Harris County Jail

Visitor Policy

Interview with Julie, Inmate's Sister, Houston, Claire, Jim, Smyth, Ken, Charlene, Greg, GMan, Jamie, Leisha, Toby, Lisa and Consuela


JM: How often could you receive visitors?
Julie: once day but it sucked cause only one person could come so my mom would come then my boyfriend
Inmate's Sister: we seen him when he was in houston but when they moved him is what no way we can go see him with my mom being sick and no transpertation so we having seen him in years.
Houston: Once a day
Claire: An inmate can have one visit per day.
Jim: once a day for 15 minutes after they wait for an hour or two
Smyth: 3 hours if relatives out of state two days in a row once a month.
Ken: Not sure, didn't have visitors
Charlene: everyday
Greg: through thick screen's. Not fun.
GMan: Not applicable
Jamie: everyday
Leisha: EVEY DAY FOR 15MIN, BUT YOU CAN HARDLY HEAR BEACAUSE THEY HAVE YOU TALKING THROUGH THESE LIL HOLES YOU CAN HARDLY HEAR OUT OF
Toby: just about everyday but only 15 minutes at a time.and you couldn't hear that good anyway.
Lisa: Anytime between 5-9pm. 2 Adults per prisoner
Consuela: Daily if you had not been in trouble.

JM: Was the check-in process lengthy for those who came to see you?
Julie: no noyt at all
Inmate's Sister: wouldn't know
Houston: Not sure
Claire: Not really, but that all depended on what time they came up there. Visiting hours are from 5p-9p everyday, so you pretty much already knew that if you came up there at 5, you'd be waiting for a while. My friends knew to come up there between 7-9pm.
Jim: yes for two hours. They check all visitors for warrants
Smyth: Yes.. hours of waiting.
Charlene: yes
Greg: none,.
GMan: Yes
Jamie: yes
Leisha: YES
Toby: yes very lengthly..
Lisa: Yes
Consuela: Yes, the wait was so long that sometimes my visitors would leave before even making it up stairs. Sometimes the visiting hours had expired by the time they finally did get up stairs. Other times the officers would tell the visitors that I denied my visit just so they didn't have to come get me.

JM: What was the visiting environment like?
Julie: extremely loud really not long enough i been in the county in Victora, TX and they have the reciever and the vists are an hour
Inmate's Sister: wouldn't know
Houston: Horrible, people yelling and the visits were only 15 minutes
Claire: The inmate and the visitor are separated by a plastic "window" of sorts, and you have to talk through a hole in the middle of it. It's a pain in the a**, because it can get pretty loud in there and you have to put your ear up to the d****d thing just to hear what the other person is saying.
Jim: loud and crowded
Smyth: Aggresive
Charlene: I couldn't even hear my visitor because other people where screaming through their talking screens. My visitor had to leave cuz I couldn't hear anything.
Greg: crowded and sweaty and fierce.
GMan: Demeaning
Jamie: ok
Leisha: NEAT @ CLEAN SO THEY CAN FOOL PEOPLE
Toby: noisy and u couldn't hear that good.
Lisa: Horrible. You either had to know ASL(sign language) or you had to have paper w/u.
Consuela: It is very loud and it smells like arm pits. It was very hectic because you don't just see people from your cell block you see people from the entire floor.