Visiting in Maine (Maine DOC)

This guide covers the six Maine DOC state facilities. People serving shorter sentences, and most people held before trial, are in county jails, where each sheriff sets the rules — see the last section.

Getting Approved

Visiting begins with an application. Either side can start the process, but the visitor completes the form — they can download and print the Adult Facility Visitor Application or ask the incarcerated person to mail one out. Only one visitor’s name goes on each application; any minor children that adult plans to bring are listed on that adult’s form. The completed application is mailed to the facility (each facility’s address is on the form and on its page).

A background check is required for every adult visitor, run by the State Bureau of Identification, and it may take up to six weeks — longer for an applicant with a criminal record. Notification works in one direction: the facility notifies a visitor in writing only if they are not approved, and the incarcerated person tells the visitor once they are approved. The facilities ask that visitors not call to ask whether an application has cleared.

A few rules about who can be approved:

• A criminal record by itself is not a bar — but the nature and circumstances of an offense can be grounds to deny a visit.
• Victims of the person’s offense generally cannot visit without approval from the Commissioner, and contact barred by a court order or a condition of release is not allowed.
• A former resident generally must wait one year after discharge before applying, with limited exceptions.

A denied applicant may appeal in writing to the facility’s Chief Administrative Officer within seven business days.

Minors

A visitor under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian who is an approved adult visitor and has listed the minor on their own application. The accompanying adult must provide proof of parental status — a certified copy of the minor’s birth certificate — or proof of legal guardianship by court order; a power of attorney or an informal guardianship paper is not accepted. A non-parent bringing a minor needs notarized written permission from a parent or legal guardian plus that documentation, submitted at least two business days before the visit. A minor who turns 18 must file their own application and clear a background check before visiting again.

Scheduling, Frequency, and Length

Maine DOC visiting is appointment-only, with requests made at least two business days in advance; a visitor who arrives without a confirmed appointment is not admitted. How a visit is booked depends on the facility:

• The Maine Correctional Center, the Women’s Center, and the Southern Maine Women’s Reentry Center use online visit-request forms.
• The Maine State Prison schedules by phone or email on weekday mornings.
• Mountain View, Bolduc, and Downeast schedule by phone during posted weekday hours.

Up to three visitors may attend at once (some facilities allow an additional young child); a resident can ask their unit team, in advance, to approve extra seats for a special visit. Visiting days, hours, and how often a person may visit are set per facility — each facility page on this site carries that prison’s current schedule. A visitor traveling from out of state may request extra time or an additional visit, granted at the facility’s discretion if space allows.

What to Wear

Each facility sets its own dress code, but the rules share a common core that applies everywhere:

• Undergarments are required and must not be visible. Nothing see-through, low-cut, tight, or revealing — no tank, halter, tube, sleeveless, or crop tops, bare midriffs, or exposed cleavage.
• Skirts, dresses, and shorts must reach the knee, with no slit more than two inches above it.
• No hats, headbands, hoods, or hooded sweatshirts, and no outdoor jackets in the visiting room — coats go in a locker or the vehicle. The Windham facilities also bar zippered shirts.
• No leggings, spandex, yoga pants, or gym shorts, and nothing that resembles what residents or staff wear; closed-toe shoes are required (no bare feet, sandals, or open-toe shoes).
• Nothing with drug, gang, or vulgar references. Children’s clothing must also comply, though some facilities waive the code for young children and seniors.

The specifics vary — the Windham facilities, for example, also prohibit double-layered bottoms — so check the facility page or call before traveling. A visitor who is out of compliance is turned away at the door.

ID, Searches, and What You Can Bring

An adult presents a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license, passport, or military ID. A visitor under 18 brings a government photo ID or a certified copy of their birth certificate. Every visitor signs in.

Each visitor and their property are subject to search on entry: a walk-through metal detector, a hand-held scanner and a limited pat-search of a flagged area if it alarms, and a possible canine drug screen. Staff conducting visitor processing wear body cameras, and a vehicle on facility grounds may be inspected. A visitor who declines a search must leave, and a visitor who appears to be under the influence is refused.

Nothing goes into the visiting room. Wallets, purses, phones, keys, and outside food stay in a locker or the vehicle; lockers are provided. Medication stays in the car except emergency items such as nitroglycerin, an inhaler, or an epi-pen, which are declared to the lobby officer. The Southern Maine Women’s Reentry Center is an exception — it allows visitors to bring some outside food into visits.

Contact Visits and Infant Visits

Standard visits are contact visits: a brief embrace or kiss at the beginning and end, hand-holding during the visit with hands kept visible, and a resident may hold their young child. A visit is non-contact for a person on disciplinary or administrative segregation, and a facility can require non-contact visits after a contraband finding. Maine does not offer overnight or conjugal visits.

Maine DOC provides infant bonding visits: a parent of an infant born within six weeks before incarceration, or during incarceration, may have bonding visits until the infant is six weeks old, and a visitor may breastfeed during a visit. Facilities are directed to set aside a children’s reading and play area where space allows; Mountain View runs a children’s playroom in 45-minute blocks that must be requested when scheduling.

Video Visits

Some Maine facilities offer free video visits through Ameelio, a nonprofit communications provider, and others use a paid system. A visitor must still complete the application and background check to be approved before a video visit, and visits are scheduled in advance. Which system is available depends on the facility — see Phone & Video Calls.

If Someone Is in a County Jail

These rules apply only at Maine DOC state facilities. A person serving a shorter sentence, or held before trial, may be in one of Maine’s 15 county jails, and each county sheriff sets that jail’s visiting rules — the days, the booking process, ID requirements, and whether visits are in person or by video all differ from the state system and from one county to the next. Confirm where the person is held using the Adult Resident Search (which lists state DOC custody only), and if it is a county jail, go to that sheriff’s office for its rules.

Verify Before Acting

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