EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The family is one of the strongest protective factors against violence, hopelessness, institutional misconduct, and recidivism within correctional systems. For decades, correctional professionals, behavioral scientists, criminologists, and courts have recognized that meaningful family contact contributes to safer prisons, healthier incarcerated individuals, stronger family units, and more successful community reentry.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Georgia Department of Corrections implemented emergency visitation restrictions that significantly reduced in-person visitation. Although many emergency public health measures have since been lifted, the reduced visitation schedule has largely remained in place, limiting many incarcerated individuals and their loved ones to a two-hour visit on Saturdays or Sundays.

For thousands of Georgia families, this policy creates significant hardship. Parents, spouses, children, grandparents, and other loved ones often travel several hours across the state—sometimes four, six, or even eight hours round trip—to spend only a brief period together. Delays in processing visitors, institutional lockdowns, staffing shortages, or administrative interruptions can further reduce that already limited time.

The impact extends beyond inconvenience. Family visitation is widely recognized as an important component of institutional stability and rehabilitation. Research has consistently associated meaningful family contact with lower rates of institutional misconduct, improved mental health, stronger family relationships, and reduced recidivism following release. Maintaining these connections benefits not only incarcerated individuals but also correctional staff, crime victims, communities, and taxpayers by supporting safer institutions and more successful reintegration.

At the same time, Georgia’s prison system has faced increasing scrutiny over institutional safety. In recent years, the state has experienced historically high levels of inmate mortality, violence, staffing shortages, and operational challenges. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that conditions in Georgia’s men’s prisons violated the Eighth Amendment because of systemic failures to protect incarcerated individuals from violence. While multiple factors contribute to institutional safety, policies that support positive family engagement represent one evidence-based strategy that can complement broader reforms.

This petition does not suggest that visitation alone will solve the complex challenges facing Georgia’s correctional system. Rather, it urges the State of Georgia to recognize visitation as a critical rehabilitative tool and to reevaluate whether continued pandemic-era restrictions remain justified.

Accordingly, this petition respectfully requests that the Georgia General Assembly and the Georgia Department of Corrections review and reform the current visitation policy by restoring expanded visitation opportunities, providing accommodations for families traveling long distances, ensuring that delays caused by institutional processing do not reduce scheduled visitation time, increasing transparency regarding visitation practices, and adopting policies that strengthen family relationships while maintaining institutional safety and security.

Georgia has long recognized that correctional institutions should promote rehabilitation alongside accountability. Restoring meaningful family visitation is a practical, evidence-informed reform that honors that principle, supports public safety, and strengthens the families and communities to which many incarcerated individuals will one day return. 

SECTION I

Statement of Facts

I. Background

The Georgia Department of Corrections (“GDC”) is responsible for the custody, supervision, rehabilitation, and care of tens of thousands of incarcerated individuals housed in state correctional institutions throughout Georgia. In addition to maintaining institutional safety and security, the Department is charged with preparing incarcerated individuals for successful reintegration into society through programming, education, vocational training, treatment, and the preservation of positive community and family relationships where appropriate.

For decades, visitation has been recognized as one of the primary methods by which incarcerated individuals maintain meaningful relationships with their spouses, children, parents, grandparents, siblings, and other approved visitors. These relationships serve important rehabilitative, emotional, and public safety functions by preserving family stability, encouraging positive institutional behavior, and supporting successful reentry following release.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, many Georgia correctional facilities provided substantially longer visitation opportunities than are currently available. Families who traveled significant distances were generally afforded several hours together, allowing meaningful interaction, participation in children’s lives, and preservation of family bonds despite incarceration.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Georgia Department of Corrections implemented emergency restrictions intended to reduce disease transmission within correctional facilities. Among these temporary emergency measures was a significant reduction in visitation opportunities.

Although many pandemic-related restrictions have since been lifted throughout Georgia and correctional operations have largely resumed, the reduced visitation schedule has remained in place. Under the current system, visitation is generally limited to approximately two-hour sessions on Saturdays and Sundays, subject to institutional scheduling, staffing availability, security concerns, and administrative delays.

