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

Beyond standard letters, there are several approved ways to reach someone inside and each one makes a meaningful difference in their daily life. Books and magazines are among the most valued things an inmate can receive. Reading material passes time, keeps the mind engaged, and provides a connection to the world outside the walls. The key requirement is that both must come directly from the publisher or an approved vendor like Amazon rather than being mailed from your home. Content restrictions...

The specific formula you are describing, where every six months served after five years counts as a full year, does not reflect any standard federal or state sentencing policy that exists in writing. It is likely a version of prison yard math, the informal calculations and rumors that circulate inside facilities and get passed along as fact. Inmates spend a lot of time thinking about their release dates and informal theories about how time works tend to spread and evolve...

The starting point for understanding any sentence is the 85 percent rule, which applies to most felony sentences in both the federal system and many state systems that have abolished parole. On a 20-year sentence that works out to 17 years of actual time served before release becomes possible, assuming no additional reductions apply and no disciplinary issues extend the timeline. The breakdown of how that time actually gets structured looks different from how time works on the outside in almost...

Whether the discount service makes sense for a prepaid phone depends on how the calls are being billed and what the per minute rate is between your current number and the facility. Here is the core issue. Calls from correctional facilities are billed based on the rate associated with the number being called rather than the caller's actual location. A prepaid Virgin Mobile number with a Daytona area code calling Quincy Correctional in northern Florida may or may not be treated...

When your fiancé first arrives at a reception and diagnostic center like Fulton, there is a short waiting period before visits are allowed. What happens first: He must go through intake and orientation (A&O) This includes medical checks, classification, and interviews During this time, visitation is usually not permitted yet When visits become possible: After orientation is completed He will need to submit a visitor list that includes your name You may also need to complete and be approved on a visitation application Typical timeline: Usually 1 to 2 weeks, but it can vary Some facilities may...

Jail seems like the movie "Groundhog Day". Every day is exactly like the day before and the day before that. Even holidays lack any substantive change. Inmates with a long sentence has a sense of hopelessness and will find it hard to see optimism in anything. Make no mistake, jail is lonely. Inmates are isolated and have to cope with boredom. The longer they are locked up, the easier it becomes to deal with - you get used to the...

When someone is picked up by the FBI, they leave the county system and enter federal custody, which means they will no longer appear in the county jail's records. That explains why the facility is telling you he is not there even though the same location keeps coming up in searches. He has been moved and the databases have not caught up or are simply not showing his new location. Here is how to track him down. Search the federal BOP inmate...

There is almost always a specific reason behind a visitation denial and it rarely comes down to the relationship itself. The mother of someone's child is not automatically disqualified from visiting, which means if a denial has happened, something else is driving it. The most common reasons visitation gets denied have nothing to do with the family connection and everything to do with background and history. A prior felony conviction is one of the most frequent disqualifiers across most correctional systems....