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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: Inmate search

You need the correct SID number, which is the state identification number assigned to each inmate, to properly set up an inmate profile on InmateAid. Without it the profile cannot be accurately linked to the right person in the system. The most direct way to get the number is to contact the facility where the inmate is housed and ask the administrative office or secretary for the SID number. Have the inmate's full legal name and date of birth

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Subject: Send inmate mail

The InmateAid letter response system still travels through the US Postal Service because that is the only option available to inmates who do not have internet access. The difference is in how the letter is received and delivered to you on the outside. Here is how it works. When you send a letter through InmateAid the return address on the envelope is InmateAid's address rather than your personal home address. Your loved one writes their response letter and mails

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Subject: Inmate search

You can go to the prison facility page on InmateAid and click on "Inmate Locator" at this facility. Type in the information and you will find out exactly where he is. If you are still running into problems, email us at aid@inmateaid.com and we will try and help. Please include all of the information that you know like his name, ID number and DOB.

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Subject: Send inmate mail

We do not have a bible program currently in place. We recommend using Amazon for the sending of all books into the prison. Make sure that the books are paperback and come from Amazon itself and not one of their resellers.

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Subject: Relationship issues

It is possible. A small folded note slipped onto a tray during a brief interaction is the kind of thing that happens in facilities across the country. Officers cannot watch every hand movement during every tray pass and inmates who want to communicate find ways to do it even in supervised settings. That said, the premise of the original concern is worth examining. Male and female inmates are housed in completely separate units and male trustees do not work

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Subject: Inmate phone calls

The most reliable way is through a letter. Write to your loved one and let them know you have added funds to their phone account and that call time is available. Mail takes a few days to arrive but it gets the message through in a format they can hold onto and reference. If timing is tight and you need them to know sooner, sending a message through the facility's electronic messaging platform is faster in systems where that

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Subject: Survive prison

This is a serious situation and the frustration of watching someone you love get repeatedly denied protection while facing genuine danger is one of the hardest things a family can go through from the outside. The internal grievance process is the necessary first path even when it feels like it is going nowhere. A denied 805 request for administrative segregation is not the end of the road. The next step in the federal grievance process is a BP-9, which

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Subject: Parole, probation & supervised release

When parole approves an inmate and needs to verify a home plan, the parole officer assigned to the case will attempt to reach the contact on file at the number provided. If that number is disconnected, suspended, or wrong and the call does not go through, the officer does not simply approve the address and move on. They note the failed contact attempt and the home plan verification stalls until they can make successful contact. That stall can push a

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Subject: Prison violence

TV exaggerates the things that happen in prison. Think of prison as a small village with a group of people that have to live there for a while. Somehow, some way, the people figure out how to co-exist. Inmates have a "hustle", a way to get little extras. Some cut hair, some do laundry or clean other's cells. Some cook and sell their food. But there is gambling and contraband peddling. If your inamte gets caught up in that and

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Subject: Visitation

This is strictly up to the prison warden. If you have been an inmate in the GDC, you will need to explain the entire story to the warden or someone on their staff to get consideration for a visit. Normally, felons and ex-convicts are NOT allowed to visit at any institution. If you think your circumstances merit the visit, you will need to go through a vetting protocol before you get permission.

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