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chargersgrl

I'm visiting my PP at Estelle Unit in September. I cannot find anywhere what time they start the visitation. Does anybody know the time visitation starts and any suggestions what time I should be at the prison? I'm flying in from California and hoping that they approve a special visit for me. I will be calling them the week before I intend to see him to get that approved. Thank you for your help!


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Kirsten

Ask Sunray's wench, if you don't believe me.

 

 
Northernyank

Every prison both Federal and State have correctional case managers. Now granted, most inmates may meet their case manager once while incarcerated, but everything to do with work training, education, behavioral requirements and management, progress evaluations, etc are all facilitated by a case manager. Some inmates may never see them after the intake process. 

 
Kirsten

TX doesn't have case managers, Northern.

 
Northernyank

Hi, Roaieann, that is something your boyfriend will have to ask either his case manager, which oversees that, or the unit manager. 

 
Roaieann

Hi. If my boyfriend was at estell unit safep 2 years ago. Can u tell me if he has to make a new visitaion list? Or can he use the same one he had two years ago. Hes there again

 
AussieGuy

That's correct. If he is still in the state of Texas use the lookup, this will give you a new address if he has moved where you can use his name, TDCJ Number and new address to write.

 
Amantha

Hi guys! i may be doing this wrong but i'm desperate to locate a pen pal who was in Estelle prison, Huntsville Texas.. His profile on Write a Prisoner has expired a long time ago.. I have his inmate number and names.. Who do i contact or how do i get information if he is stil there or not?? Any help will be apreciated! Thank you

Look him up here.

https://offender.tdcj.texas.gov/OffenderSearch/index.jsp

 
Adriaan77

Hi guys! i may be doing this wrong but i'm desperate to locate a pen pal who was in Estelle prison, Huntsville Texas.. His profile on Write a Prisoner has expired a long time ago.. I have his inmate number and names.. Who do i contact or how do i get information if he is stil there or not?? Any help will be apreciated! Thank you

 
A Driver For Hire

But you're American, and Americans generally are not used to being somewhere with good public transport. Europeans are blessed to be able to get from one end of Europe to the other on public transport that is reasonably clean, on time and cheap(ish)

Yes, yes and ... YES.

It is one of the most stark differences I found.

 
sunray's wench

[QUOTE=A Driver For Hire;1165568]It never occurred to me to do anything [I]but[/I] rent a car when I traveled from Dallas to Gatesville. I got an incredible deal on Hotwire, so the whole thing only cost me, I think, $60 or so including gas.[/QUOTE]

But you're American, and Americans generally are not used to being somewhere with good public transport. Europeans are blessed to be able to get from one end of Europe to the other on public transport that is reasonably clean, on time and cheap(ish). I can get from my home to Moscow and beyond by train if I wanted to in about 3 days - but I struggle to get a few miles outside Houston or Dallas airports by myself without a car.

 
A Driver For Hire

Thanks a lot, Metatron!
I've got the feeling that rent a car would be better... Do you plan to visit him again sometime?

It never occurred to me to do anything [I]but[/I] rent a car when I traveled from Dallas to Gatesville. I got an incredible deal on Hotwire, so the whole thing only cost me, I think, $60 or so including gas.

 
Jani85

Thanks a lot, Metatron!
I've got the feeling that rent a car would be better... Do you plan to visit him again sometime?

 
sunray's wench

It isn't safe for a woman to be by herself there in the dark.

Which is exactly why my husband told me not to try and visit on my own if our friend ever can't help out. Same for Dallas; there was a bus that would pick up friends and family and take them out to various prisons, but the pick-up points were in some of the most dangerous parts of the city and as you can't take a cell phone with you to the prison, it is simply not worth the risk you would be putting yourself into.

 
Metatron

Hey guys. I maybe want to visit my pp in the Estelle Unit. First let me say: I never was in the USA before. So I've got absolutely no idea how to do. Don't know how to arrive Huntsville and then to arrive the Unit and how to come back to Huntsville. I'm not brave enough to rent a car. And I don't know when is the best time for travel to the Unit. It would be good to have somebody with me who was already there or knows the rules and all this things. But I'm alone. I have the idea to surprise him with a visit. I would stay in Huntsville for the weekend to get the two visitation-days.
Can anyone help?
Thanks a lot.

