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Ask a former inmate questions at no charge. The inmate answering has spent considerable time in the federal prison system, state and county jails, and in a prison that was run by the private prison entity CCA.

Ask your question or browse previous questions in response to comments or further questions of members of the InmateAid community.

Subject: Commissary

Yes, in most county jails, the cash a person has on them at the time of booking gets processed and credited to their inmate account. It does not happen instantly, but the money does not disappear either. When someone is booked, all personal property, including cash, gets inventoried and held by the facility. The cash portion is typically transferred to the inmate's commissary or trust account within a day or two of booking, sometimes faster depending on how the

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Subject: Release questions

In short, it means there is a warrant from someone else for a totally different charge. A "detention hold" is legally binding direction to the current detention facility ONLY release you into their custody after you have served your time for the current sentence.

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Subject: Prison discipline

It is segregated housing within the facility. It is used for disciplinary or administrative segregation from the general population.

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Subject: Medical treatment

There are limited medical and dental recourses in the state prison system. Dental emergencies are largely remedied by pulling the tooth/teeth affected, not mending them. They never offer a cosmetic choice. If your inmate has dentures already, he can receive them but in no way will the state foot the bill for new dentures.

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Subject: Inmate search

TDCJ Inmate Search

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Subject: Prison discipline

When an inmate begins their sentence they are given "good time" or "gain time" of 15%. Therefore the inmate is set to do 85% of their sentence. If they get into situations where incident reports mount up, they could ultimately have their good time taken away. Discipline cannot add time to their sentence unless a new crime (assault, escape, attempted murder, murder) was committed and they were found guilty.

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Subject: Inmate phone calls

It is not a scam. You are asking because you are hoping there is a better way, a cheaper way.  Most times there is a better way. To understand our service, you have to understand how the prisons and jails do inmate calling. EVERY facility has only ONE service that has the contract to provide calling for inmates. InmateAid does not replace that service. We make it cheaper to use by assessing the call prices by area code. We get you

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Subject: Clemency - pardons

Yes, all inmates are entitled to apply for clemency, a pardon or compassionate release from the governor of the state they are incarcerated or in the case of federal inmates the President is the only one with that power. Inmates may write the US Pardon Attorney in Washington DC to apply. Obama pardoned more inmates than all of the previous presidents combined.

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Subject: Send inmate mail

Our letters and photos service is mailed through the USPS. Folks like the convenience of taking a picture at a family event and sharing it with your inmate within a couple days. Inmates will tell you they get a lot of promises of pictures from family gatherings but we on the outside sometimes get busy and forget. Don't be that guy. Ours is convenient, reliable and super-easy to use. Books are the great escape for inmates. Sending some to an inmate

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Subject: Send inmate mail

Most facilities have no picture limit. There are 25-30 Montgomery Counties in the US, what state are you seeking this information for?

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