Maximum Security (ACI)

Rhode Island's maximum-security facility — the state's oldest operating prison, opened in 1878 — where visiting alternates daily between in-person and video slots.

Overview

Maximum Security — “Old Max” to most of Rhode Island — opened in 1878 and is the state’s oldest operating prison, built in the Auburn style that puts every cell in one main building, ringed by a wall with five observation towers. It holds about 300 men: those serving long sentences, and those moved from other ACI facilities for serious disciplinary or behavioral problems. Print and carpentry shops anchor its work assignments.

It shares the one-square-mile ACI campus with Rhode Island’s five other facilities, so the trip is the same as for any of them — what differs here is the schedule’s rhythm.

What Makes Maximum Security Different

• The visiting schedule alternates two ways at once. Each day belongs to one housing-unit group, and the format flips daily: some days in-person visits run 1:30-3:45 p.m. with video in the evening, other days in-person runs 6:00-8:45 p.m. with video in the afternoon. Reading the current month’s posted PDF — and knowing the person’s unit — comes before any trip.
• The entry window is strict: processing opens just 10 minutes before a visiting period starts, and entry cuts off 30 minutes before the period ends. Arriving mid-period can mean a very short visit or none.
• People in disciplinary confinement receive no social visits — attorney and clergy of record only.
• The official facility page’s video-visiting link has pointed to an outdated document; the statewide Securus instructions (registration, 24-hour advance booking, $5 per 20 minutes as posted in 2020) are the working reference, with the live price in the Securus account.

Visiting Hours and Procedures

The statewide rules above — the 9-name visiting list, the dress code, ID, and screening — apply at Maximum. What follows is specific to this facility.

The monthly schedule PDF on RIDOC’s facility page is the controlling document, and RIDOC’s own advice is to verify before every visit — the 24/7 information line at (401) 414-2871 covers visiting times. The full approval-list process, dress code, and entry rules are in Visiting in Rhode Island.

Getting There and Parking

RIDOC’s published directions: I-95 to Exit 14 (14B northbound), Route 37 West to Exit 3 (Pontiac Avenue), left at the end of the exit — Maximum Security is on the right.

RIDOC publishes no visitor parking details for this facility. The drive from Boston runs about an hour via I-95 South; from Hartford, about 1.5 hours via I-84/Route 6 or I-95 — RIDOC publishes directions only from I-95.

Nearby Services

The campus sits in suburban Cranston: the Garden City Center shopping area and a Shaw’s supermarket are minutes away on the same Route 22 bus corridor, and an Econo Lodge on New London Avenue is the closest lodging, with more hotels near T.F. Green Airport in Warwick. For emergencies, Kent Hospital in Warwick runs an emergency department staffed around the clock — the state’s second largest — and Rhode Island Hospital in Providence is the state’s only Level I trauma center.

Learn More

For detailed information about visiting and communicating with someone at the ACI:

• Visiting in Rhode Island — the 9-name list, dress code, and entry rules
• Mail & Packages — addressing mail to the facility’s post office box
• Phone & Video Calls — the Securus system
• Sending Money — the visiting-list deposit rule and its 30-day grace period
• Medical & Mental Health — the Patient Liaison line for families
• Transfers — how classification moves people around the campus