Inmate Video Visitation in Nevada

If someone you love is locked up in Nevada, video can save you a long desert drive, but how it works depends entirely on which kind of facility they're in. So the first thing to nail down is whether your person is in a state prison, a county jail, or immigration custody, because that determines the system, the cost, and the rules.

Nevada splits custody three ways, and each handles video differently. The state prison system (NDOC, the Nevada Department of Corrections) runs around 17 facilities, from High Desert and Ely to Lovelock and the Florence McClure women's center. County jails, run by sheriffs and metro police, handle people awaiting trial and serving shorter sentences. And federal and immigration custody play by their own rules, with no operating federal Bureau of Prisons prison inside Nevada, but one of the largest ICE detention centers in the West sitting out in Pahrump. Figure out which bucket your person is in first, because everything else flows from that.

Do Nevada state prisons offer video visitation?

Yes. NDOC runs video visits (along with messaging, photos, and short video clips) through tablets on the GettingOut platform, operated by ViaPath. Nearly everyone in the system has a tablet, and you connect by setting up a GettingOut account, adding your person, and waiting for them to accept before you can schedule and visit.

On cost, NDOC's video visits are paid, billed by the minute through the tablet vendor. This has been a live controversy in Nevada: in early 2026, families and reform advocates publicly criticized the tablet program over rising per-minute prices and glitches, and some organized boycotts. I'm not going to print today's per-minute rate here, because these prices have been moving and any number will go stale fast, check the current rate in your GettingOut account before you commit. The thing to know is that tablet video is a paid, metered service, so plan your minutes.

In-person visiting is also offered and remains important. Schedules vary a lot by facility, custody level, and housing unit, and they rotate, so a visiting day at High Desert won't match Lovelock or Ely. Visits are generally on weekends and sometimes weekdays by unit, with check-in commonly required about 30 minutes ahead. Always call the specific facility or check its current schedule before driving, especially for the remote prisons.

To get on the approved visitor list, you must be approved for the specific facility before visiting. Contact that facility's visitation office (NDOC publishes per-facility visitation email addresses) and complete its process. You generally need to be on the approved list for both in-person and tablet contact.

County and city jails

Nevada's county jails are run by sheriffs and metro police, and each picks its own vendor, so this is where cost and platform vary the most.

The biggest is the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas, run by Metro Police, which uses ViaPath for video: visits in the lobby booths at the jail are free, while remote social video visits from home are paid (priced per minute or as a flat per-session rate), and you register and schedule through the visitation website. Washoe County (Reno) uses a different system (iWebVisit) for its video visits. The Nye County jail in Pahrump uses JailATM for home video visits. So the platform that works in Las Vegas won't be the one in Reno or Pahrump. The only way to be sure is to check the specific jail's page or call.

The vendor is facility-specific, so the company that works for one county won't necessarily be the one next door. One warning that saves people money and grief: accounts do not transfer between vendors. If your person moves from a ViaPath jail to an iWebVisit or JailATM jail (or into the NDOC state system), your funds and account don't follow. You set up fresh with the new vendor.

How county jail video visitation usually works

There are two flavors, and the difference is the whole ballgame for your wallet.

Onsite (or "onsite video") means you drive to the jail and sit at a video terminal or booth in the lobby to talk to the person, who's on a screen inside. Onsite video is frequently free or low-cost (Clark County's lobby booths, for instance, are free).

Remote video means you connect from your own phone, tablet, or computer at home. That convenience is what you pay for. Remote sessions are charged per session or per minute, you typically prepay into a vendor account, and you usually reserve a slot in advance.

Nevada jail video rates shift around, partly because the FCC has been capping these rates through 2024 to 2026 and partly because every facility prices differently. I'm not going to print a per-minute number here, because by the time you read it, it'll be wrong. Look up the rate on your specific jail's vendor page before you pay. What's stable is the structure: onsite is often free or cheaper, remote tends to cost, and there are usually advance-registration rules.

Setting up a video visit

The steps depend on whether it's a state prison or a county jail:

1. Find the system for that exact facility. For the state, video runs through the inmate's GettingOut tablet (ViaPath). For a county jail, check the sheriff's or metro site for the vendor (ViaPath in Clark County, iWebVisit in Washoe, JailATM in Nye, for example). Don't guess.

2. Create the right account and verify your identity, usually with a government photo ID. For the state, that's GettingOut; for a jail, the listed vendor.

3. Add your inmate and get on the approved list. You'll need the correct name and the state ID or booking number, and the person generally must accept or have you on their approved list.

4. Schedule your visit, choosing onsite (free at many jails) or remote (paid), and pay for any paid remote session.

5. Test your device and log in early. Get on about 15 minutes ahead. Check your camera, microphone, speakers, and internet. A failed connection on your end usually still burns the visit slot.

Federal and immigration custody

Federal custody works differently in Nevada than in most states, because Nevada has no operating federal Bureau of Prisons institution of its own (the old federal camp at Nellis closed years ago). People convicted of federal crimes from Nevada are designated to BOP prisons elsewhere, often FCI Herlong just across the line in California, and people in pretrial federal or U.S. Marshals custody are usually held in a local jail or a contract detention facility. Use the BOP inmate locator to find someone in BOP custody and check that institution's visiting rules.

Immigration custody is a significant story in Nevada, centered on one large facility. The Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump, operated by the private company CoreCivic under contract with the federal government, is one of the largest immigration detention facilities in the western United States. It sits in the desert in Nye County, roughly 60 miles west of Las Vegas, and routinely receives detainees transferred from Nevada, California, Arizona, and other western states. Because it's remote, attorneys and advocates have repeatedly raised concerns about access to legal help and family contact, and the facility has drawn oversight visits and scrutiny during the recent expansion of immigration detention. Some Nevada county jails, such as the Washoe County Jail in Reno, also hold ICE detainees under contract. Because people are moved between facilities and sometimes across state lines, confirm where your person actually is before making any plans. To locate someone in ICE custody, use the ICE Online Detainee Locator, which needs the person's A-Number (the nine-digit alien registration number) or their name plus country of birth. Each facility sets its own visiting and video rules, so confirm directly, and remember immigration bonds are handled through ICE, not posted at the facility.

A note on staying connected

Video is good for one thing money can't really replace: seeing a face, watching a kid wave, reading an expression. And in a state as big and empty as Nevada, where a prison can be hours of desert highway away, that face time matters. But Nevada's a place where the cost of staying connected has been a real fight, so go in clear-eyed: video is metered, and the minutes add up.

That's exactly why it helps to be honest about what carries the weight day to day. Mail is the steadiest line there is. It doesn't drop the call, doesn't need a scheduled slot, and the person can hold it and read it again at 2 a.m. when the walls close in. Phone calls are the backbone of staying in touch, the thing you'll actually do most weeks. Video is the bonus on top, the face-to-face when you can get it. Build your routine around mail and calls, and treat video as the thing that makes the distance feel a little smaller.

Related pages:

/prisons/nevada

FCC 2026 call and video rate caps guide

Arrest Record Search (affiliate)