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

Prison visitation has strict rules about what can be brought inside, and they are enforced without much flexibility. Understanding what is and is not permitted before you arrive saves you from a wasted trip or an embarrassing turn-away at the entrance. The standard across most facilities is that visitors may bring a small amount of change, typically around $20, carried in a clear plastic bag that allows staff to see the contents at a glance. That money is used for vending...

No. Unused phone minutes or phone account balances do not roll over in the way a cell phone plan might. Whatever time or credit is not used within the allotted period does not carry forward to the next month or quarter. This is true across most prison phone providers, including Securus, ICSolutions, and GTL. The minute allotments set by the facility reset on their own schedule and unused portions simply expire. It is not a system designed with the consumer in...

All of the Probation Detention Centers in Georgia are minimum security facilities provided for the housing probationers. Offenders may be sent there directly from sentencing, or sent there if they have proven an inability to handle probation on the outside, or have been sent there as a result of direct violation or revocation of their parole. These centers have strict schedules which include directly supervised work on the outside and programs to aid the probationer in their successful re-entry to...

The fire conservation camp inmates are lower security rated inmates that are given the privilege of working outside the walls of a standard prison. Their custody level is "minimum" which means there are no fences and very liberal incarceration methods. But, they are still inmates of the State and must not violate the trust that this custody level affords them. They have commissary to buy the essentials and extras that are on the list of available items. They may call...

You can go straight to the source, the Clerk of the Court where your son was arraigned. Ask the person answering the phone the name of the judge presiding over the case and that you would like a written copy of the charges. You might have to pay a small fee for the information. This is where attorneys go to get their information to handle their cases, they often have to pay a small amount for copying charges. You are...

When an offender is released to halfway house, they are still "property" of the state until that period of re-entry is complete. Halfway house is a privilege and probably came with some good time credits which allowed them released several months before the sentence ended. This violation might cause your friend to have to complete the entire sentence "inside". It is unlikely that the offender will get extra time as the "escape" would have to be more egregious. Running...

County jail is probably the most boring of the venues to do one's time. The days begins with a wake up, lights one routine. Inmates will then be brought breakfast. After breakfast there is a clean-up period where the inmates will make their bed and mop their cells. There are a couple of inmates that clean the general area. After the morning chores are completed, there is a period of time where inmates are all in one area of the...