What States Allow Conjugal Visits?

A conjugal visit is the term given to extended visits in which an inmate of a prison is allowed to spend time in private with the visitor. These are usually scheduled and are, in most cases, spent with the married partner of the inmate.

These are allowed for a number of reasons. They preserve the relationship between the married couple and other relatives as well as increasing the chances of a successful return to everyday life by the inmate. They also give the inmate incentive to comply with the regulations and rules of the prison as infringement of these rules may cause the inmate to have the privilege revoked.

For prisoners in federal custody, the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons does not allow conjugal visits. The availability of conjugal visits for state custody prisoners is dependent upon the laws of the particular state. If the particular state allows conjugal visits, prisoners will generally have to fulfill requirements in order to qualify for such a visit.

There are currently only six states in the United States that allow conjugal visits. These are California, Connecticut, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, and Washington. Each state has different requirements to be met in order to qualify for a conjugal visit, dependant on the laws of the state. The visitor may have to undergo a background check before being allowed to visit the inmate, and both the inmate and the visitor are ensured to be free of sexually transmitted diseases. Both parties are also searched before and after the visit in order to ensure that nothing has been smuggled in or out of the facility.

Around fifty per cent of the prison inmates in the United States of America make claims of being married, however, only six states permit conjugal visitation. These six states are: California, Connecticut, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, Washington.

In many jurisdictions, the concept of conjugal visitation is seen to be a pointless concession for the inmates and is looked in a bad light by the general mass and the law enforcers. One can compares this conservative attitude to other liberal ways of thought in other countries, where visits of this kind are seen as a person's right, more than a privilege. This is mainly owing to two reasons, a less hypocritical attitude and a larger focus on the family as the primary social unit.

In prisons which allow conjugal visits have special structures built mainly for what is called as the 'Sunday visits'.

Do all the prisons in the state of california and washington allow conjugal visits?

What are the rules and regulations for the women's prisons in New Mexico? How many facilities are there and what are their locations?

Ohio

Almost 50% of them allow this.