II. Practical Effect Upon Georgia Families

While the current visitation policy may appear administratively manageable, its practical consequences impose significant burdens upon thousands of Georgia families.

Georgia encompasses more than 59,000 square miles. Because incarcerated individuals are frequently housed far from their home communities, many families travel hundreds of miles to maintain contact with their loved ones.

It is not uncommon for spouses, elderly parents, grandparents, or children to travel four to six hours each way to attend a single visitation period lasting only two hours. Some families spend more time traveling than they are permitted to spend with their incarcerated loved one.

These burdens are compounded by additional institutional factors including:

• Extended security processing upon arrival.

• Delays in visitor check-in.

• Institutional counts.

• Staffing shortages.

• Temporary lockdowns.

• Delayed inmate movement.

• Unexpected cancellations.

In many instances, these unavoidable institutional delays substantially reduce the already limited visitation period without providing families additional time. Consequently, a family that traveled several hundred miles may receive significantly less than the scheduled visitation period through no fault of their own.

The burden falls particularly heavily upon children.

Young children often endure hours of automobile travel to maintain relationships with incarcerated parents. For many children, these brief visits constitute their only opportunity for physical presence, conversation, parental guidance, emotional reassurance, and continued family attachment.

Numerous developmental psychologists have emphasized that preserving healthy parental relationships during incarceration can reduce childhood trauma, strengthen emotional resilience, and improve long-term family stability.

III. Visitation as a Public Safety Tool

Family visitation is not merely a privilege afforded to incarcerated individuals; it has long been recognized within correctional research as an evidence-based correctional management strategy.

Extensive criminological and behavioral research demonstrates that incarcerated individuals who maintain healthy family relationships are more likely to:

• Exhibit fewer disciplinary infractions.

• Participate in educational programming.

• Maintain institutional employment.

• Complete rehabilitative programming.

• Experience improved mental health.

• Successfully reintegrate following release.

• Refrain from future criminal conduct.

Likewise, correctional institutions that encourage constructive family engagement often experience improvements in institutional climate, inmate morale, and overall facility stability.

Meaningful visitation encourages accountability. It reinforces pro-social behavior, provides emotional support during incarceration, and reminds incarcerated individuals that they remain connected to families and communities awaiting their successful return.

The preservation of these relationships serves the interests of correctional administrators, staff, victims, families, taxpayers, and the citizens of Georgia alike.

IV. Current Conditions Within Georgia Correctional Institutions

In recent years, Georgia’s prison system has experienced unprecedented operational challenges, including staffing shortages, increasing violence, and historically high inmate mortality.

According to publicly available reports issued by the Georgia Department of Corrections and findings published by the United States Department of Justice, institutional violence has increased significantly over the past several years. In 2024, the Department of Justice concluded that conditions in Georgia’s men’s prisons violated the Eighth Amendment due to systemic failures to adequately protect incarcerated individuals from violence.

The Department of Justice identified numerous contributing factors, including:

• Severe understaffing.

• Inadequate supervision.

• Widespread availability of contraband weapons.

• Gang violence.

• Failures to protect vulnerable inmates.

• Deficient security practices.

These findings underscore the seriousness of the challenges confronting Georgia’s correctional system.

This petition does not contend that visitation restrictions alone caused these systemic problems. Rather, it asserts that meaningful family visitation is one evidence-based protective factor that should be strengthened as part of a comprehensive strategy to improve institutional safety, support rehabilitation, and preserve family integrity.

Policies that foster positive family engagement complement—not replace—necessary reforms addressing staffing, security, contraband control, and constitutional conditions of confinement.

V. Legislative Concern

The extraordinary circumstances that justified emergency visitation restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic have substantially changed.

Accordingly, the Georgia General Assembly should evaluate whether the continued limitation of visitation remains necessary, proportionate, and consistent with the State’s interests in rehabilitation, institutional stability, family preservation, and public safety.

This review should include consideration of current correctional research, constitutional principles, operational realities, and the lived experiences of Georgia families who continue to bear the burdens of reduced visitation opportunities.

