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

When an inmate is sentenced to serve time, an Earned Release Supervision (ERS) date, a tentative release date and a maximum release date are configured. The earned release supervision date is based on an inmate serving a percentage of their sentence. For example, an inmate may be required to serve 85% of a sentence in a facility and is eligible to serve the remaining 15% on ERS. There are many factors that are considered in calculating an inmate’s ERS date. An...

The custody and security levels are set by the Department of Corrections or the Bureau of Prisons. Their determination cannot be challenged or appealed. Your inmate might have something in his past that has cultivated a profile that brought the administration to determine this level of custody. There could be an issue of available bed space. There is no "supposed to" in prison. Outside forces have no bearing on the way the inside runs it's facilities. You can always call...

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...

If the facility has stopped deducting inmate fees when you order care packages for your husband, it could indicate a few possibilities, but it doesn't necessarily mean that he currently has money on his books. Here’s what it could mean: 1. Change in Facility Policy: Fee Structure Adjustment: The facility may have changed its policy regarding how they handle fees related to care packages or inmate commissary accounts. Sometimes, facilities modify their processes, deciding not to deduct certain fees directly from care...

A fugitive of justice charge means that another state or jurisdiction, in this case likely Los Angeles County based on the LACBA reference in the warrant number, has an active warrant for your daughter and Arizona is holding her until that jurisdiction comes to collect her. She has not necessarily been charged with a new crime in Arizona. The charge is essentially a holding status while the extradition process is arranged. The LACBA prefix on the warrant number points to Los...

This is a question that is not for us to answer for you. You cannot let the silence convince you of one thing or another. If you confirm it, that is one thing but to break up "thinking it is someone else" might be a mistake. There might be another explanation since the whole prison-thing is about isolation. They might have phone privileges suspended, or he might not have funds to call, or maybe he thinks you are with someone...

When sentences run concurrently, defendants serve all the sentences at the same time. When sentences run consecutively, defendants have to finish serving the sentence for one offense before they start serving the sentence for any other offense. If a defendant is convicted of a number of crimes that carry lengthy prison terms, the difference between consecutive and concurrent sentences can be tremendous. The same factors that judges tend to consider when deciding on the severity of a sentence (for example,...

As an inmate does his time and is not receiving any incident reports, their custody level will change for the better. That is the incentive for an inmate to maintain good behavior. The lower the level of custody, the easier their time is. The higher security facilities have inmates with long sentences and not much to lose when it comes to igniting situations with rule breaking or violence. Inmates that want to go home follow the rules and get rewarded...

There is no real quick way to speed up extradition. You will have to let the process play out. This is done sometimes to sweat the inmate into a plea agreement. Finding a good attorney is not the easiest thing to do or the cheapest. You will have to talk with your daughter and get a feel for her case. No one really "knows a good criminal attorney" unless they have been through a criminal TRIAL and been found not-guilty....