Allendale Correctional Institution: Visitation Changes, Operations and County Impact

Allendale Correctional Institution, the state prison near Fairfax operated by the South Carolina Department of Corrections, began allowing contact visits without plexiglass on Dec. 3, 2022, joining several other medium-security facilities. The change came with strict scheduling rules: Adopt an Inmate and visitor platforms report every visit must be booked through the GTL scheduler at least 15 hours in advance, and Penmateapp lists weekend in-person visits in three two-hour blocks, each session capped at 16 visits.

Practical rules for visitors are specific. Penmateapp and Adopt an Inmate say up to four visitors may attend, including at least one adult, and inmates add visitors by submitting Form 19-127 with up to 15 approved names. Children age 10 and older must bring a government-issued photo ID; children age nine and younger must present a long-form birth certificate. Penmateapp cautions that SCDC is tobacco-free and tobacco-related items can lead to being turned away. Phone numbers for the institution are listed as (803)-632-2561 and (803)-734-0653, and the facility mailing address is Allendale Correctional Institution, P.O. Box 1151, Fairfax, SC 29827.

Published visit schedules differ across commonly used references, and administrators control in-house adjustments. Penmateapp sets weekend blocks at 8–10 a.m., 11 a.m.–1 p.m., and 2–4 p.m.; PrisonPro lists Friday 6–8 p.m. plus Saturday and Sunday sessions of 8 a.m.–12 p.m. and 1–5 p.m.; Adopt an Inmate summarizes visits as 8 a.m.–4 p.m. in two-hour blocks. Penmateapp also reported a GTL VisitMe rollout that would allow adults 18 and older with a valid South Carolina driver’s license to register online beginning June 1, 2025, while paper applications would remain available for others and minors.

The institution’s operational profile and history frame current policy. SCETV reports ACI opened in 1987 as a Level 3 maximum-security prison and "earned a reputation for being ‘the worst of the worst’" before a 2011 administration shift toward a character-based model that led to a downgrade to Level 2. SCETV calls ACI "the state’s only full character-based facility" with programs including beekeeping, pottery, art, quilting and pet therapy. "Part of our mission is to document, preserve and share the state’s greatest and lesser known stories. The transformation that’s taken place at Allendale Correctional Institution is certainly one of those stories, and I’m proud that we’re able to present it to the people of this state in such a compelling way," said SCETV President and CEO Anthony Padgett. "The way Allendale Correctional Institution operates is like no prison you’ve seen on television," said "Character in Custody" executive producer Holly Bounds Jackson.

Operational data published by PrisonPro shows tension between population and capacity: the site reports the facility currently houses approximately 1,221 inmates despite an operating capacity of 1,185, and notes inmates are primarily housed in double-bunked cells with 136 triple-bunked beds and two character-based housing units reserved for inmates who display high levels of positive behavior. The same sources emphasize that visitation booths remain in visitation rooms and that contraband violations, or renewed COVID-19 restrictions, could trigger a return to non-contact visitation and arrests or permanent bans for people caught bringing contraband onto SCDC property.

Programs that train inmates in beekeeping, dog training for adoption, addiction recovery and GED classes are listed across source material, tying rehabilitation to day-to-day operations and the institution’s presence in Allendale County. As policies on contact visits, GTL VisitMe registration and inmate counts have shown variation across public references, the facility’s schedule, registration procedures and population totals remain key operational details affecting families, staff and county services.