 SECTION II

Legal and Constitutional Foundation

Introduction

The purpose of this petition is not to ask the General Assembly to create a new constitutional right to visitation. Rather, it asks lawmakers to recognize that meaningful family visitation is a well-established correctional practice that advances legitimate governmental interests in institutional safety, rehabilitation, family preservation, and successful reentry.

Although correctional officials possess broad discretion to administer prisons, that discretion is not unlimited. Prison regulations must remain reasonably related to legitimate governmental objectives, and legislatures retain the authority to require policies that better promote rehabilitation, public safety, and efficient correctional management.

This proposal asks Georgia’s elected officials to exercise that authority.

A. The Purpose of Corrections

Modern correctional systems are intended to accomplish several important objectives:

• Protect the public.

• Maintain institutional security.

• Hold offenders accountable.

• Promote rehabilitation.

• Reduce recidivism.

• Prepare incarcerated individuals for lawful return to society when applicable.

The Georgia Department of Corrections expressly recognizes rehabilitation, education, vocational training, treatment, and successful reentry as essential components of its mission. Family engagement complements these objectives by providing emotional stability, encouraging positive behavior, and strengthening support systems that reduce the likelihood of future criminal conduct.

When policies unnecessarily restrict opportunities to preserve healthy family relationships without a continuing operational necessity, the General Assembly has both the authority and the responsibility to review those policies.

B. Turner v. Safley (1987)

The United States Supreme Court addressed the balance between institutional authority and constitutional protections in Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987).

In Turner, the Court held that prison regulations affecting constitutional interests are valid only when they are reasonably related to legitimate penological interests. The Court identified several factors for evaluating prison regulations, including:

• Whether the regulation bears a rational connection to a legitimate governmental objective.

• Whether alternative means exist for exercising the affected interest.

• The impact that accommodation would have upon prison administration.

• Whether less restrictive alternatives are available.

This case remains one of the foundational decisions governing correctional administration.

Although Turner did not establish an unrestricted constitutional right to visitation, it emphasized that prison regulations should not become arbitrary or remain in place without a continuing justification.

The COVID-19 pandemic presented extraordinary circumstances that justified temporary restrictions on visitation to protect public health. However, as those emergency conditions have changed, it is appropriate for policymakers to reassess whether continuing pandemic-era limitations remain reasonably related to present-day operational needs.

C. Overton v. Bazzetta (2003)

In Overton v. Bazzetta, 539 U.S. 126 (2003), the Supreme Court upheld certain visitation restrictions imposed by the State of Michigan.

Importantly, however, the Court also acknowledged the significant role visitation plays within correctional institutions.

Justice Anthony Kennedy observed that visitation serves important rehabilitative purposes and helps preserve relationships between incarcerated individuals and their families.

The Court cautioned that permanent or arbitrary restrictions could present different constitutional questions than temporary or narrowly tailored regulations.

Accordingly, while correctional administrators possess discretion over visitation policies, legislatures remain free to adopt broader visitation protections that further rehabilitation and public safety.

The issue presented by this petition is therefore not whether Georgia may limit visitation, but whether it should continue to maintain emergency-era limitations that may no longer reflect current conditions or correctional best practices.

D. Bell v. Wolfish (1979)

In Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520 (1979), the Supreme Court reaffirmed that prison regulations should bear a reasonable relationship to legitimate governmental objectives such as security, order, and institutional management.

Restrictions that are excessive in relation to those objectives may warrant legislative reconsideration even if they survive constitutional scrutiny.

This principle recognizes an important distinction.

A policy may be constitutional while still representing poor public policy.

The Georgia General Assembly possesses broad authority to improve correctional policy beyond the constitutional minimum.

This petition respectfully requests that lawmakers exercise that authority.

E. The Eighth Amendment

The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

Although visitation restrictions alone generally do not violate the Eighth Amendment, correctional conditions must be evaluated collectively.

