Visiting in Wyoming (WDOC)

Getting Approved

Wyoming’s process runs through the incarcerated person: they initiate every addition to their visiting list by sending WDOC Form 531 (the Visitor Application) and Form 534 (the Visiting Rules) to each prospective visitor. The forms are also posted on WDOC’s visitation page to print. Everyone 16 or older fills out their own application.

Completed applications go directly to the facility where the person is held — not to the WDOC central office in Cheyenne. The application lists each facility’s mailing address and fax number.

Two things about the approval that surprise families:

• The answer goes to the inmate, not to you. The facility notifies the incarcerated person in writing within 30 days, and they are responsible for telling their visitors. Questions about a decision must be sent to the warden in writing — WDOC states its employees will not respond to telephone inquiries about applications.
• Approval is re-checked. Every applicant 16 and older goes through a criminal records check, repeated at least every two years. A criminal record is not an automatic denial, but listed exclusions include contraband or escape-related convictions, co-defendants, and current probationers or parolees who are not immediate family. Providing false information on the application means at least a year of denied visiting.

Challenges to a denial go to the warden in writing. Separately, an approved visitor who is later removed from a list or restricted to non-contact visits can request an administrative review by the Prison Division Administrator.

The List

Each incarcerated person may have up to 20 active adult visitors; minors are listed but do not count against the 20. A visitor generally cannot be on more than one person’s list (immediate family excepted), and leaving one list means a six-month wait before joining another.

Minors

Every visitor 17 or under needs either a notarized Letter of Custodial Consent (WDOC Form 532) on file, or their custodial parent or legal guardian present and listed. Minors visit together with an adult who is on the same person’s approved list. Generally, only the person’s own minor children — or children accompanying their own approved parent or guardian — may visit.

Scheduling and Arrival

WDOC’s policy sets minimums for every institution: contact visiting at least three days a week, at least 16 hours of visiting per week, and at least two visiting periods per week for each general-population housing unit. General-population inmates may receive up to four visiting periods per week.

The actual schedules are posted facility by facility on WDOC’s visitation page — days and session times differ at each of the five institutions, and some posted schedules show fewer days for a given population than the policy minimums, so the current posted schedule for the right facility is what controls before traveling. Except at minimum-security facilities, visiting is first come, first served, though facilities may take appointments when space allows.

Arrival has a strict window: no more than 15 minutes before the posted session start, and no more than 15 minutes after. Later arrivals are not admitted without a supervisor’s approval. Facilities may limit a visit to four visitors at a time, and when space runs out, staff weigh travel distance, visit frequency, and arrival time in deciding which visits to end early.

Special Visits

For circumstances outside the normal rules — a visitor not yet on the list, an extra visit, a family emergency — the incarcerated person submits a Special Visit Request at least three working days ahead. The policy generally does not grant special visits to immediate family unless they live more than 200 miles from the facility, and visitors whose medical limitations keep them from traveling more than once every other month can request doubled visits.

What to Wear

The statewide rules ask for clothing “conservative in nature,” and — unusually for a prison system — blue jeans are allowed. The published rules:

• Nothing form-fitting, suggestive, or see-through; no halter or tube tops, low necklines, crop tops, or sheer fabrics
• Nothing exposing the chest, back, thighs, or midsection
• Dresses, skirts, and shorts no shorter than two inches above the middle of the kneecap — slits count, and wrap-around skirts are not permitted
• Undergarments required; footwear required
• No hooded sweatshirts in the visiting area at any time; hats, umbrellas, and heavy outerwear go in a locker or stay in the vehicle
• No gang-associated clothing or insignia, and no clothing with suggestive or controversial slogans

Individual facilities add their own restrictions — the State Penitentiary, for example, also prohibits red, orange, and camouflage clothing, shorts, sleeveless tops without a covering jacket, and flip-flops. Checking the specific facility’s rules before traveling avoids the most common surprise. Notably, the policy says a first-time visitor who arrives in non-compliant clothing will still be allowed to visit, with a warning for next time.

ID and Entry

Everyone needs identification, including children. Visitors 16 and older present a photo ID — driver’s license, passport, state ID, military or tribal ID, or student ID — which is exchanged for a visitor badge during the visit. Children under 16 can use a birth certificate, Social Security card, insurance card, or school ID; the State Penitentiary requires a birth certificate for all children.

Entering WDOC property is consent to search — person, property, and vehicle, including canine teams. Under the current policy (effective May 2026), every visitor entering a secure area passes through a full-body scanner; pregnant visitors, those under 18, and those with documented medical exemptions receive alternative screening. On declining the scan, WDOC’s own documents differ: the policy describes a one-time alternative inspection that, if passed, may allow a non-contact visit, while the current Visiting Rules form says non-exempt visitors who refuse the scan are denied entry. A visitor who plans to decline the scan should confirm with the facility before traveling.

What You Can Bring

Almost nothing: no phones, cameras, recording devices, or electronics of any kind, no outside food, and no tobacco anywhere outside your vehicle. Personal property goes into a visitor locker where available, or stays locked in the car.

Into the visiting room: up to $20 in change or tokens for the vending machines — the incarcerated person cannot handle the money or operate the machines — and a published list of baby items (diapers, clear bottles or a sippy cup, a single-layer blanket, wipes). The State Penitentiary is the posted exception on vending: debit or credit card only, no cash. Money for the person’s account can be deposited during a visit by money order or cashier’s check only, never cash or personal checks.

Visit Types

Contact visits are the norm in general population: a brief embrace and kiss at the start and end, hand-holding during, and holding of children under seven.

Non-contact visits are the rule in restrictive housing (requested at least seven working days ahead) and can be imposed as a sanction — drug, tobacco, or phone violations bring a one-year non-contact restriction. People in intake status are not eligible for visits until classification ends.

Video visits run on ICSolutions’ “The Visitor” system. Registration is free at icsolutions.com, every approved visitor on the list can use it, and from-home visits carry a fee that WDOC says varies by facility — no price list is published, so the cost shows when scheduling. Special video visits can be approved for significant family events like funerals or weddings.

Wyoming’s published policy contains no extended, overnight, or family-visit program.

Verify Before Acting

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