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

Western Union is one of several money transfer options used by correctional facilities, but not every facility uses it. Your first step is to confirm that the Work Ethic Camp in McCook actually accepts Western Union deposits. The easiest way to do that is to call the facility directly and ask to speak with the case manager, unit counselor, or unit team secretary. They can tell you exactly which money transfer services they accept and what information you need to...

Your phone line is active and ready to receive calls as soon as you receive the confirmation email with the number. That email goes out when the account is set up, so if you got it, the line is live. The quickest way to verify everything is working on your end is to call the InmateAid number from a different phone and confirm that it rings through to the forwarding number you provided when you signed up. If it rings correctly,...

The Western Union money goes directly onto your inmate's books at the facility. It is his money to spend on commissary items, and at some institutions, it can also be used toward phone service through the jail's phone provider. It has no connection to InmateAid's services on your end. Letters, postcards, and the Inmate Response service are paid for separately through InmateAid directly. Right now that means a credit card transaction each time, which is admittedly not the most convenient setup....

Yes, and setting up separate accounts is actually the cleaner way to handle it when multiple parties want to support the same inmate independently. On the InmateAid side, each account is tied to a unique email address. If both families want their own separate accounts, they simply need different email addresses to register with. That keeps everything distinct, gives each party their own transaction history to review, and ensures that letters and postcards sent through the service show as coming from...

The jail is telling you the truth. County and local jails that are housing federal pretrial detainees do not manage the federal court calendar and genuinely do not have access to that scheduling information. Federal cases are administered entirely through the federal court system which operates independently from local facilities. The place to look is PACER, which stands for Public Access to Court Electronic Records. PACER is the federal judiciary's online system where all federal court filings, dockets, and scheduled hearings...

The nature of the charges, whether federal or state, does not determine where mail should be sent. What determines the mailing address is simply the physical location of the facility where the inmate is currently being held. The federal government does not maintain a separate network of holding facilities for every detainee facing federal charges. Instead, the US Marshals Service contracts with county jails, regional detention centers, and private correctional facilities to house federal detainees while their cases move through the...

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 most reliable sign that something went wrong is if the letter gets returned to InmateAid. When that happens, the team will investigate what caused it and reach out to let you know your options. In many cases a returned letter comes down to a missing or incorrect inmate ID number, or the letter going to the wrong facility. Resending with corrected information usually solves it. The harder situation is when mail simply does not come back but also does not...

The SHU, the hole, solitary confinement, they are all the same thing, and being placed there does not cut off contact with family entirely. Mail continues normally in both directions. He can send and receive letters on the same schedule as general population. Phone access is restricted though, typically down to one 15-minute call per week. Visitation depends on what he did to land there. Some offenses allow visits to continue, others result in visitation being suspended for the duration....

A probation violation with three separate issues stacked together is a serious situation, and the outlook is not good. The judge who originally granted probation instead of prison time extended a form of leniency, and coming back before that same judge on a violation, especially one involving missed reporting, unpaid fees, and a dirty test, is going to test that goodwill hard. In Tennessee, a VOP hearing does not carry the same burden of proof as a criminal trial. The judge...

Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state houses military inmates at the Regional Correctional Facility, which operates under the jurisdiction of the United States Army rather than the Bureau of Prisons. That distinction matters because military correctional facilities follow Department of Defense regulations rather than standard federal BOP rules, and the restrictions tend to be stricter and less flexible than what civilian federal inmates deal with. Mail is generally permitted but what you can send is tightly controlled. Standard letters and cards...

We are not a replacement for the prison phone service, we make their service cheaper by providing you a number that will charge you their lowest possible rate. You have to register the number we have provided on their service to receive calls. It is the price difference between local and long distance why people use our service. Therefore, you have to pay Global Tel for every call whether you use us or not, but in your case, the call...