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

Camp placement is not something families can request directly from the outside. The assignment process runs through the Bureau of Prisons classification system for federal inmates or the state department of corrections equivalent and it is driven by the inmate's individual profile rather than family preference. The classification system uses a point scoring model that evaluates several factors to determine custody level. Sentence length is one of the most significant. Shorter sentences generally produce lower point totals which favor camp placement....

The charge is a serious one as indicated by his sentence. Generally, any offender taking the case to trial probably got a harsher sentence than those that plead guilty (and took responsibility). The parole board will be looking for contrition, meaning at some point your fiance will have to tell them that he is sorry for what he did, he knows what he did was wrong and basically "fall on his sword" in the hearing.  Our opinion is that for...

This is one of the most legitimate and most pursued avenues for post conviction relief and the fact that you feel the representation was inadequate gives you a specific legal foundation worth exploring seriously. The Sixth Amendment guarantees every defendant the right to effective assistance of counsel. When that right is violated and the inadequate representation contributed to an unjust outcome, there are legal mechanisms designed to address it. The challenge is that the legal standard for proving ineffective assistance is...

In Illinois, yes, it is possible. Introducing contraband into a correctional facility is taken extremely seriously and the charge level depends on what the contraband is and how it was brought in. Cigarettes are contraband in most Illinois correctional facilities because smoking has been banned in state prisons for years. Possessing tobacco inside is an infraction, but the more serious criminal exposure comes when someone on the outside attempts to bring or send cigarettes into a facility. Smuggling contraband into a...

There are two separate issues here and they work through different channels for different reasons. On the dormitory placement question, the logic behind the request may not apply the way it seems from the outside. Dormitories and cells are not interchangeable housing options within the same facility. They represent entirely different security classifications. Dormitory housing is reserved for minimum security inmates who have short sentences, clean disciplinary records, and no history of violence in their background. Inmates living in cells are...

This is a genuinely frustrating situation and the honest answer is that formal sentence reduction credit for an incomplete program is unlikely, but the effort and participation are not without value and there are steps worth taking. Most sentence reduction programs, including state equivalents of RDAP and county-based rehabilitation programs like Exodus, require documented completion before any formal credit applies. Four days short of graduation is agonizingly close but incomplete is still incomplete in the eyes of the system. The transfer...

What jumps out at you that this might not be legitimate? There are over 300,000 pages of content in the site synced to 17,000 prisons in the United States. InmateAid's service is not email; it is with the US Postal Service. Inmates do not have Internet access. We estimate that it takes 2-3 business days to make it to the jail. Once there, the staff opens and reads each piece of mail and inspects it for contraband. Once they decide...

A transfer between multiple county facilities in Tennessee raises legitimate questions about where the sentence will ultimately be served and how credit from previous facilities gets applied going forward. The good news is that the information you need exists and the staff at Gibson County Jail have access to it. The case manager, counselor, or unit team secretary at Gibson County are the right contacts. These are the staff members who manage individual cases, communicate with the Tennessee Department of Corrections,...

This is a genuine emergency and the most important thing to understand right now is that paying extortion will never end. That is not an opinion, it is the consistent reality of how prison extortion works. The moment someone pays, they become a confirmed source and the demands continue, escalate, and eventually move beyond money into territory that is far more dangerous and degrading. No amount satisfies it permanently. The people making these demands are not honoring agreements. Your son needs...

Yes. Cooperation with law enforcement does not have to happen before sentencing to be valuable and the opportunity to work a deal does not automatically close once someone is already serving time. In the legal system it is called substantial assistance. In the prison yard it is called something else entirely and the gap between those two descriptions captures everything you need to understand about why this decision has to be handled with extreme care. Substantial assistance motions are filed by prosecutors...

The problem with any violation is that the original judge is likely to hear this motion for re-incarceration. They look down on violations as it makes the judicial system feel like the offender took the "break they were given" and just defied them. When you are on probation or parole, there is NO excuse like "being unaware" or "not knowing they needed to inform probation of a change of address" that would sit well with a judge. The offender is...

If you are comparing the two environments in terms of daily quality of life, state prison is generally considered better than county jail by most people who have experienced both and that is not a close call. County jail is designed for short term detention. The infrastructure, programming, and daily routine reflect that purpose. Most county facilities confine inmates to a pod or housing unit for the majority of the day with very little to do and limited movement. Outdoor time...