PONTIAC Correctional Center

[Dazzler]

These are photos of Pontiac Correctional Center (nicknamed "Thunderdome"):

[Peanuts]

Pontiac Correctional Center  
Randy Pfister, Warden  

Facility Data

Pontiac Correctional Center
 Opened: June 1871
 *Operational Capacity: 2,152
 Maximum Security Adult Male
 *Population Pontiac Correctional Center: 1,219
 *Population Pontiac Medium Security Unit: 491
 *Total Current Population: 1,710
 Average Age: 37
 FY2010 Average Annual Cost Per Inmate: $31,712.00
 
*As of 11/30/2011. Reflects bed space capacity analysis as outlined in the January 1, 2012 Quarterly Report to the Legislature.
  
 Pontiac Correctional Center is the parent institution for Pontiac Medium Security Unit

Visiting Hours

  

IDOC Visitation Rules and Information
 
Visitors to any correctional facility will be required to produce photo identification and verification of date of birth. Please be sure to bring 2 forms of identification with you; these would include a current photo ID such as a driver’s license, a state ID card, government ID card, military ID/driver’s license, or acceptable documentation of non-U.S. citizenship including a current Passport, or Visa, documentation must contain the visitor’s date of birth. Expired forms of identification will not be accepted. Visitors will also be required to provide vehicle information and other pertinent data, such as government identification, official credentials, attorney registration, and or law student certification.
 
The visiting days for offenders in Segregation and Protective Custody/Segregation Release alternate monthly between even days and odd days. Therefore, individuals planning to visit the facility should call the facility prior to traveling to the Pontiac to ensure that the date on which they intend to visit is an authorized visiting day for the offender. Monthly visiting schedules are also available at the gatehouse.

Administrative Detention Re-entry Management Program (ADRMP) offender visitors may visit on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays from 8:00am to 2:00pm, with a two (2) hour duration per visit.  Visits for these offenders must first be reviewed and approved by the facility’s Intelligence Unit with the request being received at the facility five (5) days prior to the requested visit date.

Attorney request for a private interview room must be submitted and approved in advance by the Record Office.
 
8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Call ahead to ensure authorized visiting day. Visitors must arrive by 1:30 p.m. to be processed.

Facility Address

Physical Address:
 700 West Lincoln Street
 Pontiac, IL 61764
 
Business Mail:
P.O. Box 99
 Pontiac, IL 61764
 
Inmate Mail:
Inmate Name & IDOC#
 P.O. Box 99
 Pontiac, IL 61764
 
Phone: (815) 842-2816
 Fax: (815) 842-3420


Facility Information

The mission of the Pontiac Correctional Center is to protect the general public through incarceration, supervision, programs and services designated to return offenders to the community with the skills to be useful and productive citizens.
 
The facility consists of a total of 63 buildings, which comprise of more than 744,000 square feet. The facility sits on a 37-acre site, with 32 acres being enclosed by fencing. Pontiac Correctional Center houses the following offenders: segregation, protective custody, mental health, administrative detention reintegration management and medium security.


http://www2.illinois.gov/idoc/facilities/Pages/pontiaccorrectionalcenter.aspx



 
   

[jewels]

People visiting Pontiac will need 50cents for their lockers. You also need to check on what dates you can visit depending on what unit he is in. Like one month you can visit on even dates 5 times and next month it is on odd dates! There are no food facilities within the prison.Only in the waiting area.However there are water fountains around. Better than nothing I suppose!
If you travel more than 300 miles you may request extended time visits from the present warden.
The prison address is 700 West Lincoln Street.  PO Box 99, Pontiac, Illinois 61764.              Tel : 815-842-2816.


Motels are :-  Fiesta Tel: 815-844-7103  This is cheap cheerful. Very very basic, but generally clean and within walking distance of the prison.

Super 8 Motel Tel: 815-844-6888 Little more than Fiesta. Would need a car to get to the prison. No sidewalks except after you get way past the Fiesta.

Comfort Inn.Tel: 815-842-2777. About the same as Super 8

Holiday Inn Tel; 815-844-444.  Quite expensive.

There are quite a few food places that deliver to these motels, good taxi service also. Some good restaurants,plus all the usual, like Kentucky, Pizza etc. Stores include KMart, Walmart and there is a small selection of shops in town.Plus the postoffice and all the usual services, including a food market.

It is 2 hours from O'Hare airport and you can either hire a car, use the bus, train or hire a taxi service.
Please ask if you need any help.


               

[Dazzler]

Female visitors are limited to the wearing of: one ring, one bracelet, one watch and one pair of earrings.  No more.  Gatehouse staff has always been pleasant and it's never taken longer than 10 minutes to get into visiting, on weekdays.  I don't know about weekends, it may be more crowded.
The prison is located on the edge of town in a tree-lined residential neighborhood.   It's a formidable looking prison, one of Illinois' oldest....and loudest...hence it's nickname THUNDERDOME.  I knew someone who served two years in Pontiac and he said the nickname came from that movie...hmmm...can't remember the name...

