Inmate Video Visitation in North Carolina

If someone you love is locked up in North Carolina, video can save you a long drive across a wide state, but how it works depends 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 vendor, the cost, and the rules. And a heads-up specific to North Carolina: the rules here got stricter recently, so don't assume anything works the way it used to.

North Carolina splits custody three ways. The state prison system, now called the Department of Adult Correction (DAC), runs the state's prisons. You may still see the old name, NCDPS (Department of Public Safety), in older guides, the prison side became DAC, but the system is the same one. County jails are run by sheriffs and handle people awaiting trial and serving shorter sentences. And federal and immigration custody play by their own rules, with one of the largest federal prison complexes in the country sitting near Raleigh. Figure out which bucket your person is in first, because everything else flows from that.

Do North Carolina state prisons offer video visitation?

Yes. DAC offers video visits, and they're fairly modern: your loved one connects from an electronic tablet or a video kiosk inside the facility, and you connect using the Getting Out Visits app (the vendor is GettingOut, part of ViaPath) on a phone, or from a home computer with a webcam, microphone, and a current browser. Video visits can be on-demand or scheduled for a future time, and they're limited to people on the incarcerated person's approved visitor list. The incarcerated person gets a few free minutes a week; beyond that, the time is paid. And yes, the dress code applies even for video.

Here's the part that trips families up: the approval process is slow and strict, and there's no online application. The incarcerated person has to mail you a blank visitor application. You fill it out and mail it back to that specific prison. Then there's a background check that commonly takes 30 to 90 days. The prison will not call you, your loved one tells you once you've been approved. Only then can you visit, by video or in person.

For in-person visits, once you're approved you call the facility directly to schedule, and most prisons want you to call several days ahead (3 to 7 days is typical). A practical tip from families who do this often: don't call on Mondays, the busiest day, try Tuesday through Thursday.

A couple of North Carolina specifics worth knowing because they catch people off guard. Incoming personal mail is now scanned and delivered electronically to inmate tablets for most people, rather than printed and hand-delivered, so the experience of "sending a letter" has changed. And if you mail a letter directly to the prison the old way, expect it to be handled under the new mail rules rather than passed straight to your person. The state's phone service runs through GTL/ViaPath, and money goes through JPay (money orders to JPay's PO Box in Hialeah, Florida, or online). Books must come directly from an approved retailer like Amazon or Barnes & Noble, paperback only.

To get on the approved visitor list, wait for the incarcerated person to mail you the application, send it back to the specific prison, and wait out the background check. There's no shortcut and no online form.

County and city jails

North Carolina's county jails are run by sheriffs, and each picks its own vendor, so cost and platform vary.

You'll see a mix, and many North Carolina jails have gone heavily toward video. The Wake County Detention Center in Raleigh, for example, conducts all visits by video: you schedule 24 hours ahead by phone, each inmate gets one free 30-minute visit a week, and up to two visitors can join (with rules about adults and children). Other counties (Mecklenburg/Charlotte, Guilford/Greensboro, Durham, Pitt, and the rest) run their own systems with their own vendors and rules. The only way to be sure of any county's setup is to check that 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 one jail's vendor to another (or into the 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 in the lobby to talk to the person, who's on a screen inside. Onsite video is frequently free or low-cost, when a jail offers it.

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.

North Carolina 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 (where offered) is often free or cheaper, remote tends to cost, and there are usually advance-registration rules. Note too that some North Carolina jails, like Wake County, give one free video visit a week even though all visiting is by video.

Setting up a video visit

The steps are roughly the same whichever system you're dealing with:

1. Find the system for that exact facility. For the state, that's the Getting Out Visits app (GettingOut/ViaPath). For a county jail, check the sheriff's site for the vendor and scheduling line. Don't guess.

2. Create the right account and verify your identity, usually with a government photo ID.

3. Add your inmate and get on the approved list. For the state, that means the full mail-in application and background check before any visit. You'll need the correct name and offender or booking number.

4. Schedule your visit, choosing onsite (where offered) or remote, and pay for any paid session beyond the free allotment.

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

Federal and immigration custody

If your person is in federal Bureau of Prisons custody, North Carolina is home to one of the largest federal complexes in the country: the Federal Correctional Complex at Butner, about 25 miles northwest of Raleigh. Butner includes several institutions (a low-security FCI, two medium-security FCIs, and a federal prison camp) plus the Federal Medical Center (FMC Butner), a major federal prison hospital known for oncology and behavioral care and home to the federal system's only residential treatment program for people convicted of sexual offenses. Together the complex holds around 5,000 people. The BOP has rolled out video visiting via facility tablets at many institutions, alongside in-person visits, TRULINCS email, and phone, so use the BOP inmate locator to find the institution and check its specific visiting rules. If someone was recently arrested on a federal charge and isn't in the BOP locator yet, they're likely still in U.S. Marshals custody during the designation period, often held in a county jail under contract.

Immigration custody works differently in North Carolina than in states with big dedicated detention centers, and it's an active, fast-changing area, so be careful with older information. North Carolina does not have a large, dedicated ICE detention facility. Instead, people in immigration custody are typically held for shorter periods in county jails, at ICE field or "hold-room" offices around the state (Charlotte, Cary, Hendersonville, Wilmington, and Greensboro have been reported), or in facilities that hold them through U.S. Marshals agreements (for example, the New Hanover County Detention Center in Castle Hayne). The legal backdrop has shifted recently: state laws now require sheriffs to honor ICE detainer requests, holding certain people up to 48 hours past their release so ICE can pick them up, and to notify ICE in some circumstances. At the same time, individual counties have changed course, the Alamance County Detention Center, long a regional holding point, ended its ICE housing agreement in late 2025. There have also been reports of ICE looking to open new detention sites in the state. Because all of this is in flux and people are frequently moved, 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 wide as North Carolina, where Butner or a distant prison can be a long haul, that face time matters, especially where a jail gives you a free weekly visit, like Wake County.

But be honest with yourself about what carries the weight day to day. Mail is the steadiest line there is, even with North Carolina now scanning it to a tablet, a letter is still something your person can read 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/north-carolina

FCC 2026 call and video rate caps guide

Arrest Record Search (affiliate)