Just thought of a question?

Have a question?

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: Visitation

Being on probation does not automatically disqualify you from visiting someone held at an immigration detention facility but it does add a layer of complexity that requires careful handling before you show up at the door. ICE detention facilities operated by private contractors like CoreCivic, formerly CCA, run their own visitor approval processes that are separate from the standard state or federal prison visitor screening. Central Arizona Detention Center follows ICE's civil detention standards for visitation rather than the

Read more
Subject: Inmate phone calls

No. When an inmate places a call through the prison phone system and you do not answer, the call does not connect to voicemail the way a standard cell phone call would. The system simply registers that the call was not answered and disconnects. Your voicemail greeting does not play and the inmate hears nothing beyond the automated prompts of the prison phone system itself. This means leaving a new phone number in your voicemail greeting as a way

Read more
Subject: Sentencing questions

In most state systems, a seven-year sentence for domestic assault does not mean seven full years behind the wall, but how much gets shaved off depends on the jurisdiction and the specific classification of the offense. The 85 percent rule applies in many states, meaning at a minimum 85 percent of the imposed sentence must be served before release becomes possible. On a seven-year sentence that works out to roughly five years and ten months of actual time served

Read more
Subject: Sentencing questions

Most likely he will be held under what is called a "detainer" which will keep him when his sentence is completed in Fulton, then the Whitfield sheriff will take him into custody to face the pending charges. If this warrant is not related to the charge he is doing time for, it is unlikely he will get "time served". But it really depends on the charges and how pissed off the prosecution is. 

Read more
Subject: Law & court questions - legal terms

No. This is a prison rumor, and versions of it have been circulating through correctional facilities across the country for decades. The specific details change depending on the state, the year, and who is telling it, but the pattern is always the same. A specific date, a specific fraction of time, and a specific category of inmates. It sounds credible because it is specific, and it spreads fast because everyone inside wants it to be true. Sentence reduction legislation

Read more
Subject: Commissary

Inmates do not have access to the Internet. They must respond with their own version of a postal letter. Inmates that have money on their inmate trust accounts can purchase stamps and envelopes at the weekly commissary. If they do not have money on their books, the prison will provide indigent inmates with all the materials necessary to send out mail to their loved ones. If your inmate writes to you directly, using your address, the cost of the mailing

Read more
Subject: Prison discipline

Something must have occurred that has suspended visitation. It could be that they had a shakedown and found cellphones, alcohol, cash, cigarettes, drugs or steroids - these are the most prevalent contraband confiscated during surprise inspections. Group punishment is the penalty normally imposed if they cannot isolate the people responsible.

Read more
Subject: Send inmate mail

We estimate that it takes 2-3 business days to make it to the jail. Once there, the staff opens and reads each piece of mail and inspects it for contraband. Once they decide the mail is fit to be handed out at mail call, your inmate will receive it. Any delay that occurs at the facility is out of our control. We make no guarantees as to how long it will take as there are thousands of facilities and none

Read more
Subject: Residential drug abuse program (rdap)

Once you are approved by Texas for inclusion into an RDAP class your out date will then change on the BOP website. The date will be calculated like this: 30 - 6 = 24 x .85. Sentence duration is 20.4 months but your release date from the camp will be at 14.4 months, assuming that you get 6 months of halfway house. Once in the halfway house if you have an approved residence and a job, you could get home

Read more
Subject: General prison questions-terminology

Release from a CCA facility, now operating under the name CoreCivic, generally happens in the morning with most releases processed between 7 and 9 a.m. The exact time on any given day depends on how many inmates are being released at once and how smoothly the discharge paperwork and processing moves through the system. Release day involves more administrative steps than most people anticipate. The facility has to complete final paperwork, return personal property, issue any gate money the

Read more
Search Arrest Records