The North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (ND DOCR) is planning to resume in-person visitation at all facilities beginning the week of March 29. The ND DOCR is committed to ensuring the safety of all public, team members, visitors, and adult and youth residents while also recognizing the importance of their well-being by offering visitation with COVID-19 safeguards in place.
Each facility will have specific guidelines; however, all will follow the same basic rules, which are subject to change:
- A COVID-19 test must be administered no more than five days before the scheduled visitation date with negative results OR a rapid BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 test must be administered with a negative result at the specific facility prior to visitation
- There will be COVID-19 symptoms screenings which will include temperature checks
- One adult visitor is allowed per visitation
- N95 masks must be worn by the visitor
- The ND DOCR will share the identities of all visitors with the ND Department of Health (NDDoH) in order to trace visitors who show no signs of illness at the time of visit but subsequently test positive for COVID-19. Visitors must consent to being screened for COVID-19 and sharing the test results with the NDDoH.
“Allowing our adult and youth residents the chance to have in-person visitation at our facilities can hopefully bring a small sense of normalcy for everyone,” said Dave Krabbenhoft, Interim Director. “Visitation during this time can make us vulnerable, but we are aware of the risks and have specific guidelines in place to prevent, as much as possible, any illness from entering our facilities. We know it has been an extremely tough year on everyone by suspending in-person visitation early on; we are excited to welcome friends and family back in to visiting their loved ones.”
In order to maintain proper social distancing, all visits must be pre-scheduled due to limited occupancy. Cleaning and disinfecting measures have been put into place to ensure a safe visit. More information regarding visitation, as well as the updated guidelines, can be found by visiting https://www.docr.nd.gov/family-and-friends#Visitation.
For more data and information regarding COVID-19 within the DOCR, please visit https://www.docr.nd.gov/covid-19-information.