I'm going to my first visit in August (hopefully). This being the first time visiting prison as well as meeting this man. I'm afraid of all the rules and accidentally breaking some of them. Can someone please explain what a visit is like at the Diamondback facility in OK for our Arizona guys???

Hi Sara! Welcome to PTO! What I have learned about the private prison's they ship AZ inmates to are the same rules as AZ prisons. Same dress code (no brown,blue jean colored clothing, only jewelry that can be worn is one pair of earrings, wedding ring. religious necklace. Only one pair of subscription glasses or subscription sunglasses,$20 in change (no pennys)in a clear change purse. But anyway I could go on and on we have a good site that could give you more on AZ rules for visitation. Prison officials say out of state prison have the same rules.
But its always best to call that prison and make sure to write the name of the person you talked to and day and time. az info. site is-http://www.adcprisoninfo.az.gov/ if there is anything I may help you with or just need to talk please PM me ok Truly:Patty

Sara
My son was at Diamondback for 3 years. You can read my posts or pm me about any questions you might have about the facility. Are you driving or flying in? Watonga has no air service and I am unsure about bus service from Oklahoma City to Watonga and that would be your mode of getting there unless you drive in or rent a car to drive from OKC to Watonga. Watonga is out in the middle of boonyville - a small town and the people in the town are really nice. The officers - I found it depended upon their moods or who the officer was. They are VERY strict about touching as well as inmates getting up from the visiting tables in visitation. Be sure to write down your tag number on your vehicle as well as taking in your driver's license unless you want to make a trip to the parking lot to retrieve them. Your loved one can send you a paper stating visitation rules, etc. This was also my first experience with visiting at a prison and I thought all prisons were like Watonga (duh!). My son is now at Cimarron, which is also a CCA facility, but the difference in the two prisons, the guards and the general atmosphere is as night and day. My sons first comment was "Hey Mom - they have flowers growing on the grounds here". Yes, I know, that is such a small thing, but it was also indicative the attitude at the facility.

I've been to Diamondback five times now, and I have to say personally, it's not too bad. The first week I went is the weekend of the riot, so things were a little tense. All the CO's have been really nice. Last weekend was a little hectic. They are trying to seperate level 2 and level 3 arizona inmates along with Hawaii inmates, so first visit was non contact, second visit, they figured out a way to let everyone visit. Whatever you do call first, they had a list last weekend of about 500 inmates who were not allowed visits due to the riot. The CO's along with the riot control people, whatever the right word is, anyways, they were all in the visiting room, so it was a kinda tense feeling ya know, but everything went well. So this is what I know, they are actually pretty relaxed on dress code , no light blue and of course orange. We did wear jeans. Your shirt can be below the collar bone, just common sense no cleavage. No sandals. 20.00 in quarters. Inmates do have to remain seated at all times. You are supposed to sit across from your loved one, actually second visit we had a round table so I did sit next to him. You can of course hold hands, no intwining of the legs. We actually had some pretty long hugs and kisses, so we got lucky.
As for jewlery, i wore hoop earrings, all my rings, a braclet ,watch, and my necklace, and they said that was fine, just don't go overboard. It's a pretty small visitation room and there is no outside area, and no smoking, if your a smoker. All in all I've had real good experiences there, everyone is really friendly. We talked to everyone and they talked to us. Anymore questions PM me, I can giive you some info on directions and hotels. Mel

I drove there last weekend. i was told he was allowed visits but when i got there saturday morning he wasn't. i was allowed to see him throught the glass for 2 hrs. it kinda sucked but i was glad to see him