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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: Parole & probation

The clock starts when he is picked up and taken into custody, not when the paperwork is signed. Signing the revocation papers on Monday set the legal process in motion, but time served does not begin until physical custody begins. The moment law enforcement or transport takes him into custody is day one, and that day counts as a full day regardless of what time it happens. If they pick him up at 11:55 at night, that entire calendar

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Subject: Inmate phone calls

By using an InmateAid number, you are lowering the price of the call. You can talk longer for a lot less money. Prisons contract with only one prison phone company to provide outbound inmate calling services for each prison, jail or detention center. The prison phone company has no competition. We don't replace the prison phone company, we are simply providing a number that makes their call price less (based solely on the telephone number). People that come to InmateAid are already

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Subject: Send inmate mail

The correspondence rules are similar for all detention centers (jails, prisons, penitentiaries), the letters may be and probably are read by the Correctional Officers. Unless this offender is on some mail restriction for things you should already know about (terrorist-type charges), mail is considered sacred and they don't censor much. You cannot speak of business issues like moving money around, buying/selling real estate, stocks or bonds. You cannot speak of escape or anything conveying surveillance of the institution. And you

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Subject: General prison questions-terminology

Yes, there are. The state prison system has no discriminations against women being guards in a men's facility. In fact, it occurs in all fifty states. 

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Subject: Parole & probation

It is a very good sign, but it is not a guarantee, and understanding the difference matters as you prepare for what comes next. Meeting with reentry staff is a required step in the parole consideration process, not a rubber stamp that parole is coming. What the reentry team is doing is helping build the foundation of his parole application, specifically the release plan. They want to see that he has somewhere stable to go, a realistic path to

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Subject: Marriage in prison

It can be done, and it has been done. The process runs through the warden's office and requires your fiancée to take the lead on initiating it from the inside. The first step is for her to submit a formal petition to the warden requesting permission to marry while incarcerated. That petition needs to make a genuine case for why the marriage should happen now rather than after release. Wardens are not looking to approve these requests casually, so

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Subject: Marriage in prison

depends on the prison system and the custody status of the inmate. also, the time left on the sentence and their behavior while incarcerated are factors that determine whether or not the inmate is even eligible for marriage.

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Subject: Bail & bond questions

A bail amount with no release date visible is completely normal at this stage and it makes sense once you understand what each piece of information means. Bail is set by the court to ensure your boyfriend shows up for his future court appearances. It is not a release date. It is a financial guarantee the court requires before considering releasing him while his case moves through the system. The bail amount appearing in a search simply means a

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Subject: Inmate phone calls

On the free call question, most facilities allow a phone call shortly after booking, typically within the first couple of hours of arrival. Whether that call is actually free varies by facility. Some provide one free call as standard practice. Others allow the call but run it through the facility's phone carrier, which means it comes at the regular rate and someone on the receiving end needs to have an account set up to accept it. Do not assume it

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Subject: Send books and magazines

Magazines can be sent to inmates in both jails and prisons, and InmateAid has been doing exactly that since 2012 with no issues. The confusion around this is understandable because some third party services only work with state and federal prison systems and do not service county jails. InmateAid is not one of those. The magazine subscription service works across jails and prisons, which matters a great deal for someone like your fiancé who is fighting multiple cases pretrial

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