Dielsdorf Prison

Teaser Gefängnis Dielsdorf

Dielsdorf Prison specializes in housing female inmates. It can also accommodate women with children up to 18 months old. Here, you can find out more about the general conditions of the pre-trial prison – from visiting hours to the inmates’ work options.

Table of contents

About us

Dielsdorf Prison (Gefängnis Dielsdorf) with its total 57 places specializes in housing female inmates.

In a department with 38 places, the Dielsdorf prison accommodates female inmates in pre-trial and preventive detention. In the other separately managed department, there are 17 places for women who have been sentenced to terms of up to 3 months or as a consequence of culpably unpaid fines or financial penalties.

Dielsdorf Prison is managed in such a way, that inmates can be accommodated with their infants who are up to a maximum age of 18 months.  

Advantages:

  • Capacity: 57 places (38 places for pre-trial- and preventive detention and 17 places for enforcement of short sentences)
  • Staff: 21 positions

Visits

Visiting hours

Monday to Friday:
8am to 11am
1pm to 4pm
6pm to 8.15pm

Sunday:
9am to 10am

Visits are not possible on Thursday afternoons. For visits to the Pre-trial and Preventive Detention Department, you need a permit from the responsible public prosecutor's office.
For visits to the Corrections Department, you need a permit from the prison management of the Dielsdorf Prison.

Gifts will be accepted during visiting hours.

Visitation permit and registration

  1. Before you visit

    To visit a detained person in the Corrections Department...

    Advantages:

    • You need a written permit.
    • You have to register your visit by phone.
  2. Getting a permit

    Permit for Pre-trial and Preventive Detention Department

    In order to visit an inmate in the Pre-trial and Preventive Detention Department, you must get a visitation permit from the public prosecutor's office. Please contact us: +41 43 258 16 00.

    Permit Corrections Department

    In order to visit an inmate in the Corrections Department, you need to be in possession of a visitation permit issued by the Dielsdorf prison management. Please fill in the visitor’s form below and send it to the Dielsdorf prison management (in German):

    When registering for the first time, you must submit a copy of your passport or ID along with the completed visitor's form.

  3. Wait for your permit

    Advantages:

    • The competent authority will review your application as soon as it is received.
    • In case of approval, you will receive your visitation permit by mail within three working days.
  4. Registration by phone

    After having received your written permit from the competent authority, it is mandatory to register your visit by phone: +41 43 258 16 00

  5. When you visit, please bring with you

    Advantages:

    • Identification document (passport or identity card)
    • Visitation permit
       

Supervision and treatment

In every prison, medical service, pastoral work, and social counselling are available. In case of an inmate facing psychological problems, she may consult a psychiatrist.

Seven days upon entry, all inmates will be given a medical check-up free of charge. The examination also assesses the inmate's ability to work and his fitness for enforcement. If necessary, further examinations or therapies are arranged.

Detailed information on supervision and treatment can be found in the house regulations (in German):

Work

For inmates in pre-trial- or in preventive detention, work or school attendance are not mandatory. If a person in pre-trial- or in preventive detention has committed to working on a voluntary basis, she has to carry out the tasks assigned to her.

Inmates may carry out the following tasks:

  • Cardboard work
  • Packing, labeling, and dispatching mailings
  • Component placement of advertising mailings
  • Packing and repackaging
  • Labeling and relabeling
  • Sorting
  • In-house creative work for sale

Money transfer to inmates

Cash in Swiss currency for an inmate may be handed in during regular business hours. Prison management will provide a receipt.

Money can also be transferred. Please find the bank details below:

   
Name des Finanzinstituts PostFinance, 3030 Bern
Einzahlung für Gefängnis Dielsdorf, Postfach 115, 8157 Dielsdorf
Konto CH28 0900 0000 8002 9542 6
SWIFT/BIC POFICHBEXXX
Clearing-Nr. 09000

Please be sure to include the first and last name of the inmate you wish to transfer funds to so that the prison management can allocate the amount to the correct account!

Leisure and release on temporary licence

Inmates have the opportunity to use the gym. In any case, inmates can complete an individual training programme in their free time in the cell. The prison management decides whether equipment for physical exercise (plastic dumbbells, etc.) is permitted.

Release on temporary licence is generally permitted after a period of settling in. This period is two months after a new entry, and one month after a transfer from another prison. The decision as to whether a release on temporary licence can be granted lies with the referring authority. In principle, releases on temporary licence can only be granted if

  • the behaviour of the sentenced person in correction does not speak against it;
  • there is no danger of escaping or committing further crimes;
  • there is sufficient reason to assume that the release will proceed in a correct manner and in accordance with all conditions and requirements.

There are no releases on temporary licence for inmates in pre-trial or preventive detention.

Besides, inmates are entitled to special release. Special release enables a detained person to settle legal, private or business matters that cannot be postponed and that require her presence outside the institution. Reasons for special releases may include weddings (their own or next of kin), baptisms or similar events in the life of the inmate’s children, funeral services, visits to the authorities or job interviews (shortly before release). Requirement for a special release is that the inmate follows the house regulations.

A special regulation applies to detainees who have to leave Switzerland.

Simone Keller-da Cunha Sarandão

Head of prison management

Foto von Simone Keller

Further information

Use the accordion controls to toggle the visibility of each panel (below the controls).

Contact

Dielsdorf Prison

Address

Spitalstrasse 5
Postfach 148
8157 Dielsdorf
Route (Google)

Phone

+41 43 258 16 00

Phone

+41 43 258 15 99

Fax

Email

gefaengnis.dielsdorf@ji.zh.ch