Visiting in Delaware (DOC)

How Scheduling Works

Delaware skips the application-and-approval-list process most states use. Instead, every prison runs scheduled visits booked by telephone, generally for the following week. You need the incarcerated person’s name and SBI number (or date of birth), and — at least at Howard R. Young — the date of birth, address, and phone number of every visitor you are booking; without that information the visit is not scheduled.

The published scheduling lines:

• Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution — (302) 577-5837, Monday-Wednesday only, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m., booking visits for the following week
• Howard R. Young Correctional Institution — (302) 575-0330, Monday-Friday until 3:00 p.m. (DOC’s documents disagree on the opening hour — 7:30 or 8:30 a.m.), one week ahead; visits are one hour, and once booked “cannot be changed, cancelled or confirmed”
• James T. Vaughn Correctional Center — two lines split by the incarcerated person’s last name: 1-800-282-8602 (A-J) and 1-800-722-0252 (K-Z), Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., booking the following Monday-Sunday; the 800 lines work only from inside Delaware, and (302) 653-4828 is the posted alternative
• Sussex Correctional Institution — (302) 856-5545, Monday-Friday until 3:00 p.m. (DOC’s documents disagree on the opening hour — 8:00 or 9:00 a.m.), one week ahead; once scheduled, the time is not changed, and the incarcerated person is responsible for confirming it with you

Arrival cushions differ: 15 minutes early at Howard R. Young, 30 minutes at Vaughn and Sussex — late arrival at Vaughn means being denied entry.

After the system-wide pandemic limits ended, DOC announced visiting capacity of two adults and two children per visit (February 2023); Sussex’s own posted rules say up to three total visitors. Where the posted numbers differ, the facility’s answer when you book is the one that counts.

Who Can Be Turned Away

Visitors may be screened against criminal records before entering any Delaware prison. The published standards: a past incarceration can bar visiting for 10 years from release, and probation for 5 years from release; active warrants also bar entry. Sussex adds its own published exclusion — people who previously served time there, or who worked for DOC as officers or contractors, need the warden’s review. There is no published appeal process for a visiting denial; DOC Family Services at (302) 857-5470 is the published channel for questions about visiting policies.

Minors

Children visit accompanied by an adult — Sussex specifies a parent, legal guardian, or an adult 21 or older, and holds that adult responsible for the children’s behavior. At Howard R. Young, children 14 to 18 need their own photo ID (school ID works). No Delaware facility publishes a birth-certificate or notarized-consent requirement.

What to Wear

The published dress rules are nearly identical at all four prisons:

• No bathing suits, body suits, strapless or low-cut tops, sleeveless shirts, or tube tops
• Dresses, skirts, culottes, and walking shorts no shorter than two inches above the knee, measured from the bend at the back of the knee
• No spandex pants, shorts, or leggings worn alone — leggings under a skirt are permitted
• No see-through fabrics, and nothing staff judge revealing — staff have the final say

Baylor and Howard R. Young add: no open-toe or open-heel shoes, no Crocs, and no hoodies. Howard R. Young’s posted rule has a sharp edge — a visit denied for clothing is cancelled for the day, and changing clothes in the car does not restore it.

ID and Entry

Every visitor needs photo identification — Baylor requires it of everyone (any picture ID suffices for children under 16), and Vaughn requires it from age 16 up. Vaughn is strictest: ID must show a complete, current address that matches the address given when the visit was scheduled. Everyone passes a metal detector; carried items like jackets and keys are x-rayed at Vaughn and Sussex, and Sussex sometimes runs canine screening. Refusing a requested search means being denied entry and ordered off the property.

What You Can Bring

Almost nothing — DOC’s posted rules say everything beyond the short lists below stays secured in your vehicle, and unauthorized items cannot be left in the lobby. The published per-facility allowances:

• Baylor: car keys and ID, plus money for the lobby deposit kiosk or a vending debit card to use during the visit
• Howard R. Young: keys, ID, and up to $5.00 in currency; for an infant, one diaper, two wipes, and a bottle
• Vaughn: one car key and photo ID; infant items (one bottle, one diaper, one small blanket, two wipes) in a clear baggie
• Sussex: photo ID, two car keys, a wedding or engagement ring, a medical-alert bracelet, and life-saving medication; infant items in a clear baggie — “if an item is not on this list, it will not be allowed in”

Visit Types and Special Visits

Visits can be contact or non-contact, and the institution — not the visitor — decides which type a person receives. Where contact is allowed, Sussex’s published rules describe the format: a brief embrace and kiss at the start and end, with hand-holding on the tabletop during the visit.

Sussex publishes the one pretrial distinction in the system: sentenced people on its compound get 1.5 hours of visiting a week (one visit or two 45-minute visits), while people in pretrial status get one 45-minute visit a week. Delaware’s prisons hold both sentenced and pretrial people, but the other facilities publish no separate pretrial rules.

For long-distance visitors, two published accommodations: Howard R. Young accepts written requests to the warden’s office for a monthly two-hour visit from people traveling 100 miles or more, and Sussex allows special visits for people traveling 150 miles or more, or for documented emergencies, roughly once every six months.

Video visits run on the GettingOut system at all four prisons, initiated from the incarcerated person’s side and joined from home — details in Phone & Video Calls. Delaware publishes no overnight or extended family-visit program; people at Level IV community corrections centers can earn family visitation passes.

Verify Before Acting

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