Visiting in Colorado (CDOC)

Colorado overhauled its visiting policy (Administrative Regulation 300-01) in 2025 under a new state law that made in-person visiting a right — limiting how long a prison may take away contact visits or phone calls as punishment. Most day-to-day details — days, hours, whether visits are by appointment, and how many days a week the same person may visit — are set by each facility, not statewide.

Getting on the visiting list

Each prospective visitor submits a visitor application (Form 300-01A) to the visiting office of the prison where the person is held — only one adult per application — with a copy of a current, valid government photo ID whose address matches the application. CDOC runs a background check (rechecked over time), and an incarcerated person may have up to 12 approved adult visitors (minor children are listed but do not count toward the 12). Changes to the list are generally allowed at 90-day intervals, and a visitor who has not visited in a year is moved to inactive status.

A criminal record is not an automatic bar, but it requires administrative approval and may carry a waiting period — generally three years after completing a sentence that included incarceration, or one year after another felony; immediate family members may be reviewed sooner. A person with an active warrant is denied.

Minors are listed on the application of the parent, legal guardian, or immediate family member who will bring them, with a copy of the child’s birth certificate. If someone other than the parent or guardian brings the child, the parent completes an authorization form (300-01F), and the accompanying adult must be an immediate family member.

What to wear

Colorado prison uniforms are green, and the dress code is built around not resembling them:

• No clothing that is solid green, gray, orange, white, yellow, or camouflage, or that otherwise looks like what incarcerated people wear.
• Pants, skirts, and dresses must reach at least the top of the knee — no shorts of any kind and no cargo pants.
• Nothing tight or form-fitting such as leggings, spandex, or yoga pants, and nothing sheer, ripped, or revealing (no exposed cleavage, back, or midriff).
• Appropriate undergarments are required and must not be visible.
• No hats, hoods, gloves, scarves, or coats in the visiting room (religious head coverings excepted), and nothing showing gang, drug, profane, or offensive images. Jewelry is limited to a wedding set, one religious medallion, and medical-alert items.

At facilities housing medium or higher custody, visitors’ hands are stamped with an ultraviolet mark for re-entry, and once you leave you cannot return during that session.

What you can bring

Very little may be brought in. The only item allowed into the visit room for purchases is one debit or credit card for the vending machines — the sole source of food and drink. Cash and coins are not allowed. Phones, smartwatches, tablets, cameras, and books are prohibited. Prescription medication may be brought only in the amount needed, in its original labeled container, and is held at the officer station during the visit. Limited baby-care items are allowed in a diaper bag. Everything and everyone is subject to search.

Scheduling and visit days

There is no statewide visiting schedule — each prison sets its own days, hours, session lengths, and how often the same person may visit, and most run by appointment. (For example, La Vista offers Friday-through-Sunday sessions booked by email up to two weeks ahead.) Special or extended visits for out-of-state or long-distance visitors require advance approval, usually requested at least 10 days ahead.

Contact, non-contact, video, and phone visits

• Contact visit: a brief embrace and kiss at the start and end, and hand-holding during the visit.
• Non-contact visit: in person through a barrier, or electronically by phone or video, when a contact visit is not approved.
• Video visits run through Securus, but Colorado’s video visiting has been in transition under new federal rate rules — at times suspended while the platform is rebuilt — so confirm current availability and cost at the source.
• Phone calls are now treated as a form of visitation, and Colorado covers the cost, so calls are free to families. See Phone & Video Calls.

Verify Before Acting

For the general, nationwide overview of this topic, see the national guide: Visiting Basics.