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That's fine, but doesn't imply it would be that much easier for an assassin to bribe his way through?
I don't think so. Even at the most dysfunctional facilities, a total outsider bribing his way through strikes me as implausible.
I don't know the exact layout of the jail in question. Usually there is a lobby/front desk with multiple guards checking IDs and they're behind bulletproof glass. There is usually a camera in the lobby. Might not be working, but the guards there might not know whether it's working on any given day. The assassin flashes a briefcase of cash to the front desk guard who is behind bulletproof glass and hopes the others don't see? He pays them all off?
Those guards almost never leave the front desk. They radio the next guard in the chain to come escort the visitor. Maybe that guy doesn't need to be bribed, but what's he told? If they say the visitor is a lawyer for a legal visit (not a terrible cover if the assassin looks professional), then he's taken to a legal room for a visit, not to the cell. Same for a religious visit. There might be multiple levels of escorts (depends on the size of the facility). Even at dysfunctional facilities, there will be other guards around and possible supervisors who might ask about why someone is being taken directly to a cell instead of a visitation room. Are all those guards and supervisors being bribed as well? There are all the cameras throughout the facility, but of course those might not be working. Unless they've been broken long-term (possible), guards on any given day wouldn't know if they're working that day.
Paying a guard to take drugs into a facility is one thing. Paying levels of guards to get an outsider into a cell is another. In another comment here, I put forward a possible explanation that strikes me as more plausible.
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