Is Prison Visitation Contact, Non-Contact by Security Level

Whether you can physically touch your family member during a visit depends almost entirely on the security level of the facility they are in.

Contact visitation means you are in the same room with no barrier between you. A brief hug at the start and end of the visit is typically permitted, and you sit across a table or in chairs facing each other. This is the standard setup at most minimum and low security facilities, federal camps, and many county jails.

Non-contact visitation means you are separated by a glass partition and communicate through a phone handset. There is no physical contact at all. This is standard at higher security facilities, maximum security prisons, and segregation or SHU housing regardless of the facility's overall security level.

Some facilities use a hybrid approach where most inmates have contact visits but inmates in restricted housing or with specific holds on their records are assigned to non-contact booths.