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Ask The Inmate

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: Inmate search

You can try vinelink.com for the inmate ID number. If the letters do not have the ID, the mail room staff by rule could reject the mail. It depends on whose working at the time, some are nice and let it go, others not so... and play it by the book

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Subject: Bail & bond questions

Once your accused has gone before the magistrate, a bail amount is set. This bail amount becomes part of the record and usually you will have bail bondsmen contact the closest of kin to try and make a deal to bond your inmate out. Depending upon the amount, it is customary for the bail bondsman get a 10% non-refundable fee (of the total amount of the bond). Once you agree on the terms, the bondsman will go to the jail

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Subject: Send inmate mail

We estimate a couple business days for normal mail to make it into the facility. Once it is there, they inspect all parcels and then hand them out to the inmates. There might be a short delay inside the mail room.

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Subject: General prison questions-terminology

“Ask the Inmate” is not a direct communication link to a particular inmate; it is a question and answer forum between you and a former inmate who knows how things work on the inside. To communicate, you can write letters, postcards or send photos - you will have to go to your My Account area and click on the Inmate Page and then click "Letters". You will be able to communicate with them through there.

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Subject: Bail & bond questions

It depends on the total bail set at the hearing

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Subject: Send inmate mail

Yes they can. Inmates do not have access to the Internet. They send you the letter through our service - we receive them, scan them and place them in your My Account area for retrieval. This service is beneficial for people who want their home address private.  

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Subject: Visitation

Getting approved at one facility does not automatically carry over to others unless they are in the same system (state or federal), then you would be approved across all locations.

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Subject: Law & court questions - legal terms

It depends on the Statements of Fact entered into the plea or the Pre-Sentence Report prior to receiving sentence for a conviction.

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Subject: Money transfer

As you may or may not be aware, we are not a money transfer company. We have a simple solution that we offer for our international members. We will arrange to deposit any amount in an inmate account - you decide the method.    We charge a service fee on top of whatever service charge Western Union charges plus the credit card merchant fee. The fees are steep but there are limited places to get money transferred from abroad. You email us what

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Subject: Send books and magazines

Most facilities have rules regarding books. Some have no limit, others do not. The most prevailing arrangement is that they allow an inmate to receive as many books as they want, but they must store the majority of them in the facility library. Storage is not plentiful in the living quarters but they encourage reading and self-improvement. Books and education are the best "escapes" for an inmate.

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