Families of inmates at Oahu Community Correctional Center will be able to schedule visits once during the week instead of waiting for the traditional visitation days of Saturdays and Sundays, but will no longer be able to touch them.

No contact will be allowed between the inmates and visitors, said Toni Schwartz, state Department of Public Safety spokeswoman. The prison will use the five glassed-off interview rooms that are in the existing visitation room.

No new construction was needed for the change to no-contact visits.

Implementing noncontact visits creates a safer environment for staff, inmates and visitors by blocking a primary way that contraband is passed on to inmates, she added.

The new visitation schedule will be 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. daily beginning Oct. 10, a DPS news release said Thursday. Families will be allowed to schedule one 30-minute visit per week with up to two people visiting at a time with an inmate.

“Visit availability for inmate’s families forecasted over a seven-day period provides a wider array of options for families to visit and meshes better with scheduled security staffing,” said OCCC Warden Francis Sequeira in a written statement. “The daily facilitation of non-contact visits will be regimented and safer for inmates and staff alike.”

Public Safety Director Nolan Espinda said, “We know these visits are important for the inmates as well as their families, and this change will allow OCCC to hold visitation with less strain on staff and more oversight and control.”

Schwartz said the new schedule could triple the number of total family visits.

Visitors will be able to call and schedule their visits seven days in advance but no later than 24 hours in advance of the visit.

Currently, visitors on weekends must line up at OCCC and be allowed in on a first-come, first-served basis, Schwartz said.