Ask The Inmate. Real answers from people who've been there.

When a facility says an inmate is in lockdown and the email system is simultaneously blocking your messages, those two things are almost certainly connected. There are two different kinds of lockdown worth understanding. A facility-wide lockdown affects everyone at once, usually due to an incident, a search, or a staffing situation. In that case all communication gets suspended temporarily and restores once the lockdown lifts. But when it is just your husband who cannot receive messages while everyone else is...

The letters you purchase through InmateAid are for sending mail to your inmate, not the other way around. Your inmate responds the old-fashioned way, through regular postal mail with a stamp. The current postage rate runs 73 cents for a standard letter. If your inmate does not have money on their books to buy stamps through commissary, the facility is required to provide basic writing materials, including paper, a pen, and postage for indigent inmates. Nobody gets completely cut off from...

Yes, and the system is actually set up to assess this from the very beginning. When a new inmate arrives and goes through orientation, the facility conducts a thorough intake screening that covers physical health, mental health, and substance abuse history. This is not optional and it is not superficial. The results of that screening directly influence where an inmate gets placed and what programming they are assigned to. If the assessment identifies a serious addiction that needs immediate intervention, the...

Yes, handwritten letters are generally accepted at Arizona State Prison Complex facilities including the Flamenco unit, and standard notebook paper is typically fine. That said, every unit within the Arizona Department of Corrections has its own specific mail guidelines, and Flamenco houses a specialized population which can mean additional restrictions beyond what a standard unit allows. Before you send anything, it is worth calling the facility directly or checking the ADCRR website to confirm the current mail rules for that specific...

If Butner is the facility listed on his sentencing paperwork, that is where he is going. The Bureau of Prisons follows through on designations. Tallahatchie is simply a holding point while the transfer logistics get arranged. What you will not get is any advance notice of when it happens. That is by design. Transfer dates, times, and routes are kept confidential for security reasons. The facility will not tell you, and your son likely will not know until the morning it...

This is a situation that requires you to move carefully, because the rules around parolees contacting current inmates are strict and the consequences of getting it wrong fall on both of you. The fact that you are not legally married complicates things further. Facilities give more latitude to spouses than to partners or significant others, and without that legal tie the approval process has less of a foundation to work from. The right way to approach this is through official channels on...

Inmates with high public profiles receive more attention than most people realize. Letters, emails, and pen pal requests come in regularly for anyone whose name carries recognition, and standing out in that crowd takes more than enthusiasm. The most straightforward approach is a well-written letter that says something real. Not flattery, not obsession, just a genuine introduction that gives her a reason to write back. Inmates have time to read, and a letter that is honest, interesting, and respectful is far...

  There are over 18,000 prisons and jails and about 25 separate phone carriers that contract with individual facilities. In almost every case, there is a wide price variance depending on your location. In federal prison, the rates are six cents per minute for a local number, 21 cents per minute for a long-distance call. Any local number will help a federal inmate save money. We issue the local line, they give it to the inmate who has to initiate the...

Conjugal visits, officially called extended family visits or family reunion programs depending on the state, are available in only four state prison systems in the United States: California, Connecticut, New York, and Washington. The federal system does not offer them at all. If your person is housed anywhere outside those four states, the program simply does not exist where they are. Even in states where conjugal visits are permitted, eligibility is not automatic. Inmates typically need to be in good disciplinary...

The US Parole Commission used the Salient Factor Score to assess a federal inmate's odds of a favorable outcome upon release. Parole no longer exists in federal law. But, the instrument contained seven items: prior convictions, prior commitments, age at first commitment, whether the commitment offense involved auto theft or checks, whether parole had ever been revoked or the inmate is a probation violator, history of opiate dependence, and verified employment or full-time school attendance for at least 6 months during...

When a letter feels too slow, you have a few options worth trying. The fastest is to call the facility directly and ask nicely. This works about half the time and depends entirely on who picks up the phone and how the conversation goes. Be polite, be brief, and be straightforward about what you need. Something simple like explaining that your number changed and you just need someone to pass it along to your fiancé goes further than a complicated story....