GEPSA holds a contract with the French Prison Service.
We are committed to offering you the best possible conditions when you visit the Family Center, in partnership with local associations.
Our agents make telephone appointments.
Ils sont aussi présents dans le local d’accueil pour vous informer et vous orienter, par exemple :
- To reserve a visiting room
- About opening hours
- On childcare options
- To access the facility…
Colis de Noël 2023
Covid-19 information
Please find below information on the health situation:
- Children over 6 must wear a mask.
- 2 visiting rooms per week for everyone
- Childcare available on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons (space limited to 2)
- 1 laundry bag per week
- At-risk visitors are invited to limit their movements and, above all, to respect the barrier gestures.
- You will find opposite the current opening hours and the sanitary measures to be respected on the premises.
For further information, please call our agents on 0 800 032 800 (free service and call).
We thank you in advance for your understanding.
Permis de visite
To visit a detainee, you must obtain a visit permit and reserve a visiting room.
The visit permit is
personal and nominative.
Each visitor (including children)
must be in possession of a visitor’s permit in order to take
a visiting room appointment.
Visiting permits may be issued to persons other than family members under certain conditions.
If the detainee is transferred, the visit permit remains valid regardless of the destination prison.
Obtenir un permis de visite
Put together your application for a visitor’s permit by filling in the forms and providing all the necessary supporting documents.
If the application is incomplete, illegible or incorrect, it will be rejected.
A qui adresser le dossier ?
- For an “accused” person, whose conviction is not final:
To the Magistrate in charge of the proceedings at the competent Tribunal de Grande Instance (court hearing the case) - For a “detained” person whose conviction is final :
To the Director of the Châteauroux Prison
Le Craquelin BP 549 36021 Châteauroux Cedex
02 54 53 40 00
For further information, please contact the Family Shelter supervisory staff. Tel. : 02 54 53 44 59
Documents required to obtain a visit permit
Réserver un parloir
Reminder: You must first have received a letter from the prison administration validating your visit permit.
As soon as you receive this validation, you will be able to book your visiting room appointments on the terminals provided for this purpose in the family reception area.
A GEPSA receptionist will guide you through the process.
If the terminal is unavailable, reservations can still be made by telephone (see details opposite).
Online booking
Video intercom use
Procédures pour le parloir
For visiting room appointments, each visitor must bring :
- A valid ID. The visitor must hand it in on entering the establishment and collect it on leaving.
- For visitors accompanying a child, the family record book to prove the family relationship.
Number of authorized visiting rooms
- Defendants on appeal :
2 visiting rooms per week - Convicted :
2 visiting rooms per week
(additional visiting room possible for Tuesday or Thursday holidays)
Number of visitors authorized per visiting room
- 3 people max
(1 child under 13 counts as ½ person) - Visitors under 18 years of age must have the permission of their parents or guardians, and be accompanied by an adult who holds a visitor’s permit.
Effets personnels des visiteurs
There are lockers in the family reception building, where visitors can leave personal items not allowed in the prison (e.g. handbags, cell phones, cigarettes, cash, etc.).
Personne à mobilité réduite
There are special facilities for people with reduced mobility. Visitors who wish to make an appointment in this area must submit a request to the head of the school, accompanied by a disability card or medical certificate.
Sécurité
Visitors will pass through a metal detector to enter the facility, as well as :
- People with medical prostheses must inform prison staff and produce a medical certificate.
- Visitors should avoid wearing metal accessories: jewelry, metal buckles (shoes, belts), watches, etc.
Cas où l’accès peut être refusé au parloir
- Visitors without a permit
- Visitor without ID
- Visitor who has not booked a visiting room appointment
- Visitor not complying with site security rules
- Late visitor
Accueil des Enfants
GEPSA childcare staff are qualified to welcome children aged 3 and over, up to a maximum of 8 places, on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 1:00 pm to 5:30 pm.
To visit a divorced or separated detained parent, the latter must prove that he or she has access rights to his or her minor child.
Visitors under 18 years of age must have the authorization of both parents or of the person with parental authority, and must be accompanied by an adult who holds a visitor’s permit.
Downloads
Avant le parloir
In the family reception area, children are offered activities to help them wait. During this period, the child remains under the full responsibility of the supervisor, who is responsible for his or her supervision.
Certain equipment, such as changing tables, cots, bottle warmers, microwaves, etc., are available in the family reception area.
Pendant le parloir
For small children, you can bring certain nursery items into the visiting room, which must be wrapped in transparent plastic:
diapers, prepared bottle or small bottle of capped water, baby wipes, “doudou” without mechanism, pacifier.
For children over the age of 3, who do not wish to or cannot attend the visiting room, and at the request of a parent, the receptionist may provide free childcare for the detainee’s children under 2 conditions:
- The person making the request must be able to prove that he or she has parental authority over the child by producing the family record book, his or her identity document, and an identity document or birth certificate for the child concerned.
- The person making the request must sign the GEPSA authorization form. Without signing this document, staff are not authorized to take charge of the child.
Information
- Le premier rendez-vous parloir se fait obligatoirement par téléphone au numéro suivant : 0 800 032 800 (service et appel gratuits).
- Un agent GEPSA vous répond du lundi au vendredi de 9h à 12h – 13h à 16h
- Pour les personnes ne résidant pas dans le département, la réservation du parloir pourra se faire par téléphone.
Horaires des parloirs
You must be present 30 minutes before the start of the visiting room. Any delay will result in cancellation of the visit.
To cancel an appointment, use the kiosks or contact us by phone on 0 800 032 800 (free service and call).