Hi Jani. I visited my bf there in Jan and I used the taxi service in Huntsville. You have to be on his visitation list first and you call the unit the Monday morning before the weekend you plan on visiting. I had 8 1/2 hour visit all together. 4 hours the first day then 4 1/2 the next day on Sat/Sun. It is 50$ US for the taxi to and from the unit for the one day 25$ one way. It is really far away out of Huntsville so that is why it is expensive. You have to give them the 50$ because you can't bring cash to the prison only 25$ in quarters in a ziploc bag and your id and hotel key THAT is all you can bring.

My Bf is in the High security building at Estelle so if your pp is in there you have to get back into the taxi after you check in so they can drive you to that building you cannot walk to the building! But if he is in general pop than you just go to the gate which is right near the first building you go into to check in to for visitation where you get your pass to give to the CO with your id.

I was so nervous. The CO's are really nice and you sign in then give them your belongings to check and it is like security at the airport you take off your shoes, watch etc put it in a bin to get checked and xrayed then you walk through a metal detector and get patted down by an officer and they scan your feet and then you wait to go into your visit in the visitation room. It is behind glass and you speak through a telephone receiver and it is dirty. I don't think they clean that glass very often and the chairs are falling apart and are uncomfortable.

If you do take a taxi you have to make sure you check your watch about ten mins before your visit is scheduled to end so you can tell the CO to contact the security at the gate to let in the taxi in to pick you up. I didn't do that on the second day and the taxi driver was pretty upset with me because they had to wait a long time to get in. So I hope this helps. I didn't know what I was doing, lol! I am from Canada.

Also I caught the Greyhound bus from Houston to Huntsville. They are always late and never on time. The Houston bus station isn't very nice so don't have too much cash on you or valuables in site! It is scary not like a German or Canadian bus station! The bus in Huntsville to go back to Houston on the Monday morning is early and I was there waiting in the dark all alone until it opened. They opened 15 mins late the guy pulled up and opened it up and there was nobody around so go 15 mins after they open first thing in the morning. It isn't safe for a woman to be by herself there in the dark. Luckily nothing happened but I was scared. Here is the number for the taxi in Huntsville.

Reliable Taxi 936-295- 3606

 
A Driver For Hire

I was hoping [b]sunray's wench[/b] would handle that question. :)

FYI, my pen pal is in a trusty camp, so that clearly made a big difference in the experience. And it is exactly as sunray's wench described.

 
sunray's wench

Ok thanks to all for your help. But please tell me, what is a trust camp? And what is clearly defined as special permission? Well, my pp has the lowest security grade (sorry, forgot the right word here) so why is TDCJ such bad and don't give our guys the opportunity for holding hands with someone they're pretty do like? Doesn't really matter if it's the Mum, the son, wife or "only the best friend" in my opinion. Some guys have nobody than a friend like us, meeting at WAP and they have to meet us behind glass?! I think that's very cruel! :a110103_worried_prv

Jani, it might seem cruel to us, but it is America and that is how many people feel it should happen over there. It doesn't matter if we agree with it or not, it is not in our power to change it, and when we are there or dealing with them, we have to play by their rules.

A Trusy Camp is a part of a prison where the inmates live in dorms rather than cells, and have more freedom to move around the prison that inmates in general population. Not all TDCJ prisons have trusty camps. Visitation with inmates who live in Trusty camps is usually contact: a contact visit means that you can briefly (very briefly) hug and kiss at the start and end of the visit and during the visit you can hold hands, but you must sit opposite the inmate with the table between you. Contact visits are normally only available for immediate family members (the list of what counts as a immediate family is in the Offender's Handbook). If you are not a family member then you have a non-contact visit, which means speaking to the inmate with a glass or perspex screen between you, either through tiny holes in the screen or by using a phone. No physical contact of any kind.

