Visitor Tables serve two main purposes in Prison Architect.
- They serve as a meeting place for prisoners in visitation room to reconvene with family members for a period of time. this satisfies family need. An alternative is the phone booth.
- They serve as a place for prisoners to be interviewed and reviewed for a potential early release, or, for death row inmates, reviewed for a transfer to Maximum Security, dependent on how they conducted themselves during their stay at your prison.
During parole hearings, there is usually one seat free on the end since there are only two entities: the Parole Officer & Parole Lawyer, that lead the parole meeting. The parole lawyer and officer always sit on the three-seat side. The prisoner typically sits across from them but will sometimes sit next to them.
Similar to parole hearings, Death Row Appeals also require a Visitor Table. This program functions almost identical to Parole hearings, but with an Appeals Magistrate and an Appeals Lawyer instead of a Parole Officer and a Parole lawyer.
Visitor Tables are an insecure means of greeting people from the outside world. This means that visitors have the potential to smuggle contraband in for prisoners they are meeting. Visitor Booths are a more secure means of greeting people, since no contraband can be exchanged over the interposing glass panel.
Tips[]
- It would be wise to set one or multiple guard dog patrol(s) in and around your visitation areas, as well as installing metal detectors on the doors. These measures will help reduce the inflow of contraband via visitation.
- When denied parole, prisoners receive the Angry status effect, making them more likely to cause trouble. They will often kill the Parole Officer, sometimes using a Fountain Pen, a weapon that can be found in the very Parole room they are in. Assigning a Guard, preferably with a taser, or an Armed Guard to the parole room can prevent this.