In 2024, following a multi-year investigation, the United States Department of Justice concluded that conditions in Georgia’s men’s prisons violated the Eighth Amendment because the State failed to adequately protect incarcerated individuals from serious violence.

The Department identified widespread violence, chronic understaffing, inadequate supervision, and failures to control contraband weapons as systemic constitutional deficiencies.

These findings demonstrate that Georgia’s correctional system is confronting extraordinary institutional challenges.

Within this broader context, policies that strengthen rehabilitation, improve institutional behavior, and reinforce positive family support deserve careful legislative consideration.

Expanding meaningful visitation cannot solve these constitutional deficiencies by itself. However, it represents one evidence-based reform capable of supporting broader efforts to improve institutional stability.

F. Fourteenth Amendment Considerations

The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that governmental actions remain fundamentally fair and rational.

Correctional policies should evolve as circumstances change.

Emergency measures adopted during a once-in-a-century public health crisis should not automatically become permanent institutional practices without periodic legislative review.

This petition respectfully urges the General Assembly to determine whether the current visitation framework continues to serve its original purpose or whether modifications would better advance rehabilitation, family preservation, and institutional safety.

G. Legislative Authority

The Georgia General Assembly is uniquely positioned to address this issue through legislation.

Rather than directing day-to-day prison operations, the Legislature may establish minimum standards governing family visitation, transparency, accountability, and rehabilitative programming.

Legislative action could ensure that:

• Family visitation remains meaningful and reasonably accessible.

• Temporary emergency restrictions do not become permanent without review.

• Institutions maintain flexibility during genuine emergencies while restoring normal visitation when those emergencies subside.

• Families traveling significant distances receive reasonable accommodations.

• Administrative delays do not unfairly reduce scheduled visitation periods.

• Data concerning visitation cancellations, wait times, and institutional practices are publicly reported.

Such reforms would reinforce Georgia’s commitment to accountability, rehabilitation, and public safety while preserving the discretion necessary for correctional officials to respond to legitimate security concerns.

SECTION III

The Scientific Foundation for Restoring Family Visitation

Family Visitation Is an Evidence-Based Correctional Practice

Correctional institutions exist to ensure public safety, maintain secure facilities, hold offenders accountable, and promote rehabilitation. While incarceration necessarily restricts liberty, research spanning several decades demonstrates that maintaining healthy family relationships during incarceration contributes to institutional stability and successful reintegration into society.

Family visitation is therefore not merely a social benefit; it is widely recognized as a correctional management tool that supports positive behavioral outcomes for incarcerated individuals, strengthens family units, and promotes safer communities.

Studies conducted by correctional researchers, criminologists, psychologists, and governmental agencies have consistently found that incarcerated individuals who maintain meaningful family contact are more likely to:

• Comply with institutional rules.

• Participate in educational and vocational programming.

• Maintain prison employment.

• Demonstrate improved emotional regulation.

• Experience fewer disciplinary infractions.

• Successfully transition back into their communities.

• Exhibit lower rates of recidivism following release.

Although family visitation alone cannot eliminate institutional violence or guarantee rehabilitation, it represents one of several evidence-based practices that correctional systems can employ to encourage positive behavior and strengthen institutional order.

A. Family Support and Institutional Behavior

Correctional behavior is influenced by numerous factors, including institutional culture, staffing levels, access to programming, mental health services, and social support.

Family relationships provide incarcerated individuals with an important source of emotional stability, accountability, and hope. Maintaining these connections reinforces prosocial identity and reminds individuals that their actions affect loved ones outside the prison environment.

Research has associated consistent family contact with:

• Reduced institutional misconduct.

• Increased compliance with institutional rules.

• Greater participation in rehabilitative programming.

• Improved cooperation with correctional staff.

• Higher rates of educational achievement while incarcerated.

These findings suggest that meaningful visitation can complement other institutional strategies designed to promote safety and order.

B. Mental Health and Emotional Well-Being

The psychological effects of prolonged incarceration are well documented.

Many incarcerated individuals experience depression, anxiety, grief, hopelessness, chronic stress, and social isolation. These challenges can negatively affect institutional adjustment and overall well-being.

