Can Inmates Have Cell Phones in Any Prison Program?

There are no cell phones allowed in any penal facility in the United States, regardless of what the phone can or cannot do. This is not a facility-by-facility policy decision. Federal law makes it a criminal offense for an incarcerated person to possess a cell phone, and if one is found, the inmate faces the possibility of up to five additional years added to their sentence. No program, no custody level, and no facility type is exempt from this.

Whatever your brother was told, or however the information reached you, it is not accurate. Acting on it could cost him significantly more time.

The approved way to communicate by phone is through the facility's contracted phone system, which is available to inmates during designated hours. Those calls connect to numbers that have been approved and added to the inmate's phone list. It is not as convenient as a personal cell phone, but it is the only legal option.