[DELGGIRL]

 Can anyone tell me what the visiting room looks like at Pontiac? Are they tables like Stateville and Menards, the steel kind that are mounted to the floor? And can anyone tell me anything on how the seg visits work also?

[Scout]

All visits at Pontiac are non-contact.  If he's not in seg, you get a brief hug and kiss before and after the visit, otherwise you are separated by glass.  It is set up in a long row with small dividers between visiting booths.  Seg and PC (the only classification at Pontiac) have a rotating schedule, one day seg visits, next day PC visits.  There are no vending machines either.

[DELGGIRL]

Are you kidding me, and they don't have vending machines either? But if he isn't in seg and it's a regular visit does anyone know how long is the visit 2 hrs or less and is their set up still the same? How is the visiting room?

[Scout]

The visiting room is the same for seg and PC, one long row of behind the glass visits.  I'm not sure how long the visits are, but if they're like the other max joints, I imagine 2 hours. 

[DELGGIRL]

Thanks a bunch scout0323, I guess I will have to just go and see how the visit is. :)

[Sister]

Hope you enjoy your visit, Delggirl.......... :)

[kah2006]

I don't know how long seg visits are, but PC visits are 4 hours. PC visiting days are even days this month, (i.e. 2nd, 4th, 6th, etc.) and will switch to odd days for November. The staff at Pontiac are some of the friendliest I've ever dealt with. Have a wonderful visit!! &*&

[jewels]

No vending machines, 4 hour visits and you do get to hug and kiss both before the visit and after. but only for PC not for seg. The staff are really friendly.
Are you visiting for Death Row? In there they have tables where you sit one side and the inmate sits the other. They also have family visit tables. The tables never used to be secured to the floor. All visits, whever ever they are, are watched with ceiling cameras. Your progress through the prison is also watched by camera.They used to have cards and dominoes in there, along with pencils and paper, but they don't have the pencils anymore. Don't know if they still have the cards etc. They do have a small bookcase of bibles covering about every religion. You will also need 50cents for the locker and you are allowed just one necklace, one bracelet and earings, unless that has changed too.
Have a lovely visit.!

[Dazzler]

Visiting at Pontiac is actually one of the better experiences in the IDOC...they have a very cordial staff.  The visiting room is located directly behind the gatehouse (see Pontiac Photos in our Gallery).  There is a ramp that goes outside between the two buildings.  The staff bring the inmate to visiting very promptly as there are few visitors usually.  Jewels is right you are only allowed one ring, one bracelet, one pair of earrings, one watch, and one necklace if you wear jewelry.  Lockers are available or you may lock your items in your car.  The vending machines in the gatehouse are labeled for Staff Only....you can't even buy yourself a soda while waiting or leaving...

Pontiac is in the middle of a residential area...it's beautiful there this time of year as it's surrounded by tree-lined streets....

Unfortunately the inmates are shackled at the wrists and these are secured to an iron ring on the floor during visits...SEG inmates anyway....

[jewels]

PC isn't shackled.
There are lots of water fountains around and one right by the bathroom if you need a drink during the visit. It has always seemed the best place to visit if you are visiting an inmate. There are vending machines in the waiting room, once you go up the ramp and on the left, but you cannot take anything in with you, so you have you buy and drink fast if you have to wait, just incase they come for you. Weekends it is best to get there before 9 as the bus from chicago comes in and then it gets busy.
Medical bracelets don't count as your bracelet usually, but a watch does, or used to.

[Scout]

Jewels, are you saying you can bring money in and use it in the vending machines in the waiting room...I never knew that.

[jewels]

Used to be able to bring the correct amount in to use. Used to. But then ofcourse you needed to know exact amount to bring in!! They used to do coke and sprite I think it was. It was in the waiting area on the left after you walked up that slope and went throught the double doors.You couldn't ever take what you go in with you, so I never bothered, but lots of people did. I hear you have to wait in there now untill they call you for your visit when they are busy.

[kah2006]

You cannot take any money in with you and you cannot use the machines in the waiting room. They are for staff only and only take debit cards now. Yes, you have to wait in the waiting room until they call you for your visit, but they are pretty prompt about it.

[jewels]

Apparently there are no deathrow visits like there used to be, in the separate room. They all are the ones behind glass now.
That is unfair that those machines are just for staff. The staff have their canteen to go and get whatever they need!

[Lissa]

Can 2 people visit at one time or do we split the time? How long is the visit for PC? How many days a month?

[Scout]

PC visits at Pontiac are rotated with seg visits.  One month PC will be on the even days, the next the odd.  Two people can visit at the same time and I imagine the hours and number of visits are standard, 2 hours and 5 a month.  Someone from Pontiac will need to confirm that though.

If you're planning on visiting, call first to see what days the PC visits are scheduled for.