I am new to this and was wondering how the visits are at Angola and I wondered about the dress codes. I also was curious to know if they have vending machines were we can purchase snacks while visiting?

welcome here on wap bientownbeantow.
to answer your quistion i never have vissit angola but got a friend in another prison in la all you want to know you can find here LSP Visiting Information.
if it's not enough maybe you can call prison or ask your pal.

good luck,hugs whiterose.

Hey Guys,

Just wondering is i can send photos and coins ect to my penpal in Angola as he has never met or been to Australia and as he is serving life i wanna kinda show him Australia...

You can send photos to Angola and CD's and books, but nothing else, my PP is in Angola and is serving life, and i have sent him a lot of Photos of Kenya and Rwanda and they got in ok

In response to visits at Angola. I'll let you in on what may or may not be on the visiting guidelines. I've been there several times and everytime is different.

Visitor Processing: At the front entrance of the prison and is typically handled the same way but sometimes its really crowded usually on a holiday weekend or Saturdays. Before entering vistors notice a sign that NO CELL PHONES, ELECTRONIC DEVICES, OR KEY REMOTE ALLOWED, unless key is apart of key remote. Upon entrance visitors stand in line to go to a booth to be sniffed by a drug dog, after being sniffed visitor proceed to the counter to present identification, give clerk/guard inmate DOC number, then semi frisked by either a male or female officer (according to gender of the visitor), visitors are asked to empty pockets, take off shoes. Visitors are allowed to have a small coin purse, gum (if diabetic), $300 cash on their person, and small photo, no paper or pen. Paper is only allowed if its your first visit when you have present the classification letter. Visitors will not be proceed if they are wearing any denim top/jacket or grey jacket. Revealing clothing will prevent a visitor from seeing an inmate, any gang related wording on shirts.

**Bear in mind its better to follow the rules because unless a visitor has a change of clothes in their vehicle, the next town is about 30 minutes away and the closest store is the Dollar General in St. Francisville. The 20 mile road to get to the front gates of Angola is enough to make anyone dress according to the prison's dress code rules.****

Waiting for the bus:
Sometimes this wait is a short time and sometimes its like waiting to see the doctor. There are times when the bus driver is waiting on visitors to arrive and there are times when the minutes seem like hours of waiting. When the wait is long, people usually complain to the person next to them.

The Bus Ride:

The bus ride to the various camp is quick. The guard/driver usually drives really fast. Lately the driver has been very nice, and tries to get a handle on his route to prevent from having to return to camps that may have been passed up. If its you're first visit and you're unsure about where stop is someone next to you will tell you if you ask or the driver will announce which camp the bus has stopped at. Main Prison is usually the first stop. There are times that one visitor will begin to gather all the visitor's slip for faster processing upon arrival at the camp or Main Prison. If this isn't done the guard will always ask for them before allowing any visitor inside to be sniffed again before being allowed in the visiting shed.

The visiting shed:

Main Prison's visiting shed has an aroma of all different cuisine's inside. The food counter, art & craft's booth, picture table, kiddie corner is staffed by inmates who work really hard and are very nice. Aside from the food & arts and crafts the tables are usually filled with family members and their loved one or inmates and their counsel (during the week, if you're early). Back to the food, keep in mind this is the South, and the dishes are VERY GOOD. The inmates organizations prepare everything from fried chicken, spaghetti, red beans and rice, barbeque pork, french fries,pecan candy( a visitor's favorite and always a complete sell out), caramel popcorn, cakes (that can be specially baked and decorated to the inmate or visitors liking, its just like ordering a cake from Wal-Mart), ice cream, frozen icees, coffee, bottled drinks i.e. vitamin water, bottled water, etc). All transactions ordered are purchased by ticket and written by the inmates, payments are made at the cashier cage. Inmates are not allowed to handle currency but can purchase food with the purchase deducted from their account. If any visitor wants to put money into their loved ones account, the visiting shed handles such transactions as well.

Visits are sometimes interrupted by the SGT calling for inmate count or sometimes cancelled if the shed is too full. The desk SGT tries really hard not to cancel visits sometimes asking that visitors double up at tables if the shed is getting too crowded. Visiting is not allowed on the weekend of the prison's rodeos in April & October and any month with five weekends.

thanks you for this information.

I noticed you mentioned " or Grey jacket"? wonder why Grey?

Lulu:

The reason for grey jackets is because inmates can purchase grey jackets and sweaters from the commissary and its safe to assume that if a visitor is allowed to wear the color garment, it could be swapped during a visit.

oh, ok, thank you