Non-immediate family can request a contact visit by writing to the prison warden, but these are permitted normally only where an inmate has very few visits (as in 1 every couple of years to never). It is not unusual for the request to be denied.

Special visits are for those who live more than 250 miles from the prison, and are also at the discretion of the warden. They are usually 4 hours on a Saturday and 4 hours on a Sunday, but if the prison has a lot of visitors then they might be shorter (2 hrs each day for example, or 4 hrs on one day). You have to request them in advance, but the inmate can do that.

 
Jani85

Ok thanks to all for your help. But please tell me, what is a trust camp? And what is clearly defined as special permission? Well, my pp has the lowest security grade (sorry, forgot the right word here) so why is TDCJ such bad and don't give our guys the opportunity for holding hands with someone they're pretty do like? Doesn't really matter if it's the Mum, the son, wife or "only the best friend" in my opinion. Some guys have nobody than a friend like us, meeting at WAP and they have to meet us behind glass?! I think that's very cruel! :a110103_worried_prv

 
A Driver For Hire

TDCJ visitation for anyone other than on DR is at weekends only. Special visits (by request only) can be on both the Saturday and Sunday, otherwise you get 2 hours on one day only. If you are not an immediate family member, or are visiting a trusty camp, or have special permission, it will be a visit behind a glass screen, non-contact.

A TDCJ inmate can only update their visit list once in every 6 month period.

Listen to those who have experience with TDCJ, as other states are nothing like Texas.

Spot on.

I went through this with my Texas pen pal in Gatesville. She had to add me to her visitation list, which, as noted, can only be updated every 6 months. That required some paperwork on my part - she sent it to me, I filled it out and sent it back to her. Then it took some time to get me on the list. Not a quick turnaround.

She also requested a "special" visit - which meant we could visit four hours - and that's because of the distance I traveled (obviously, you would fit that parameter, too), but that's not an automatic, either. It's entirely up to the discretion of the warden. Important to note, too, that visits can be shut down for any number of reasons, including a lockdown - at the facility or a neighboring facility. No warning and, as noted, no one will care how far you've traveled. No visits means no visits.

I gave her plenty of lead time - months, in fact - so she knew when I was visiting. Not that they have a lot of options for what to do with their time, but still.

So a surprise visit isn't really an option. And, besides that, one of the joys of a visit is the build up. I know my pen pal spent the weeks leading up to the visit with building anticipation. She was also able to make sure she got "cleaned up" (her words), etc.

As for Texas ... I don't know much about Huntsville but if it's anything like Gatesville, there's not much to see. Nondescript is a great word to use.

Best of luck.

 
sunray's wench

There are few "sights" to see in Huntsville.

TDCJ visitation for anyone other than on DR is at weekends only. Special visits (by request only) can be on both the Saturday and Sunday, otherwise you get 2 hours on one day only. If you are not an immediate family member, or are visiting a trusty camp, or have special permission, it will be a visit behind a glass screen, non-contact.

A TDCJ inmate can only update their visit list once in every 6 month period.

Listen to those who have experience with TDCJ, as other states are nothing like Texas.

 
HOGrat

Jani,
Don't get discouraged. Even if you mention in a letter months in advance to your PP that you are coming to visit, he will be so excited through the roof! Mine just about flipped out at the news that I wanted to visit and was shooting for a weekend in April.

So, jump through the hoops, dot your "i"s and cross your "t"s to do whatever you need to visit him.

And while you are there, do some sightseeing. Most likely you will not be able to visit on consecutive days or even consecutive weekends.

Don't give up.

 
Earthmother

Hey guys. I maybe want to visit my pp in the Estelle Unit. First let me say: I never was in the USA before. So I've got absolutely no idea how to do. Don't know how to arrive Huntsville and then to arrive the Unit and how to come back to Huntsville. I'm not brave enough to rent a car. And I don't know when is the best time for travel to the Unit. It would be good to have somebody with me who was already there or knows the rules and all this things. But I'm alone. I have the idea to surprise him with a visit. I would stay in Huntsville for the weekend to get the two visitation-days.
Can anyone help?
Thanks a lot.

