Ask The Inmate. Real answers from people who've been there.

No, and there are risks on both sides of that call. Prison and jail phone calls are recorded and monitored. Every number an inmate calls, and every conversation on those calls, is logged and available to law enforcement. Calling someone with an active warrant creates a documented connection between the inmate and a person who is currently wanted, which is the kind of detail that prosecutors and investigators pay attention to. For the inmate, regular contact with someone who is a...

Visitation at Rio Grande Detention Center follows the standard process for GEO-operated immigration detention facilities. Visitors need to be on the inmate's approved visitor list, bring valid government-issued photo identification to the visit, and comply with the facility's dress code and conduct policies. The inmate is responsible for initiating the approval process by submitting visitor information through their case manager or counselor. On the felony conviction question: prior felonies do not automatically disqualify someone from visiting, but they do require warden-level...

Yes. Prepaid cards work just as well as regular credit or debit cards on InmateAid. You do not need a bank account or a traditional credit card to use the service. Prepaid Visa, Mastercard, and American Express cards are all accepted and can be picked up at Walmart, Target, CVS, Walgreens, grocery stores, and most convenience stores. Load whatever amount you need onto the card and use it at checkout the same way you would a regular card. There is no specific...

InmateAid is not a replacement for GTL or a portal into their system. What it provides is a local phone number matched to the same rate center as the jail, which triggers GTL's lower local calling rate rather than the more expensive long-distance rate applied to numbers outside the area. To activate the savings, you need to add the InmateAid local number to your GTL account rather than keeping your original number as the contact number. You can do this by...

Without knowing the state, it is hard to evaluate the specific provision he is referring to. What he is likely describing is a parole eligibility window rather than an automatic sentence reduction. Some states do have provisions where inmates serving life sentences for certain offenses become eligible to apply for parole after serving a minimum number of years, often 10 to 15 depending on the offense and the sentencing structure. The critical piece is whether the judge included a parole provision...

Yes, this might help slow down the introduction of drugs into the prison system. But they are in a union and getting "strip searches" approved as a daily function of their job is VERY unlikely to happen. The inmates that keep them in business are equally to blame. We would rather promote how an inmate can use their time of incarceration to lift themselves above what got them in there in the first place. Staying in the drug game is...

VINELink is the tool built exactly for this situation. It stands for Victim Information and Notification Everyday, and it is a free service available at vinelink.com that allows victims and concerned parties to register for automatic notifications when an offender's custody status changes, including when they are released, transferred, or escape. You can sign up to receive alerts by email, phone, or text. This is the most reliable way to make sure you are not the last person to know. Beyond...

County jail meals are not going to impress anyone. A plate of rice, peas, and a roll is a real meal by institutional standards, even if it would not pass muster anywhere else. Jails operate on tight budgets and nutrition is managed to minimum standards, not maximum enjoyment. Meat appears on the menu with some regularity but not at every meal, and there will be days that feel very lean. That is the reality of county jail food across the...

The options are more limited than most people expect. For the vast majority of state inmates, programming does not directly reduce the release date. Good time is calculated upfront and built into the first projected release date the inmate sees. Completing programs does not add more time off, though it can prevent the loss of good time credits already granted. The major exception is RDAP, the Residential Drug Abuse Program, which is available only in the federal Bureau of Prisons system....

Call the Clerk of the Court in the county where he is being sentenced, either on the day of the hearing or the day after. The clerk's office maintains the official record of all court proceedings and outcomes, and once the hearing is on the books, the information is public record. You do not need to be present at the hearing or have any special standing to request it. Just give them his full legal name and case number if...