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

The first step is locating him, and for that, you need a little more than just a name. There are about 2.4 million people incarcerated across the country at any given time, and no inmate search system can reliably find someone on a name alone. At a minimum, you need the state where he is likely being held, and his date of birth helps narrow it down further. If his sister told you he is in a specific facility or...

The first determination will be the charges against him and does the judge consider him a flight risk or a danger to society. The problem here is that he has a failure to appear which is exactly what the judge will rule on. Our guess is no bail. Being married to a US citizen does not automatically make you a citizen. The courts will contact Homeland Security to see if his immigration status is in jeopardy. We are afraid that...

Yes, that is a real possibility, and it is worth understanding how this works so you know what you are dealing with. The state case sounds like it was already headed toward a short sentence, around 7 months, before he missed his sentencing date. Missing that court date is a serious problem on its own. Judges take a dim view of it, and when he does eventually appear for sentencing on that charge, the judge will almost certainly factor in the...

When someone is sentenced and waiting to move from county jail to state prison, the transfer timeline is one of the hardest things to pin down. There is no fixed schedule. It could happen within a few days or drag out for several weeks, depending entirely on available bed space at the receiving facility and how the state transport system is running at that moment. Nobody at the jail will give you advance notice. One morning he simply will not...

Jewelry and piercings are generally permitted during visitation as long as they do not set off the metal detector or create a concern for staff during the security screening process. Permanent or fixed piercings that cannot be removed are understood to be part of the visitor's person and are not typically a barrier to entry on their own. That said, facilities vary in how strictly they apply jewelry rules, and some have specific policies about the amount or type of jewelry...

Yes, drug treatment is available inside correctional facilities and pursuing it aggressively is one of the most important things an inmate dealing with a serious addiction can do, both for their health and for their future. Most federal and state facilities offer some form of substance abuse programming. The quality and depth of that programming varies considerably depending on the facility, the security level, and the resources available, but options exist at virtually every institution in some form. In the federal system,...

Commissary pricing for basic clothing items like socks, boxers, and t-shirts is generally comparable to what you would pay at a store like Walmart or Target. The markup is not dramatic and the commissary is not designed to be a profit center the way a retail store is. It is meant to provide inmates access to necessities at reasonable prices. That said, pricing varies by facility and by the vendor contracted to run the commissary operation. A pair of socks at...