GEPSA holds a contract awarded by the Prison Service.
We are committed to offering you the best possible conditions when you visit the Family Reception area, in partnership with local associations.
Our staff take appointments by telephone.
Our staff are on hand in the reception area to inform you and guide you, for example :
- to reserve a visit
- on opening hours
- on the options for caring for children
- to access the facility
Visiting Permit
To visit a person who has been detained you must obtain a visiting permit and reserve a visit.
The visiting permit is
personal and nominative.
Each visitor (including children)
must first obtain a visiting permit before making an appointment
for a visit.
A visiting permit may be issued to people other than the family under certain conditions.
If the person detained is transferred, the visiting permit remains valid regardless of the destination.
Obtaining a visiting permit
Draw up your visiting permit application file by completing the forms and providing all the necessary supporting documents.
If the file is incomplete, illegible or incorrect, it will be rejected.
To whom should the file be addressed ?
- For a person who has been “detained”, that is, convicted and whose conviction is final, to the :
Directeur, Centre Pénitentiaire Alençon-Conde-sur-Sarthe
Route du Pont Percé RD 112 Condé-sur-Sarthe BP850 61041 Alençon Cedex
+33 (0)2 50 51 10 00 - If the person has appealed the conviction, to the :
Procureur Général, Cour d’Appel de Caen
Place Gambetta CS 35015 14050 CAEN CEDEX 4
+33 (0)2 31 30 70 00
Documents for obtaining the visiting permit
Reserving a visit
Reminder : You must have received a letter from the prison authorities approving your visiting permit beforehand.
Upon receipt of this approval you will be able to make an appointment to visit on the terminals provided for this purpose in the reception area for families.
A member of the GEPSA reception staff will help you to use it.
Information
- It is mandatory that the first appointment for a visit be made by phone at the following free number : 0 800 717 096.
- A GEPSA staff member will answer you from Monday to Friday from 9 am to 12 pm and 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm.
- For people who do not reside in the Department, or in case the terminal is not available, the reservation for your visit can be made by telephone.
Visiting procedures
For an appointment to visit, each visitor must bring :
- A valid identity card. The visitor shall hand it in when entering the penitentiary and shall recover it on leaving.
- For visitors accompanying a child, you must bring the family booklet to prove the family relationship, as well as an identity card or other document of the child (e.g.: school card, bus pass or sports license)
Number of visits authorised
- Centre for Reduced Sentences (QPA) :
1 visit per week
Number of visitors authorised per visit
- Maximum of 5 people (Adults or children)
- Visitors who are minors under the age of 18 must have the authorisation of both parents or the person who has parental authority and must be accompanied by a person of legal age, who holds a visiting permit.
Visitors’ personal effects
There are lockers in the building for the reception of families: there visitors may leave their personal belongings that are not permitted in the facility (e.g.: handbags, cellphones, cigarettes, cash, etc.)
Person with reduced mobility
There are rooms designed for people with reduced mobility. The visitors concerned can have an appointment in this room, but they must make the request to the director of the facility, accompanied by a disability card.
Security
Visitors must pass under a metal detection checkpoint to enter the penitentiary, therefore, to facilitate access :
- People with a medical prostheses must inform the prison authorities and produce a medical certificate.
- Visitors should avoid wearing metal accessories: jewellery, metal buckles (shoes, belts), watches, etc.
Cases where visitors can be refused access to the visiting room
- Visitors without a visiting permit
- Visitors without an identity card
- Visitors who did not make an appointment for a visit
- Visitors who do not comply with the security rules of the facility
Reception of children
The GEPSA reception staff are qualified to receive children over 3 years of age on Saturday afternoons and Sunday afternoons from 1 pm to 7 pm.
Visiting a detained person who is a divorced or separated parent implies that the latter prove his right of access to his underaged child.
Visitors who are minors under the age of 18 must have the authorisation of both parents or of the person with parental authority and be accompanied by a person of legal age, who also holds a visiting permit.
Downloads
Before the visit
In the reception area for families, activities are offered to children during the waiting period . During this period, the child shall remain under the full responsibility of the attendant, who will supervise the child.
Some equipment, such as: a changing table, a cot, a bottle warmer, a microwave, etc. are at your disposal in the reception area for families.
During the visit
For parents with young children, you can enter the visiting room with some nursery items that must be put in transparent plastic packaging:
diapers, a prepared bottle or a small, sealed bottle of water, baby wipes, a “favourite teddy bear”, a pacifier.
For children over 3 years of age, who do not wish or are unable to attend the visit, and at the request of a parent, the reception staff may take care of the children of the person detained for free under 2 conditions:
- The person making the request can prove parental authority over this child by producing the family book, his identity document, and an identity document or a birth certificate for the child concerned.
- The person making the request must sign the GEPSA authorisation slip. If this document is not signed, the staff do not have the authorisation to take care of the child.
