Ask The Inmate. Real answers from people who've been there.

An RVR, or Rules Violation Report, is an internal disciplinary document generated when an inmate is found to have violated facility rules. It becomes part of the inmate's institutional record and is treated as protected information under federal and state privacy statutes. As a family member or partner on the outside, you have no legal right to access that record without the inmate's consent. The facility will not disclose disciplinary information to outside parties, and there is no public database or...

From the time you send the letter through InmateAid, expect it to reach the facility's mailroom within two to three business days via USPS. InmateAid processes and mails letters daily, so once your order is placed it goes out quickly from their end. The Terre Haute Federal Correctional Complex, including the Satellite Prison Camp, is a well-established federal facility with a functioning mail operation. Once the letter arrives at the mailroom, staff inspect all incoming mail for contraband before distributing it,...

In most cases the letter will find its way to your friend regardless of whether it went to the main site or the annex. Correctional facilities that operate multiple sites on the same campus or within the same system typically have mail forwarding procedures in place for exactly this situation. Staff at the receiving mailroom generally know where to redirect mail when an inmate is housed at an adjacent or connected site. TCIX, the Turney Center Industrial Complex in Only, Tennessee,...

Housing assignments are not posted online for any California state facility. The only way to get that information is to call McFarland directly. When you do, they may tell you that the specific bed assignment is not something they share with outside callers, and that is actually fine for mailing purposes. To send mail to your wife, you do not need her housing unit or bed number. You only need her full legal name, her CDCR number, and the facility's mailing...

This is a very real problem and unfortunately a common one. Sex offender probation comes with strict housing rules that can make placement extremely difficult. The first and most important step is to work directly with his probation officer. They control what housing is approved, and they often know of options that are not easy to find on your own. Here are the main paths to explore: Probation officer guidance Have your nephew ask his probation officer for a list of approved residences or...

Six weeks feels like a long time when someone you love has essentially disappeared into a system and you are getting very little information about what is happening. Understanding what actually goes on during that period makes the wait more bearable, even if it does not make it shorter. The diagnostic or reception phase exists because the prison system needs a complete picture of every incoming inmate before deciding where to house them permanently and what programs they need. That process...