Texas is big, and Texas prisons are generally in isolated locations. As Sunray says, without a car of your own or a local contact to transport you, it would be extremely difficult. There is a Greyhound bus from Houston to Hunstville but you'd have to get from the airport to the Greyhound Station. That still wouldn't resolve the problem of getting from Hunstville to the actual prison unit, which is about 13 miles north of the center of Hunstville. I suppose there might be taxis in Hunstville, I suppose.

I'm pretty sure you can't just show up at a Texan prison for a visit anyway, as you have to be on the inmates visiting list in order to be able to visit. Even if you are on his visiting list, showing up out of the blue is not a good idea. He may have already had a visit on that visitation week, in which case, you would be turned away - he prison isn't going to care how far you have travelled to get there. He might have other visitors coming and if you turn up unexpectedly and get in first, that means his expected visitors will be turned away. Inmates generally want to make sure they are looking their best when they are getting a visit - have time to shower, make sure they have clean clothes, get a haircut in advance, shave, etc.... so another reason against a surprise visit.

Visiting an inmate in the USA is not something you do on a lark, spur of the moment, impulsive decision kind of thing. You have to plan carefully...and even the most careful plans can go awry, as he or the entire prison may be on lockdown once you actually get there.

 
HOGrat

I'm assuming this discussion is about Estelle Unit in Texas. Nothing else came up on the Google search. But, if my assumption is correct; then anyone who wants to visit an inmate there needs to look at the visitation information on the TDCJ website.

Offender Visitation <

Surprise visits are discouraged because the prison administration have lots of visitors and inmates to process. Another note (because I'm trying to visit my PP in another state as well), they said to anticipate 90 days for visitation approval because I am coming from out of state. Another bit of information that I found out from my PP is that she only can have visitors on odd days because her prison number ends with an odd number. Every prison system is different. So, before the plane ticket is bought, car rental arranged and hotel reservation is set; the background check and visitation approval should to be done first.

I sent my application for visitation in 2 months ago and still waiting for an answer.

So, check out the website and read every little detail.

Good luck!

 
sunray&#039;s wench

If you don't rent a car and have no one to drive you then it is almost impossible to get to any TDCJ unit. Not a good idea to surprise an inmate you have never met with a visit.

Have a look at Danpal's visit thread from last year, there is a lot of information on that one that is also relevant to visiting any other TDCJ unit.

 
Jani85

Hey guys. I maybe want to visit my pp in the Estelle Unit. First let me say: I never was in the USA before. So I've got absolutely no idea how to do. Don't know how to arrive Huntsville and then to arrive the Unit and how to come back to Huntsville. I'm not brave enough to rent a car. And I don't know when is the best time for travel to the Unit. It would be good to have somebody with me who was already there or knows the rules and all this things. But I'm alone. I have the idea to surprise him with a visit. I would stay in Huntsville for the weekend to get the two visitation-days.
Can anyone help?
Thanks a lot.

 
timeto_waste

I can't be completely certain about special visits, because I don't live far enough away to get those, but my friend at Estelle says his mom calls a few days in advance to request a special visit. How many days he considers "a few" .. well I'm not certain of that lol.

 
sunray&#039;s wench

Call Estelle now and find out exactly how they like special visits to be requested.

Estelle is a medium size unit but it is used for medical and elderly care so visitation may not be too busy.

When I visit Coffield I usually get there about 7.15am, to reduce the chance of having to shorten the visit when it gets busier later in the day.

 
MoxieBravo

visits are usually from 8am - 5pm on saturdays and sundays. you might want to call a few weeks prior to visiting to arrange for the special visits. i don't know estelle's rules, but polunsky lets us call the first day of the month before to schedule ours (for example: if i'm visiting in september, i can call august 1st to schedule). as for the time to get there, i can't help there either. but i usually get there an hour before i intend to leave because it usually takes them up to an hour to bring him out.