There is no automatic confirmation when a letter reaches your inmate. However, if you have not heard anything and want to follow up, calling the facility's mail room directly is worth trying. Mail room staff can sometimes confirm whether a specific piece of mail was processed and distributed, though how cooperative they are varies by facility and by who answers the phone. On InmateAid's end, we only know a letter did not make it if it comes back to
Read moreWhen a visitation request gets denied, the reason given is not always the real reason, and it is worth digging deeper before accepting the outcome. Age similarity to another approved visitor is not a standard basis for denying a visitation request. That explanation does not appear in any typical visitation policy and should raise questions. There may be something else going on that has not been communicated directly, whether that is a restriction on the inmate's end, a concern
Read moreTraveling from England to visit someone at Southport Correctional Facility in New York is a significant journey, and knowing what to expect before you arrive will make the experience much less stressful. Southport is a maximum security facility that houses inmates in special housing units. Visits there are non-contact, meaning you and your family member will be separated by a screen and communicate by phone during the visit. There is no physical contact during the visit. Before you
Read moreThank you for the kind words. An unresponsive attorney before a court date is a serious problem, and you are not without options even when it feels that way. Go above the public defender directly. Call the supervising attorney or chief public defender at the office handling the case. Explain clearly that calls and messages have gone unanswered and that a court date is approaching. Supervisors take these complaints seriously because an unresponsive attorney creates both professional liability
Read moreVideo visitation availability depends entirely on the facility. Not every jail or prison offers webcam visits, and those that do use different platforms and have different procedures for setting them up. The first step is confirming whether your family member's facility offers video visitation at all. Call the facility directly and ask whether they have a video visitation program and which platform they use. Common providers include JPay, Securus, GTL, and Telmate, each of which has its own app
Read moreYes, bail can be posted without traveling in person a second time, and a bail bondsman is the most practical solution when distance is a factor. Here is how it works. A bail bondsman posts the full bail amount on your behalf in exchange for a non-refundable fee, typically 10% of the total bail. On a $50,000 bail that fee would be $5,000. The bondsman handles the posting process with the court directly, which means no one from your
Read moreNorthern State Prison uses GTL as their phone carrier, which is the same provider used across New Jersey Department of Corrections facilities statewide. InmateAid's discount phone service works by providing a local phone number that forces the prison's carrier to bill the call at local rates rather than long distance rates. That difference is where the savings come from, typically more than $10 per call at facilities where long distance rates apply. However, the NJDOC system is structured
Read moreNo. CDs are not accepted at any prison or jail regardless of how they are sent or who they are ordered through. This applies to all facilities and all vendors including Amazon. The reason is security. Physical media like CDs can be used to smuggle contraband, and facilities have eliminated them from approved property lists entirely. This has also become less relevant as the music industry has shifted away from physical media, but the policy stands regardless. If
Read moreInmateAid does not automatically notify an inmate when a profile is created for them. The notification comes from you. The most direct way to let your family member know their profile exists is through a letter. Write and tell them that you have set up a Personal Inmate Page on InmateAid, explain what services are available through the site, and let them know how to make use of it from their end. For federal inmates who have access to
Read moreMagazines are one of the best things you can send an inmate, and there is a wide range of titles that are permitted at most facilities. The rule that applies almost universally is no nudity. Full nudity disqualifies a magazine from entering most correctional facilities regardless of how mainstream the publication is. Playboy, for example, is rejected at most facilities for this reason despite being a well-known title. For magazines with a sexier edge that stay within what
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