have u ever visited ur husband there? my daughter's boyfriend just got moved there and we know nothing about that facility, the vistor's hrs, or how many ppl can visit at once, or dress code...can u help?
Yes, I have, last year from July 07 until the end of august 07.
I think you can visit on saturdays or sundays from 8am until 3pm or 5pm, not real sure. I always left at 8am and would arrive about 1030 or 11am because I'd have to stop and change my daughters diaper and to smoke. It takes me about 2 and a half hours to get there without stopping at all.
They search your car before you get in at the front, then you wait in line to go into the guard room to sign up, then you wait for them to call his name out. You have to wait outside the whole time, in the heat. There are two long benches, but its not too comfortable at all. They sure dont make it easy for you what so ever.
They check you before they allow you to go into the fence using your photo id, they also will run a metal detector over you and any child you bring with you. Only those on the inmates visitor list can go see them, except a child may accompany you. You may wait 30 minutes or more to even go into the guard room to tell them the inmates name and then another 30 minutes to an hour before your name is called out to go into the gates to the visitation center. You only get a non contact visit the first 2 months they are there. You get no visitation the first month they are there. If they are there for three months then you will finally get a contact visit, we never got our contact visit, he was moved to the Byrd Unit in Huntsville three days before our first contact visit. Byrd didnt allow me to visit him and then a week later he was sent down to segovia in Edinburg, too far for me to drive.
You can only bring in your car keys and $20 worth of change inside a clear plastic bag, I used a ziplock. You can buy them a coke or ice cream, cookies, etc from the vending machines, but they dont always work and they really only accepted the old quarters, not the statehood quarters. You take what you buy them to the guard on duty and it will be given to them and they have to consume it all before leaving. They will gladly consume any and all you will buy for him without a problem. They dont get much ice or any at all, the cold drinks are really appreciated since they only get luke warm or room temp ones through commisary.
Make sure you call before you leave to make sure he is still there before you drive to see him, they get moved and you'd hate to get there and him be moved to another facility. That happened to me. Holliday is just the first stop, its a transfer facility where they are classified. depending on their time, they will get placed some place else. A two year sentence will get them only to another transfer facility somewhere else. hard timers are sent elsewhere since they have more time to do.
You can go online to the TDCJ website and get all the info on the Holliday Unit as well as the visitors handbook which they are supposed to have when you go see them to pick up, and something from which they will quote to you, the guards do, but they arent placed out for the public to pick up to read.
If you have any further questions you can contact me through aol as pinkcalla721.
thanks for sendin me all that info, but from the sounds of it i shouldnt even bother to go visit him. at the last place he was at close to san antonio, the visitaion hrs were from 8am-sumtime in the afternoon an the lady told me u need to be here b4 8 or dont even bother, but if ur here after 10, u might not get a chance to see him at all, well its a 2 1/2-3 hr drive from corpus christi, where im at to there, even now to where he is at in beaumont its about the same or further. i need to find sumone i can share all the expenses with an travel w/them so its not so much for me alone. an this person in prison/jail isnt even related to me, he is my daughter's ex boyfriend, but he has no one, his mom pass'd away bout 3 yrs ago & then after that he start'd gettin in trouble again. he's only 21 yrs old and he wants to get back w/my daughter. but she has moved on an is goin to have a baby here soon, & he wants to raise it as his. he gets out in april 09, which isnt that far away, but i feel bad he's goin thru this all alone. we are the only ones that write to him, i havent sent him any money because i dont know how to go about that either. but all the info is very useful thanks, i do hope they do not move him anymore, i thought they were because of the hurricane we just got a few wks ago, but he said they didnt, i was waitin on him to write me just in case he had gotten moved, he finally did an ive continued to write him my 2 letters a wk so he can have mail and keep him out of trouble. who do you have in prison if i may ask? well i dont have aol, so thats why i wrote you back on here i hope thats ok...i do have yahoo. my email is xoxo69x@yahoo.com.
thanks again for all the info, its is really helpful.
My husband is at the Ellis Unit in Huntsville.
He is @ the Le Blanc Unit in Beaumont, TX.
all you have to do is get up on the federal prison web site inter the prison name an select the visiting rules an it will tell you about the rules. I know for a fact that the inmates can have up to 5 visitors on each visit, that includes counting the kids. you can take diapers, baby wipes in as long as they are in a clear ba, plus you can take money in the visitin room like coins an one dollars bills for the chane machine, you can't take any kids toys in with you because they have a toy room in the visitin room, you can also take bottles in with you for the youngest on. You can't wear any shorts unless they are below the knees, no low cut shirts that shows cleveage, no skirts an no open toes shoes at all. any thing else i can help you with just let me know. i've been to the prison to many times.