Regular family visitation provides opportunities for emotional connection, reassurance, and encouragement that may help reduce feelings of isolation and reinforce healthy coping strategies.

Supportive family relationships have been associated with:

• Lower levels of depression.

• Improved emotional resilience.

• Greater motivation to engage in rehabilitation.

• Reduced feelings of social isolation.

• Increased optimism regarding the future.

These benefits extend beyond incarcerated individuals and positively affect spouses, children, parents, and extended family members.

C. The Impact on Children

Perhaps no group is more affected by visitation policies than the children of incarcerated parents.

Children who experience parental incarceration often face emotional distress, disrupted attachment, economic hardship, social stigma, and increased risks of behavioral and educational challenges.

Meaningful visitation provides opportunities for children to:

• Maintain emotional attachment with an incarcerated parent.

• Receive parental encouragement.

• Preserve family identity.

• Reduce feelings of abandonment.

• Strengthen long-term family relationships.

When visitation opportunities are brief or difficult to access due to long travel distances, the burden falls heavily on children, who have no control over the circumstances of their parent’s incarceration.

Georgia’s visitation policies should recognize the developmental needs of children while maintaining appropriate institutional security.

D. Family Stability and Successful Reentry

The majority of incarcerated individuals will eventually return to their communities.

Successful reentry depends upon many factors, including employment, housing, education, treatment, supervision, and family support.

Strong family relationships consistently rank among the most significant protective factors associated with successful community reintegration.

Family members often provide:

• Temporary housing.

• Employment opportunities.

• Transportation.

• Financial assistance.

• Emotional encouragement.

• Childcare support.

• Accountability during community supervision.

Policies that preserve these relationships during incarceration contribute to stronger support systems upon release and may reduce future involvement with the criminal justice system.

E. Public Safety Benefits

Family visitation is often misunderstood as a benefit provided solely to incarcerated individuals.

In reality, its effects extend far beyond prison walls.

When incarcerated individuals maintain healthy relationships with supportive family members, communities may benefit through:

• Improved institutional behavior.

• Stronger family units.

• Greater parental involvement.

• Reduced recidivism.

• More successful reentry outcomes.

Safer neighborhoods.

Accordingly, visitation should be viewed as an investment in long-term public safety rather than merely an institutional privilege.

F. Correctional Staff Benefit as Well

Expanded family engagement benefits not only incarcerated individuals but also correctional employees.

Facilities characterized by improved inmate morale, increased program participation, and stronger family support may experience:

• Fewer disciplinary incidents.

• Reduced tension within housing units.

• Improved institutional climate.

• Greater cooperation between staff and incarcerated individuals.

While visitation alone cannot resolve staffing shortages or institutional violence, it represents one component of a broader correctional strategy that supports safer working conditions for correctional officers and institutional personnel.

G. Conclusion

The scientific literature does not suggest that family visitation is a cure for every challenge facing correctional institutions. Rather, it consistently identifies meaningful family contact as one evidence-supported practice associated with improved institutional behavior, stronger family relationships, and more successful rehabilitation.

As Georgia continues addressing significant challenges within its correctional system, policies that strengthen constructive family engagement deserve careful consideration as part of a comprehensive public safety strategy. 

SECTION IV

Legislative Findings and Declaration of Public Policy

Proposed Legislative Findings

The Georgia General Assembly finds and declares the following:

1. Strong Families Promote Public Safety

The preservation of healthy family relationships is an important component of rehabilitation, institutional stability, and successful reintegration into society.

The General Assembly recognizes that meaningful contact between incarcerated individuals and their families serves legitimate governmental interests by encouraging positive institutional behavior, strengthening family units, supporting children affected by parental incarceration, and reducing barriers to successful reentry.

2. Emergency Measures Should Be Periodically Reviewed

During the COVID-19 pandemic, correctional institutions across the nation implemented temporary emergency restrictions to reduce the transmission of infectious disease.

While these measures were justified by extraordinary public health concerns, emergency policies should not become permanent practices without periodic review to determine whether they remain necessary, effective, and proportionate to current conditions.

