SCDC – Palmer Pre-Release Center

SCDC – Palmer Pre-Release Center basic information to help guide you through what you can do for your inmate while they are incarcerated. The facility's direct contact number: 843-661-4770, 803-734-9487

This facility is for adult inmates.

The inmates housed at Palmer Pre-Release located at 2012 Pisgah Rd in Florence, SC are placed according to their custody level (determined by a number of factors including the past criminal history and the length of their sentence). There are ample educational and vocational training programs for all inmates, especially ones that show a willingness to learn new things that will prepare them for a better life when they are released. The mission is to promote and prepare the offender to leave in better shape than when they arrived, giving them the best chance to never come back and thus lower the state's recidivism rate.

Palmer Pre-Release Center is a minimum-security community-based state facility that can currently house a maximum of 292 adult male inmates for offenders who are within three years or less to be released. The inmates here are considered non-violent and housed in open bay dormitories, usually in double bunks. Because inmates at this level pose no serious threat and are well behaved the facility does not utilize a perimeter security fence. Offenders at the Palmer Pre-Release Center are provided adult basic education and GED preparation courses. Furthermore, inmates at this facility are provided 24-hour emergency care and necessary medical treatments 2 days each week by staff from the nearby Lee Correctional Institution. Inmates are encouraged to participate in employment workshops and vocational courses to help prepare for release.

Calls to anywhere in the US will be billed at a single flat rate for 15 minutes, with a discount applied for pre-paid calls:

• Collect call of up to 15 minutes: $1.53
• Pre-Paid call of up to 15 minutes: $1.29

visitation Info

SCDC – Palmer Pre-Release Center – Visitation

Visitation Inquiry Line: 803-896-1838
   Press 1 — for questions regarding the visitation application process. If the recording does not answer your question, you may leave a message including your phone number (with area code) and staff will return your call within three business days.
   Press 2 — for up-to-date information about prisons that presently have canceled visitation because of security concerns.

Each inmate in the S. C. Department of Corrections is allowed to have a maximum of fifteen (15) approved visitors on his/her visiting list.   Each inmate is provided with  "Request for Visiting Privileges" forms (SCDC Form 19-127) to send to his/her prospective visitors.  The only way for an individual to receive a visiting privileges form is from the inmate who wants them to visit.  These forms are provided to each inmate upon arrival in the Department of Corrections Reception and Evaluation Center and are available to inmates in all institutions throughout the state.   Every individual must complete this form and forward it to Visitation through the Central Visitation Center for processing.  The form is reviewed by staff and the information is entered into the automated system.  If the form is missing any required information, the form is returned to the sender for proper completion.

Once the application form has been properly completed, submitted, and approved, the individual is added to the inmate's visiting list.  An inmate is provided a copy of his approved visiting list once a week if a change is made during that week. IT IS THE INMATE'S RESPONSIBILITY TO ADVISE HIS/HER VISITOR(S) OF THEIR APPROVAL.

Minor children that are on the APPROVED visiting list must be accompanied by an adult and will be allowed to visit only if they are the inmate's brothers and sisters, the inmate's children (natural or legally adopted), the inmate's stepchildren, grandchildren, or step-grandchildren.  When an individual arrives at an institution to visit, everyone age 10 and older must present a public safety picture identification.  Those under age 10 must show a copy of their long-form birth certificate.  Certain criteria must be met before an inmate who wishes to have a minor niece/nephew(s) visit.  This information is available to the inmates at their institution, but first and foremost the inmate must be incarcerated at least three consecutive years.

Upon arriving at the institution, the visitor must state the name and SCDC number of the inmate they wish to visit.   This information is entered into the automated system and if the individual is listed on the inmate's approved visiting list, a visitor's pass will be generated for the individual. [Inmates may only have one visit per day; therefore, all visitors must be together.]

Inmates are not allowed to have visitors during the reception and evaluation process unless they remain in the Reception and Evaluation Center longer than thirty (30) days and the visitor is on the approved visiting list. After thirty (30) days only an inmates' parents, grandparents, spouse, and/or children are eligible to visit at R&E. In order to schedule a visit at R&E on the approved list after 30 days, contact 803-896-2000 between the hours of 8:00-12:00 on Mondays and Tuesdays ONLY.