Visiting and Supporting a Relative or Friend in Prison
An experienced defense attorney will exhaust all possibilities to achieve a swift release from custody. However, as long as pretrial detention remains unavoidable, you may wish to visit your partner, relative, or friend and make their stay a little easier. Below, we provide some practical guidance.
1. A relative or friend has been arrested. Which prison are they in?
It is crucial to determine which correctional facility the accused is being held in. Unfortunately, this is not always the nearest prison, as factors such as facility occupancy and the nature of the charges may influence placement. Particularly when multiple defendants are involved, authorities often order “separation,” meaning that suspects are frequently placed in different prisons across the state.
Your relative’s or friend’s defense attorney can assist in finding out where they are being held. Many correctional facilities also provide relevant information on their official websites. Rules and regulations are generally similar within the same state.
2. How can I make an inmate’s stay easier? Can I bring clothing or other items?
The delivery of items to inmates is generally prohibited and must be approved in advance by prison authorities. With explicit permission, clothing, laundry, and possibly other daily essentials can be purchased and handed over to the facility.
For security reasons, inmates are generally not allowed to receive medications, food, cigarettes, newspapers, books, or electronic entertainment devices, as these could conceal prohibited items or confidential information. However, some correctional facilities allow newspapers (including subscriptions) and books to be ordered directly from publishers and bookstores for delivery to inmates. In some cases, televisions or radios may be requested through the prison’s finance office.
Access to telephones, computers, the internet, or smartphones is strictly prohibited for inmates, though exceptions may exist in certain cases.
To purchase basic items such as fruit, coffee, or cigarettes within the prison, inmates require money—typically around EUR 100.00 per month. Funds can be transferred to an inmate’s “prison account.” It is advisable to complete this transfer promptly, as processing times can delay access to the money.
In Bavaria, deposits should be made to the State Justice Treasury Bamberg:
BLZ: 70050000
Account No.: 24919
IBAN: DE34700500000000024919
BIC: BYLADEMMXXX
Use the following reference: “Personal funds for: Full Name and Date of Birth of the Inmate, Name of the Correctional Facility.”
Special rules often apply to holiday or birthday packages. Further details can be found on the respective prison’s website, which also lists a phone number for inquiries.
3. How often can I visit?
Inmates have very limited visitation rights. For example, Munich-Stadelheim Prison allows visits every two weeks for a maximum of 30 minutes. Other prisons have similarly strict policies. Special visitation appointments are only granted under exceptional circumstances and for justified reasons. Family and friends should coordinate their visits accordingly. Typically, up to three visitors may see an inmate at once. However, security measures or ongoing investigations may lead to individually regulated exceptions.
Defense attorneys are exempt from these visitation restrictions. The right to see one’s lawyer is only limited by the prison’s general visitation hours for attorneys. As a result, a retained defense lawyer often has faster access to the defendant than family or friends.
4. How do I obtain a visitation permit?
A visitation permit must be requested, usually from the responsible public prosecutor’s office. This requires the visitor’s personal details and, if available, the case reference number. The inmate’s lawyer can assist with this process.
Close friends or relatives may also apply for a long-term visitation permit, eliminating the need to request approval for each visit. The defense attorney can also provide assistance with this application.
5. What else should I consider during a visit?
Visitation hours are listed on each correctional facility’s website.
(For example, Munich-Stadelheim Prison allows visits from Monday to Thursday, 12:00–15:00, except on public holidays. Additional visits are permitted on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month from 07:00–10:00 and 12:00–14:30, including holidays.)
It is essential to schedule visits in advance and ensure that a valid visitation permit is in place for all visitors. Specific application details are available on the respective prison’s website.
All visitors must bring a valid passport or identification card!
The delivery of any items, including medication and food, is generally prohibited unless explicitly authorized by prison authorities. Some correctional facilities have vending machines in secure areas where visitors can purchase small items, such as chocolate, for the inmate.
Finding and Hiring a Lawyer on Behalf of a Relative, Partner, or Friend
For detained defendants, assistance in selecting and hiring an appropriate defense attorney is crucial. In pretrial detention, defendants are often left completely alone in choosing legal representation. They do not have access to the internet to search for specialized lawyers or the ability to conduct phone consultations to make an informed decision. Often, newly arrested individuals are merely handed outdated Yellow Pages or are recommended attorneys whom the police or judiciary prefer to work with. Relatives and friends can and should assist in this process—just as one would seek out a specialist doctor rather than a general practitioner, especially when facing serious issues.
It is common for defendants to be assigned a court-appointed attorney immediately after arrest. However, this does not prevent them from hiring an additional specialized and dedicated defense lawyer. Unfortunately, judges often appoint “justice-friendly” attorneys as public defenders—those they “get along with.” Highly experienced criminal defense lawyers known for vigorously advocating for their clients and challenging the justice system are seldom chosen as court-appointed lawyers. Authorities have little incentive to recommend a strong defense attorney or a specialist to a defendant.
As a relative, partner, or friend, you can hire a defense lawyer for the defendant at any time. If you authorize a lawyer with a “visitation request,” the defense attorney can obtain a “visitation permit” from the public prosecutor’s office. This allows them to meet with the defendant in a private and unsupervised consultation in pretrial detention. The defendant can then decide whether to officially appoint the hired lawyer as their defense attorney.