"Letter boxes are available in the premises to deposit drawings and poems by children for their incarcerated parent (after validation by the prison authorities)"
Visiting Hours
You are required to be present 30 minutes before the start time of your visit.
To cancel an appointment : Use the terminals or contact us by phone at 0 800 717 096.
Section for reduced sentences - Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
| CALL TIME FOR FAMILIES | Start of the visit | End of the visit |
|---|---|---|
| 08:00 am | 08:30 am | 09:30 am |
| 09:30 am | 10:00 am | 11:00 am |
| 13:00 pm | 13:30 pm | 14:30 pm |
| 14:30 pm | 15:00 pm | 16:00 pm |
| 16:00 pm | 16:30 pm | 17:30 pm |
Neighborhood of support for radicalization - Fridays and Saturdays
| CALL TIME FOR FAMILIES | Start of the visit | End of the visit |
|---|---|---|
| 09:45 am | 10:15 am | 11:30 am |
Opening days and hours of the reception area for families:
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays : 8 am to 7 pm
Maison Centrale - Fridays and Saturdays
| CALL TIME FOR FAMILIES | Start of the visit | End of the visit |
|---|---|---|
| 13:00 pm | 13:30 pm | 15:30 pm |
| 13:00 pm | 13:30 pm | 18:15 pm |
| 15h45 | 16h15 | 18h15 |
Maison Centrale - Sundays
| CALL TIME FOR FAMILIES | Start of the visit | End of the visit |
|---|---|---|
| 8:45 am | 9:15 am | 11:15 am |
| 13:00 pm | 13:30 pm | 15:30 pm |
| 13:00 pm | 13:30 pm | 18:15 pm |
| 15h45 | 16h15 | 18h15 |
Sending money
Anyone who has been detained holds a personal account. CThis account allows him, for example, to “canteen” (to buy canteen products), to build a nest egg, or to meet potential obligations to compensate victims.
This account is managed by the Accounting Department of the facility (Registrar of personal accounts). The amounts paid are allocated to the savings available for the person detained according to the rules defined in the Criminal Procedure Code.
Provisioning the account
The personal account can be provisioned :
- by amounts earned by the detained person within the institution (for example, by working in the workshops or in the general services)
- by external transfers
Sending transfers
Cash, chequebooks or bank cards are PROHIBITED while in detention.
By bank transfer (cheaper)
- Via the bank or via Internet
- Fill in the transfer order by completing the three sections :
- The beneficiary : Registrar of the personal accounts of the Centre Pénitentiaire Alençon-Conde-sur-Sarthe
- The Bank Account Identification : that of the Registrar of personal accounts of the facility (see below)
- 3. The section marked “optional or free” or “reason for the transfer” (31 characters): indicate the number (space), last name (space) and first name of the person detained (must be indicated in this order)
By judicial money order (Temporary solution only for 2018)
- The printed form will not be available at a post office, but only in the facilities, at the family reception areas, or the detainees will be able to obtain this printed form from the Registrar of personal accounts in order to send them to their relatives.
- Once the form is completed, return it to a post office. Please indicate: last name, first name, and the number of the person detained.
Any transfer for which the information is incomplete, illegible or incorrect shall be rejected and returned to the sender. If the person detained is soon to be released or transferred, it is best to avoid making a transfer.
Contacting a person who has been detained
It is impossible to phone people who are incarcerated, but they can call you under certain conditions.
In the event of a serious or important event, contact the Insertion and Probation Advisor
at 02 50 51 10 66
Authorised contents of mail
- stamps (maximum 10)
- envelopes, writing paper
- family photographs
- any document relating to family life and allowing the exercise of parental authority
Prohibited contents of mail
- No identity photos
- No money (cheques, cash, …)
Write to a person who has been detained at the address of the facility :
Centre pénitentiaire
Route du Pont Percé
RD 112 Condé-sur-Sarthe BP850
61041 Alençon CEDEX
Indicate on the envelope the last name and first name of the person detained, his number and cell number
Parcels
No parcels may be given to a person who has been detained, except during the holiday season to send him food items. An information note will be posted in the family reception area at this time.
Bringing or picking up laundry
The facility has a laundry service that enables people who have been detained to have their laundry done for free. Families may bring or pick up laundry at this service.
Before obtaining a visiting permit
You can leave a bag of laundry only on the day of your visit during the call times
After obtaining a visiting permit
- You may leave a bag of laundry at each visit.
- Incoming laundry must be placed in a plastic bag, with or without a closing.
“Sports” type bags, bags made of leather or bags with pockets are prohibited. - For all laundry, it is requested to present a piece of identification, to attach a list of incoming laundry and to indicate legibly on the bag :
LAST NAME, FIRST NAME, NUMBER - Dirty laundry can be collected on leaving the visiting room.
Contents of the laundry bag authorised by the facility
How to get to the facility
- Route du Pont Percé RD 112 Condé-sur-Sarthe 61041 Alençon CEDEX
- +33 2 50 51 10 00