The General Assembly finds that visitation policies adopted during the pandemic should be reevaluated in light of present-day operational realities, public health conditions, correctional research, and the interests of Georgia families.

3. Children Are Innocent Parties

Thousands of Georgia children experience the incarceration of a parent.

These children bear no responsibility for the criminal conduct that resulted in incarceration, yet they frequently experience emotional hardship, interrupted family relationships, economic instability, and significant barriers to maintaining contact with their parents.

The State of Georgia has a compelling interest in preserving healthy parent-child relationships whenever such contact can occur safely and appropriately.

4. Meaningful Visitation Supports Rehabilitation

Family visitation has long been recognized by correctional professionals as an important rehabilitative practice.

Meaningful visitation encourages:

• Accountability,

• Educational participation,

• Vocational achievement,

• Positive institutional conduct,

• Emotional well-being, and

• Successful reintegration following release.

The General Assembly therefore recognizes visitation as an important component of evidence-informed correctional policy.

5. Public Confidence Requires Transparency

Citizens of Georgia deserve transparency regarding the operation of publicly funded correctional institutions.

Accordingly, visitation practices, cancellations, staffing-related delays, and institutional access should be documented and reported in a manner that promotes public accountability while protecting institutional security.

SECTION V

Proposed Legislation

The Georgia Family Integrity and Prison Rehabilitation Act

Section 1. Short Title

This Act shall be known and may be cited as the Georgia Family Integrity and Prison Rehabilitation Act of 2027.

Section 2. Legislative Purpose

The purpose of this Act is to:

• Strengthen family relationships,

• Improve institutional stability,

• Support rehabilitation,

• Promote successful community reintegration,

• Improve transparency,

• Reduce unnecessary burdens upon Georgia families,

• Encourage evidence-based correctional practices.

Section 3. Minimum Visitation Standards

Except during declared emergencies or individualized security restrictions, each Georgia Department of Corrections institution shall provide:

A minimum of four (4) hours of in-person visitation each weekend day, or an equivalent schedule that provides substantially similar access.

Institutions may exceed these minimum standards based upon operational needs.

Section 4. Long-Distance Family Accommodation

Visitors traveling more than 150 miles one way shall be eligible for:

• Extended visitation,

• Consecutive visitation periods when practical,

• Priority scheduling,

• Accommodations consistent with institutional security.

Section 5. Delayed Processing

When institutional processing delays reduce scheduled visitation through no fault of the visitor, the institution shall:

• Extend the visitation period when operationally feasible, or

• Provide a makeup visitation opportunity within a reasonable period.

Families should not lose visitation time because of administrative delays beyond their control.

Section 6. Emergency Restrictions

The Commissioner may temporarily suspend or modify visitation only when necessary because of:

• Declared public health emergencies,

• Institutional emergencies,

• Riots,

• Natural disasters,

• Credible security threats.

Any statewide suspension lasting longer than 30 consecutive days shall require written justification and periodic review.

Section 7. Child-Friendly Visitation

Each institution shall make reasonable efforts to maintain visitation environments that promote healthy parent-child interaction, including:

• Age-appropriate seating,

• Reasonable accommodations for young children,

• Visitation areas that encourage positive family engagement while maintaining institutional security.

Section 8. Virtual Visitation

When in-person visitation is canceled because of institutional lockdowns, staffing shortages, or other administrative reasons unrelated to visitor misconduct, institutions shall provide reasonable access to virtual visitation where operationally feasible.

Virtual visitation shall supplement, and not permanently replace, in-person visitation.

Section 9. Annual Reporting Requirements

The Department shall submit an annual report to the Governor and General Assembly including:

• Total number of visits,

• Canceled visits,

• Average visitation time,

• Staffing shortages affecting visitation,

• Average visitor wait times,

• Institutional lockdowns affecting visitation,

• Recommendations for improving family access.

The report shall be made available to the public, except for information whose disclosure would compromise institutional security or protected personal information.

