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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.

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Subject: Inmate search

Please send us your inmate's information (name and DOB) and we will set it up for you. Once it is completed we will notify you that it is ready for use.

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Subject: General prison questions-terminology

This is not unusual. You are questioning yourself but if what you say is true, there is no excuse for him not writing you. The SHU is mostly 24 hour/day lockdown, PLUS the SHU inmates get writing material AND stamps if they ask. You are going to have a rocky nine year stretch with this emotional toil of second-guessing. You have some tough decisions ahead. Whatever you do, make sure you think it through and don't do anything in anger.

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Subject: Prison discipline

Yes, that is generally accurate. Inmates housed in the Special Housing Unit typically receive very limited phone access compared to the general population, and a single 15-minute call per week is the standard in both California state prisons and federal facilities. The SHU is designed to be restrictive by nature. It is used for disciplinary segregation, protective custody, or administrative holds, and nearly every privilege gets scaled back significantly while someone is housed there. Phone access is one of

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Subject: Inmate transfer

The state intake process is a bit lengthy as they go through several staff interviews that range from medical, psychological to educational assessment and work/job profiling. Once they are settled into a routine, the communication between you two will improve and be more often. A three year sentence requires that 85% of be served. The 15% is considered good time and is given to all inmate upon arrival. An inmate can only lose good time by getting incident reports.

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Subject: Money transfer

JPay accounts are tied to the inmate rather than the facility, which means in theory the account and any associated funds should follow them when they move within the same state system. Texas Department of Criminal Justice uses JPay across its units, so a transfer from Powledge to another TDCJ unit should not require setting up an entirely new account. That said, transfers can create temporary gaps in the system. There is sometimes a lag between when an inmate

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Subject: Inmate transfer

It could be that it was overcrowded where they were and a bed opened somewhere else. It could have been for disciplinary reasons. Most times you never find out why, but you have to just role with it as you are the property of the state until your release date.

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Subject: Bail & bond questions

If an inmate anywhere can make the bail that posted, they will get released with stipulations. The bail bond company is reassuring the Court that the offender will appear for all the court appearances. The bail bond company might take into consideration the offender is from a different county and could add more cost to the bond. It's all done on a case-by-case basis determining the risk to the bond company and deciding on how much money will assure compliance.

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Subject: Medical treatment

Inmates required for hospital stay are released pretty quickly back to the facility - they don't keep them longer than necessary as it is an additional cost to the department, whom are very budget-conscious. There are no set rules for phone calls, they are handled on a case-by-case basis - sometimes they are forbidden for security reasons. You might try calling the facility and ask to speak with the case manager, counselor or unit team secretary to get more information.

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Subject: Prison jobs

Inmates are paid anywhere from $.12/hr to $.40/hr depending on the job and the responsibilities. There are instances where inmates that rise to supervisory positions can receive pay exceeding $1.00/hr but that is rare.

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Subject: Prison jobs

Almost every inmate must have a job. They range from working in the kitchen, in education, landscaping, recreation, construction, plumbing, electrical, as a medical orderly, as an orderly cleaning the general areas, clerking for staff, working in the chapel are among the many jobs available for inmates. The pay is between 12 - 40 cents per hour. Some inmates actually have the opportunity to make a bit more money in their jobs if they take on a supervisory role reporting

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