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…
Covid-19 information
Following the latest government information on the Covid19 epidemic, please note that the visiting room appointment service will not resume until May 11.
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 a person who has been “detained”, i.e. convicted and whose sentence is final:
To the Director of the Detention Center
Le Frichot – Route de Tercei – BP 80219 61205 ARGENTAN CEDEX
02 33 36 35 00 - If the person has appealed his conviction :
To the Public Prosecutor of the Caen Court of Appeal
Place Gambetta CS 35015 14050 CAEN CEDEX 4
02 31 30 70 00
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).
Information
- The first parlor appointment must be made by telephone on 0 800 021 800 (free service and call).
- A GEPSA agent will answer your questions on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30 to 12:00 – 13:30 to 16:30, on Tuesdays only from 13:30 to 16:30 and on Thursdays from 9:30 to 12:00 – 13:30 to 17:00.
- For people who do not live in the département, visiting room reservations can be made by telephone.
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 (livret de famille) to prove the family relationship, as well as a piece of identification or an identity card for the minor child (e.g. school, bus or sports card).
- Visitors over 16 years of age may come alone to the visiting room if they are visiting a parent or guardian with the agreement of the second parent or guardian.
Number of authorized visiting rooms
Convicted :
1 visiting room per week- Closed lounges
Number of visitors authorized per visiting room
3 adults or 2 adults and 2 children or 1 adult and 3 childrenVisitors 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.- Closed lounges
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.).
GEPSA encourages you to bring a padlock (preferably with a code) to close the locker so that you can deposit unauthorized items in the visiting room.
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.
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
Accueil des Enfants
GEPSA reception staff are qualified to welcome children aged 3 and over.
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 capped water bottle, baby wipes, “doudou”, 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.
"Des boites aux lettres sont à disposition dans le local afin d’y déposer les dessins et poèmes réalisés par les enfants pour leur parent incarcéré (après validation de l’administration pénitentiaire)"
Horaires des parloirs
You must be present 20 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 telephone on 0 800 021 800 (free service and call) or by e-mail at parloirs.argentan@gepsa.fr.
SAMEDI, DIMANCHE ET JOURS FÉRIÉS
| FAMILY CALL TIME | Beginning of visiting room | End of visiting room |
|---|---|---|
| 8h15 | 8h30 | 9h30 |
| 8h45 | 9h00 | 10h00 |
| 10h00 | 10h15 | 11h15 |
| FAMILY CALL TIME | Beginning of visiting room | End of visiting room |
|---|---|---|
| 13h45 | 14h00 | 15h15 |
| 14h00 | 14h15 | 15h30 |
| 15h45 | 16h00 | 17h15 |
| 16h00 | 16h15 | 17h30 |
Opening days and times for the family reception area:
Saturday, Sunday and public holidays from 8:15am to 11:45am and from 1:30pm to 6:00pm.
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.
If you make a court order, the detainee’s account will not be credited for about 10 days.
A bank transfer, on the other hand, will take no more than 3 days.
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.
By bank transfer or money order
- Download the “mandat-justice” form at the family reception desk
- Go to a post office with proof of identity.
- Pay the amount to be transferred and complete the slip
- Send part 1 of the slip by post to the prison, indicating the prisoner’s surname, first name and booking number.
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 33 36 35 27
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 :
Detention center
Le Frichot – Route de Tercei
BP 80219
61205 Argentan 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 - Soiled linen can be collected on leaving the visiting room.
Contents of the laundry bag authorized by the Penitentiary Centre
How to get there
- Le Frichot – Route de Tercei, 61205 Argentan CEDEX
- +33 2 33 36 35 00