Section 10. Rulemaking Authority

The Georgia Board of Corrections shall adopt regulations necessary to implement this Act within 180 days of enactment.

SECTION VI

Why This Reform Benefits Georgia

This legislation is not designed to weaken prison security. Rather, it seeks to strengthen correctional operations by restoring meaningful family engagement as one component of a comprehensive rehabilitation strategy.

The anticipated benefits include:

• Stronger family relationships.

• Improved parent-child attachment.

• Increased inmate participation in rehabilitative programming.

• Enhanced institutional morale.

• Support for successful reentry.

• Greater transparency and accountability.

• Reduced burdens on families traveling long distances.

• Increased public confidence in the correctional system.

By recognizing the importance of family support while preserving the discretion necessary to address legitimate security concerns, this proposal seeks to advance the interests of incarcerated individuals, correctional staff, crime victims, taxpayers, and the citizens of Georgia alike.

SECTION VII

Comparison with Neighboring States

Georgia in Regional Context

Across the southeastern United States, correctional agencies recognize that visitation is an important component of institutional management and rehabilitation. Although each state retains discretion to establish visitation schedules based upon operational needs, many neighboring jurisdictions provide broader standard visitation opportunities than those commonly experienced under Georgia’s current appointment system.

For example, Florida’s administrative rules establish standard weekend visitation hours of approximately 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, subject to institutional security needs and emergency modifications. 

Georgia’s regulations likewise contemplate a minimum visitation schedule measured in hours, while the current statewide scheduling process generally provides two-hour visitation appointments. 

These differing approaches demonstrate that longer visitation opportunities can coexist with institutional security when implemented through appropriate scheduling and operational controls.

The General Assembly should therefore evaluate whether Georgia families are receiving meaningful visitation opportunities consistent with the rehabilitative objectives recognized by correctional professionals and existing state policy.

SECTION VIII

Economic Impact Upon Georgia Families

The financial burden created by limited visitation extends beyond the prison walls.

Families often incur substantial expenses in order to maintain relationships with incarcerated loved ones, including:

• Fuel expenses

• Vehicle maintenance

• Hotel accommodations

• Meals

• Childcare

• Lost wages

• Missed work opportunities

• For many working families, a single prison visit represents an entire day’s wages.

When a family travels several hundred miles only to receive a shortened visit because of institutional delays or staffing shortages, those financial sacrifices become even more significant.

The General Assembly should recognize that these burdens fall primarily upon law-abiding citizens—spouses, children, parents, grandparents, and caregivers—who are striving to maintain healthy family relationships.

SECTION IX

The Cost of Two Hours

A Georgia Family’s Story

Imagine a mother living in South Georgia.

Her husband is incarcerated more than four hours away.

She wakes at 2:30 a.m.

She quietly dresses her children so they can continue sleeping in the car.

She packs snacks, drinks, medications, extra clothes, and toys.

By 3:30 a.m., they are on the road.

The children sleep for part of the journey.

They ask repeatedly:

“How much longer?”

“When do we get to see Daddy?”

After driving hundreds of miles, the family arrives at the institution.

They wait in line.

They complete paperwork.

They pass security screening.

They wait again.

Institutional movement is delayed.

Count clears late.

Staff shortages slow processing.

Finally, after traveling nearly five hours, they enter the visitation room.

Instead of receiving the full scheduled visit, they lose precious minutes because of circumstances entirely outside their control.

For the children, every minute matters.

The youngest proudly shows a school drawing.

Another child wants help with homework.

A daughter simply wants to sit beside her father.

A wife tries to discuss family finances, medical appointments, birthdays, aging parents, and hopes for the future.

Then an officer announces:

“Visitation is over.”

The family hugs goodbye.

The children cry.

Their father returns to his housing unit.

The family begins another five-hour drive home.

By the time they reach home, nearly twelve to fourteen hours have passed.

They spent more time traveling than they spent together.

This story is repeated every weekend by families across Georgia.

These are not abstract policy discussions. They are the lived experiences of thousands of children, spouses, parents, and grandparents who continue to support their loved ones despite extraordinary obstacles.