contact information of the parent/legal guardian authorizing the minor to visit shall be provided.  Failure to provide a verifiable contact number may be cause to deny the visiting request.

Upon prior request from an inmate, their minor children, over the age of twelve (12) years and under sixteen (16) years, may be permitted to visit unaccompanied by an adult with the prior approval of the facility’s unit commander (CDM section 5-10/010.00).

Minors between the ages of fifteen (15) and seventeen (17) years old shall possess a valid school or government issued form of identification, including, but not limited to:

• School identification card for current school year, or no more than the last complete school year
• Passport or immigrant visa
• State issued driver’s license or identification card

Acceptable identification for minors shall have a photograph of the minor and indicate the minor’s name.

All U.S. citizen children under the age of fifteen (15) years shall have with them, prior to the visit, a copy of their U.S. birth certificate or court order showing parents’ names or legal guardians’ names.  Hospital issued birth announcements shall not be accepted.

All non-U.S. citizen children shall have with them a foreign passport with supporting documents (i.e., I-94 arrival/departure and U.S. immigrant visa, permanent resident card, or resident alien card).

Visitors under eighteen (18) years of age, and married to an inmate, are considered emancipated and do not have to be accompanied by an adult; however, proof of the marriage and proper identification is required.

Any visitor who arrives at NCCF’s visiting center without the proper stamped pass issued by PDC’s main visiting center shall be transported back to the main visiting center sergeant’s office.

VISITING STAFF

The NCCF visiting personnel shall consist of:

• 2 armed deputies assigned to the front visiting lobby at NCCF
• 1 armed deputy assigned to supervise the front visiting corridors
• 2 officers assigned to visiting rear to supervise inmates’ corridors
• 1 officer assigned to the inmate visiting rear waiting area
• 1 officer assigned to supervise building [REDACTED TEXT] visiting
• 1 officer assigned to supervise building [REDACTED TEXT] visiting
• 4 officers assigned to the main gate visiting center (sworn personnel shall be armed)

SEARCHES

All visitors are subject to search at any time.

GENERAL POPULATION VISITING

Upon arrival at NCCF, the visitor(s) shall give the visiting booth officer their pass. This officer shall verify the inmate’s housing location and ensure a visiting pass has been entered into the Automated Justice Information System (AJIS) for the inmate.  The front visiting booth officer shall then assign a seat number and the visitor(s) shall be directed to their designated visiting booth.  Five minutes prior to the conclusion of the timed visit, both the visitor(s) and the inmate shall be informed that their visit will end in five minutes.

Inmates housed in buildings [REDACTED TEXT] shall report to the main visiting area in building [REDACTED TEXT] for their visits.  All staff station officers shall maintain possession of the visiting passes for their individual dorms.  When visitors arrive at NCCF, the visiting staff shall notify each staff station to ensure the inmates housed in dorms supervised by the staff station have been sent to visiting.

MONEY DEPOSIT AND ALLOWABLE ITEMS

No money shall be given to inmates during visits.  Visitors may deposit funds for inmates at the main gate visiting center.  Visitors may deposit cash, U.S. Postal money orders, or cashier’s checks issued within California in adherence with CDM section 5-06/015.00, “Inmate Trust Funds.”

The following items may be passed through the building [REDACTED TEXT] visiting booth to the inmates:

• Government or employer’s checks for signature (no personal checks)
• Legal papers pertaining to the inmate’s case
• Prescription eyeglasses only (no contact lenses)

(Refer to CDM section 5-03/105.00, Acceptance of Prescription/Corrective Eyeglasses” for procedures to accept and forward the prescription eyeglasses if inmate is not housed at NCCF)

No other items or paperwork shall be passed without the watch commander’s approval.

Deputies shall sign only approved LASD inmate money or property slips.  All other paperwork shall be approved by the watch commander.

SHOES

Inmates entering Department custody facilities are provided “slip-on” style shoes to wear.  If an inmate is assigned a job at NCCF which requires special work shoes, the appropriate footwear shall be issued to them.

Visitors shall NOT be allowed to bring replacement shoes for any inmate in custody. Special footwear required due to a medical condition may be obtained through a court order or upon the written prescription of a medical doctor.

BUILDING [REDACTED TEXT] VISITING

Inmates housed in building [REDACTED TEXT] shall report to the [REDACTED TEXT] building visiting area for their visits.  Unless properly relieved, the [REDACTED TEXT] visiting officer shall remain in the visiting booth at all times while visitors or inmates are in the visiting area.  The [REDACTED TEXT] visiting office door shall remain secured at all times.

When staff station officers receive visiting passes for [REDACTED TEXT] visiting, they shall inform the inmate(s) they have a visit and to prepare to report to visiting.  Inmates who have been issued a visiting pass shall remain in their respective dorms until their visitor arrives at the [REDACTED TEXT] visiting area.

Once the visitor arrives in the [REDACTED TEXT] visiting area, the [REDACTED TEXT] visiting officer shall telephone the respective staff station officer and request the inmate be sent to the [REDACTED TEXT] visiting area for their visit.

BUILDING [REDACTED TEXT] VISITING

Inmates housed in building [REDACTED TEXT] shall report to the [REDACTED TEXT] building visiting area for their visits.  The inmate’s pass shall be time stamped to start the visit.  Five minutes prior to the conclusion of the timed visit, an officer shall inform the visitor and the inmate that the visit will end in five minutes.

INMATE RULES

1. All inmates going to or coming from the visiting area shall be properly dressed.
2. Any violation of jail rules may result in the immediate termination of the inmate’s visit and/or disciplinary action.
3. All requests for extra visiting time shall have prior approval from the watch commander.

STATE INMATES

State prisoners are afforded the same visiting opportunities as any County inmate.  Any request received from the State Board of Corrections to restrict a state inmate’s visiting privilege shall be forwarded to the Operation Safe Jails (OSJ) unit for enforcement and compliance.  OSJ personnel are responsible for ensuring these visiting restrictions are entered into the Inmate Video Visitation System (IVVS).

VISITING AREA RULES

• Visitors shall refrain from loud or boisterous behavior
• Visitors shall not enter the NCCF visiting center without a valid pass with the main visiting center’s stamp on it
• Children shall remain in the immediate control of their parent or guardian
• Shoes and shirts shall be worn at all times
• NCCF visitors shall not wear sexually provocative clothing
• No glass containers shall be allowed inside the visiting area
• Visitors shall not litter or deface County property
• Electrical recording devices, cameras, and weapons are prohibited in the visiting area
• Visitors shall only visit with the inmate for whom they have a pass for

A visitor’s visiting privilege may be revoked if they violate any of the preceding rules or create a safety or security hazard.  If a person repeatedly violates visiting area rules or the violation is of a serious nature, their visiting privileges may be permanently terminated at the discretion of the unit commander.

All visiting privileges which are permanently terminated shall be logged in the NCCF visiting log book.

MOBILITY-IMPAIRED VISITOR ACCOMODATIONS

Visiting personnel shall ensure mobility-impaired visitors receive sufficient assistance to reach their assigned visiting booth and to return to the transportation buses.

Service dogs under Titles II and III of the American Disabilities Act (ADA) are allowed to accompany visitors with disabilities.  A service animal is a dog that is trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability.  The work or task a dog has been trained to provide shall be directly related to the person’s disability.

Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA. (https://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm)