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

Work release is different than the halfway house. Work release is when you live in the prison but take a bus (Mon - Fri) to a remote location where they work with civilians. When their work day is over, they return to the minimum security camp and sleep. The halfway house means "halfway between in prison and being released from prison." The halfway house is when the inmate is released into the community, they will live in the halfway house...

Roxbury runs a commissary on a weekly schedule. Inmates can place orders once a week for regular items like food, hygiene products, and other approved goods. That part works the way most facilities do. The six-month restriction on big-ticket items like televisions and clothing is a separate policy tied to spending limits. Major purchases like a TV eat up a large portion of the monthly spending allowance in one shot, and facilities manage that by creating longer purchasing windows for those...

If the violation did not result in any new criminal charges, the most likely outcome is that he is returned to custody to serve out the remainder of his original sentence. No additional time gets tacked on simply for violating transitional leave when no new offense was committed. The worst case in that scenario is finishing what he originally owed. On the other end of the spectrum, depending on the nature of the violation and the discretion of the supervising authority,...

Parole approval is not the same as release, and the gap between the two can be frustratingly long. Two weeks is not unusual at all, and in some cases, the process stretches into months. The most common reason for the delay is housing. Before the parole board will authorize an actual release date, the approved housing situation must be confirmed and accepted by the parole office. The address she listed has to be verified, the parole officer has to inspect or...

Yes and No. The use of the phone is a privilege and my be taken away for a number of reasons. Mail is considered to be sacred and they NEVER take away the inmate's ability to receive or send mail, even if they are subjected to the SHU for disciplinary reasons. Inmates may not correspond with other inmates unless they are related and have received permission from the warden. The only time mail is restricted is if the inmate...

No, it does not mean he can bond out on that date. An earliest release date set by the Department of Corrections means the system has calculated the minimum point at which he becomes eligible for release based on his sentence. It is the floor, not a guarantee, and it has nothing to do with bail or bonding out. What most likely happened is that the parole hold was resolved and he was sentenced on whatever he was picked up for,...

County jail visits are fairly standardized across the country. Expect short visit windows, typically 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the facility's schedule, and in most cases, no physical contact. The majority of county jails use non-contact visitation, meaning you will be separated by glass and speaking through a phone or intercom rather than sitting in the same room. A brief hug on arrival and departure is sometimes permitted at lower-security county facilities, but it is not the norm. If he...