Subject: Commissary
It depends on the facility. In federal, the amount is $320 per month ($370 in November and December) on commissary items. This does not include over-the-counter medications, copy cards, or postage stamps. In state prison, the weekly amounts range from $40-60. In the county jails it is about $75 per week. The private prisons like CoreCivic or GEO also allow $75 per week.
Subject: Send inmate mail
Yes, absolutely. Downstate Correctional Facility is a New York State prison and accepts mail including postcards through standard USPS delivery. There is no issue sending directly to his new location.
If you had already sent a postcard to the county jail before the transfer and it did not reach him because he moved, InmateAid will resend it to Downstate at no charge. Just email aid@inmateaid.com with the details of the transfer, his new facility information, and the team will take care...
Read moreSubject: Survive prison
Yes, and the legal footing here is not in your favor as much as you might expect.
You have the right to send mail. The facility has the right to reject it. Those two things can both be true at the same time, and in practice the facility's authority over what comes through their mailroom is broad and largely unreviewable from the outside.
When there are pending domestic charges in the picture, even ones you did not initiate, the facility treats that...
Read moreSubject: Furloughs
Work release is the final step-down before full release and it comes with significantly more freedom than any previous stage of incarceration. At St. Petersburg Work Release Center and similar facilities in the Florida system, eligible inmates can receive structured time outside the facility including daylight hours and in some cases furlough periods to spend with family.
The specific allowances depend on how far along your fiance is in the work release program, his compliance record, and the facility's current protocols....
Read moreSubject: Treatment vs.incarceration
There is no fixed length, and that is intentional rather than an oversight.
When a sentence is suspended pending successful completion of a drug treatment program, the program is designed to run as long as the individual actually needs it rather than on a predetermined schedule. The clinical staff assess progress and make decisions based on genuine therapeutic milestones, not a calendar. Someone who engages deeply and does the real work may complete it in a different timeframe than someone resistant...
Read moreSubject: Bail & bond questions
It means HOLD. In Florida state court, the judge at first appearance can add a condition to bond known as a "Nebbia Hold" or "Bail Source Hearing". A Nebbia hold allows the court to inquire into the source of the funds used for the bond. The problem with a Nebbia Hold is that it can delay a person being released from custody. This might be a spot for a good attorney, knowing how to navigate this process.
Subject: Survive prison
The options are limited and the process is frustrating, but there is a formal path worth taking even when the odds of resolution feel long.
Every facility has an inmate handbook that outlines the grievance and property claim process. That is the starting point. An inmate who believes personal property was lost, damaged, or taken should file a formal property claim or grievance as soon as possible after discovering the loss. The claim needs to be specific, documenting what was lost,...
Read moreSubject: Inmate transfer
Yes, probation transfers are possible, but they require cooperation from multiple parties and a compelling case for why the transfer serves the interests of successful supervision.
The process is called an interstate or intercounty probation transfer, and it works like this. Your boyfriend would need to formally request the transfer through his San Diego probation officer. That request gets reviewed by the sentencing judge in San Diego, who has to agree that transferring supervision is appropriate. The receiving jurisdiction, in this...
Read moreSubject: Survive prison
You're asking a guy that did federal time about someone doing time on the weekend? Come on man!!! The hours, like he's checking into the Holiday Inn for the evening LMAO. For the record, he's not an inmate, he's a tourist
Subject: Arrest record search
Suzanne L. Kays unit is located in the Lew Sterrett Justice Center. This facility holds 3,292 maximum security inmates with 188 single cells. Each floor has two pods.