Maison d’arrêt – Lundi, mercredi et vendredi
| FAMILY CALL TIME | Beginning of visiting room | End of visiting room |
|---|---|---|
| 13h00 | 13h30 | 14h30 |
| 15h30 | 16h00 | 17h00 |
Opening days and times of the family reception area:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 07:30 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 17:30
Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday holidays: 07:30 to 12:00 – 13:00 to 17:30
Centre de détention – Samedi, dimanche, mardi férié et jeudi férié - Lundi, mercredi et vendredi matin de 08h00 à 10h30
| FAMILY CALL TIME | Beginning of visiting room | End of visiting room |
|---|---|---|
| 07h30 | 08h00 | 09h00 |
| 10h00 | 10h30 | 11h30 |
| 13h00 | 13h30 | 14h30 |
| 15h30 | 16h00 | 17h00 |
Envoyer de l'argent
Every prisoner has a personal account. This account can be used, for example, to “canteen” (buy products in the canteen), to build up an exit nest egg, or to meet any obligation to compensate victims.
This account is managed by the prison’s accounting department (Régisseur des comptes nominatifs). The sums paid are allocated to the prisoner’s disposable allowance in accordance with the rules set out in the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Approvisionner le compte
The registered account can be funded :
- By money earned by the inmate within the establishment (e.g. by working in the workshops or general service)
- By external transfers
Envoyer des virements
Cash, chequebooks and bank cards are FORBIDDEN in detention.
Cash orders no longer exist.
Any transfer with incomplete, illegible or erroneous information will be rejected and returned to the sender. If the detainee is soon to be released or transferred, it is preferable to avoid making a transfer.
Par virement bancaire
- Au guichet de la banque ou par Internet
- Remplir l’ordre de virement en renseignant les trois zones :
- Bénéficiaire : régisseur des comptes nominatifs du Centre Pénitentiaire de Châteauroux
- RIB : celui de la régie des comptes nominatifs de l’établissement (voir ci-dessus)
- zone « facultative ou libre » ou “motif du virement” (31 caractères) : indiquer le numéro d’écrou (espace), le nom (espace) et le prénom de la personne détenue (doit être obligatoirement renseigné dans cet ordre)
Contacter une personne détenue
It is not possible to telephone an incarcerated person, but they can call under certain conditions.
In the event of a serious or important event, contact your probation officer.
on 02 54 53 40 11
Contenu du courrier autorisé
- stamps (maximum 10)
- envelopes, stationery
- photographs of my family
- all documents relating to family life and the exercise of parental authority
Contenu du courrier interdit
- No passport photos
- No money (cheques, cash, etc.)
Ecrire à une personne détenue à l’adresse de l’établissement :
Prison
Le Craquelin BP 549
36021 Châteauroux Cedex
Specify on the envelope the detainee’s first and last name, prison and cell number.
Colis
No parcels may be delivered to a detainee, except during the festive season to send foodstuffs. The scheme will be available from Monday December 7, 2020 to Sunday January 31, 2021 inclusive, and details can be found here.
Apporter ou reprendre du linge
The facility has a laundry service that enables inmates to have their laundry done free of charge. Families can drop off or pick up dirty linen.
Avant obtention du permis de visite
You can drop off a bag of laundry only on visiting days during calling hours.
Après obtention du permis de visite
- You can drop off a bag of laundry for each visit.
- Incoming linen must be placed in a plastic bag, with or without closure.
Sports bags, leather bags or bags with pockets are not permitted. - For all linen deliveries, please show proof of identity, attach a list of incoming linen and write legibly on the bag:
LAST NAME, FIRST NAME, BOOKING NUMBER, BUILDING, CELL NUMBER. - Soiled linen can be collected on leaving the visiting room.
Contents of the laundry bag authorized by the Penitentiary Centre
Associations
Halte Familles
Help and support association
families of prisoners
3 rue Combanaire 36000 CHATEAUROUX
Phone
02 54 07 32 07
| On-site presence at the prison | |
|---|---|
| Monday | 12.45pm – 4.00pm |
| Tuesday | 12.45pm – 4.00pm |
| Wednesday | 12.45pm – 4.00pm |
| Thursday | 12.45pm – 4.00pm |
| Friday | 12.45pm – 4.00pm |
| Saturday | 8h45 – 11h00 / 12h45 – 16h00 |
| Sunday | 8h45 – 11h00 / 12h45 – 16h00 |
Notre rôle
The purpose of the Halte Familles association is to welcome, support and accompany the families and loved ones of prisoners.
Run by a team of volunteers who strive to create a warm atmosphere so that waiting for a visiting room is a convivial experience, our work focuses on :
- Welcoming and listening to the families, children and loved ones of detainees, respecting the individual and his or her need for dialogue and/or isolation, in a climate of trust and neutrality.
- Informing families.
- Any action in favor of the child-parent bond in conjunction with the penitentiary integration and probation service, as well as the Relais Enfance Famille de l’Indre (REFI) service.
- Organizing the site and assisting with the use of the various equipment (kiosks, lockers, etc.) in collaboration with the staff of the private service provider.
- Collaboration and creation of entertainment activities for children in collaboration with the private partner.
- Information on how to get to the site.
- Custody of children under 3 years of age during visiting hours, subject to availability of space, in compliance with the child custody rules and regulations, and by having the parent sign a letter of acceptance of custody.
How to get there
- Le Craquelin BP 549 36021 CHÂTEAUROUX CEDEX
- +33 2 54 53 40 00
- +33 2 54 27 68 32