Once your letter shows as sent in your InmateAid account, plan on about 2 to 3 business days for it to travel through the postal system and reach the facility in Texarkana. That timeline covers the transit from InmateAid's mailing facility to the jail or prison, but it does not account for what happens inside the mailroom after it arrives.
Every piece of incoming mail at a correctional facility goes through a review process before it reaches the inmate. Staff open and inspect the contents, check for anything that violates facility rules, and then distribute approved mail to inmates. That process typically adds a day, sometimes two, to the timeline depending on the facility's mailroom volume and staffing on any given day.
New inmates can receive incoming mail and send outgoing mail from the start, so there is no waiting period on that end as long as your person is processed into the system at the facility.
Putting it all together, a realistic window from when your letter shows as sent to when your inmate has it in hand is about 4 to 6 days under normal circumstances. Weekends and holidays extend that window since postal and mailroom processing slows during those periods. Sending early in the week gives you the best chance of hitting the shorter end of that range.
If significantly more time passes without your inmate mentioning the letter, reach out to InmateAid's support team. If anything was returned, they investigate and resend at no charge.