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

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 is a 49 cent stamp. Many of our members use the Inmate Response Mail service through InmateAid. Your inmate would...

The new phone number you've received from InmateAid.com must be relayed to your inmate by you. There are a few ways to accomplish this. You can call the facility and ask one of the staff members, the counselor or case manager if they will give the new number to your inmate. This does not work all of time. You can use once last "expensive call" to convey the number, you can see them in visitation or send a letter. If...

No, the facilities will only accept books that are sent in by the publisher. We have a relationship with [Amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_lc?node=283155&tag=inmatecom-20&camp=15329&creative=394453&linkCode=ur1&adid=1NK4T3Z8XDKYJ0S12D53&&ref-refURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.inmateaid.com%2Fpages%2Fdetails%2Fsend-books-to-an-inmate-in-prison-or-jail), one of the only ways that may deliver books to inmates. You have to enter the inmate's name, ID number and the correct address of the facility. You have to buy "new paperback books", the used books are sold by third party affiliates and those books will get rejected. There are no other tricks to it, other than staying away...

Correctional boot camps (also called shock or intensive incarceration programs) are short-term residential programs that resemble military basic training and target convicted adult offenders. Boot camps are designed as alternative sanctions to reduce recidivism rates, as well as prison populations and operating costs. The aim is to reduce recidivism by modifying participants’ problem behaviors that likely contribute to their odds of committing additional crimes. Behavior modification occurs through reinforcement of positive behavior and immediate punishment of negative behavior. In addition,...

All the boot-camp prisons incorporate the core components of military basic training, with physical training and hard labor. Most target young offenders convicted of nonviolent crimes such as drug, burglary, or theft. Participation is limited to those who do not have an extensive past history of criminal activity. The major incentive for entering the boot camp is that the boot camp requires a shorter term than a traditional prison sentence. On a typical day, the participants arise before dawn, rapidly dress,...

The contact that you are engaging in now is great. The writing, the visits and the phone calls are showing him you care. He will be away a long time and this is going to get tougher on you as the time passes. We highly recommend sending magazine and newspaper subscriptions as the frequency of incoming mail is very soothing. If he likes to read, get him hooked on books. He can either read different genres with different authors OR...

In the TDCJ, Byrd and Gurney are similar institutions. There are various potential reason why your son was moved within the first week. There might be a program at Gurney that was not available at Byrd. There might be an issue where another inmate is related in some way to your son's case and they have to keep them separated. We don't think there is anything to be overly concerned with regarding the quick move. To get a transfer, the offender...

Yes, the Department of Corrections or the Bureau of Prisons determine where an convicted offender will serve their time. There is a point system that is based on the criminal history, violence in their past, length of sentence and likelihood of escape which arrives at a number which slots the inmate into security level. The location selected reflects the points, whether it is high/maximum, medium, low or minimum - and it is this designation and it cannot be challenged. Inmates may...