HEARTS CLUB

Inmates in Illinois prisons are allowed to hold hands with visitors and even kiss them, but sex is out of the question, officials say. Conjugal visits are banned by the Illinois Department of Corrections and in the federal prison system, but they’re permitted in six states: California, Connecticut, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York and Washington. And in 2007, California began allowing same-sex conjugal visits. In Illinois, inmate-visitor handholding is done across a table, said Januari Smith, a spokeswoman for the state prison system. “We like for them to give kisses at the beginning or end of the visit,” Smith said. “We don’t want people making out in the visiting room.”