Families of inmates at Oahu Community Correctional Center will be able to schedule visits up to seven days in advance beginning Oct. 10, according to the Department of Public Safety.

The change in OCCC’s visitation policy means that visits will be allowed seven days a week (except holidays) instead of just Saturdays and Sundays, said Toni Schwartz, Hawaii Department of Public Safety spokeswoman.

The new visit schedule will be 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Monday through Sunday.

Families will be allowed to schedule one 30-minute visit per week with up to two people visiting at a time with an inmate.

The prison will use the five glassed-off interview rooms that are currently in the existing visitation room.

No contact will be allowed between the inmates and visitors, Schwartz said.

Implementing non-contact visits also creates a safer environment for staff, inmates and visitors by blocking a primary contraband pathway, she added.

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

“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.”

“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,” said Public Safety Director Nolan Espinda.

Visitors will be able to call and schedule their visits up to 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 are taken on a first-come first-served basis, Schwartz said.