The phone service gets a local telephone number for your inmate to call you on - still using the prison telephone company to run the number through. The local line makes the calls at the lowest possible rate, because it is now local and not long distance. You will have to get the number to the inmate either by sending a letter or getting a message via a visit or one last "expensive call". Unfortunately, the prison staff will not...

If you sent the money yourself, confirming it was received is straightforward. Call the facility and ask to speak with the counselor or case manager assigned to your family member. They can look up the account balance and confirm whether a deposit is showing. Be prepared to answer basic verification questions about the transaction, such as the amount sent and the method used. If you are trying to find out whether someone else sent money to your family member's account, that...

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 us as...

When 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 about the...

Traveling 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 travel, call the facility....

Thank 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 and potential constitutional issues...

Video 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 or website...

Yes, 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 family needs...

Northern 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 differently. New Jersey has...

No. 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 your family member wants...