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

Once you are approved by Texas for inclusion into an RDAP class your out date will then change on the BOP website. The date will be calculated like this: 30 - 6 = 24 x .85. Sentence duration is 20.4 months but your release date from the camp will be at 14.4 months, assuming that you get 6 months of halfway house. Once in the halfway house if you have an approved residence and a job, you could get home...

Release from a CCA facility, now operating under the name CoreCivic, generally happens in the morning with most releases processed between 7 and 9 a.m. The exact time on any given day depends on how many inmates are being released at once and how smoothly the discharge paperwork and processing moves through the system. Release day involves more administrative steps than most people anticipate. The facility has to complete final paperwork, return personal property, issue any gate money the inmate is...

The PSR specifically has to have drug or alcohol abuse or dependency detailed within twelve months of the crime; not necessarily a psychologist's recommendation. You will have a meeting with the psychology department, the interviewer will have you PSR and will know whether you are within the guidelines to get in. They will get your application in, they send it to Beaumont TX for approval. If you are approved, you will go to the RDAP wait list until you get...

There are a number of things in your post that raise concerns. Rushing to get married is troubling in our eyes and since you don't have along history, she is somewhere where hiding things from you is easy. You cannot find out how much money is on her books, who is on her visitation or calling list. Inmates become professional liars, conning loved ones into sending more and more money. Lots of things go on inside from drugs, to gambling,...

Six moves in seven months is not normal institutional movement and the pattern you are describing points toward something specific that happens in the system and does not get talked about much outside of it. When an inmate has multiple charges pending in different counties, some movement between facilities is expected for court appearances and arraignments. Each jurisdiction needs the person physically present for certain proceedings and transport between county jails to accommodate those appearances is a legitimate part of the...

Fort Dix is one of the largest federal correctional complexes in the country and it operates both a low security facility and a minimum security satellite camp on the same grounds. Understanding how the assignment process works before you arrive takes a lot of the uncertainty out of what is already a stressful experience. When you surrender, you will be processed through the intake area, which is located in the low security facility. Everyone goes through this initial processing regardless of...

The honest answer is not likely. Once a release date is set in the Nevada state system it generally does not move in the inmate's favor. The September date reflects the completion of the boot camp requirement and that timeline is what the facility and the department of corrections are working toward. State sentences are less flexible than federal sentences when it comes to early release mechanisms. The good time credit system that allows federal inmates to chip away at their...

Prison food programs vary widely across facilities and some correctional systems have moved toward more self-sufficient food production models that include baking bread on site rather than relying entirely on commercially prepared products delivered from outside vendors. The Tennessee Department of Correction operates several facilities across the state and like many state systems has worked to reduce food service costs through in house production where possible. Inmate labor is used extensively in prison kitchens and bakery operations are a natural extension...

The primary path to sentence reduction in the federal system is RDAP, the Residential Drug Abuse Program. It is the most significant formal sentence reduction opportunity available through the Bureau of Prisons and understanding how it works is the first step toward pursuing it. RDAP is a nine-month residential treatment program for inmates with a documented history of substance abuse. Completing the program earns a sentence reduction of up to 12 months for most inmates. For sentences of 24 months or...

A reception center in Florida, like South Florida Reception Center, is not a permanent placement. It is a classification and intake facility where newly arrived or transferred inmates are evaluated before being assigned to their permanent institution. Your cousin will be there temporarily, typically for a few weeks to a couple of months, before being designated to a facility that matches his custody level and program needs. On the sentence calculation, Florida requires most inmates to serve 85 percent of their...

Being in single man lockup, which is typically administrative segregation or protective custody rather than general population, does affect visitation but it does not necessarily eliminate it entirely. Visitation for inmates in segregated housing is more restricted than for general population inmates. Some facilities suspend visitation during the initial placement period while the situation is being assessed. Others allow non-contact visits through a partition on a limited schedule. The specific policy depends entirely on the facility and the reason for the...

Could you explain "3 yr.non-violent charges". We understand what non-violent charges mean but what is the 3 yrs? There is a point system that is used to determine a sentence's guideline. Criminal history, taking responsibility for the crime, going to trial or not and the value of the crime are all components to the length of the sentence. For instance, Bernie Madoff was a first-time, non-violent offender and got 150 years. Give us more information and we might be able to narrow down...

This is a reasonable question and the answer depends on a few factors that vary by jurisdiction and by how the new charge gets handled procedurally. When someone picks up a new charge while already serving time the new sentence can be ordered to run concurrently with the existing sentence or consecutively to it. Concurrent means both sentences run at the same time, so if he has four months left on the original ten-year sentence and gets one year on the...

Getting parole approved and having the home inspection clear are the two biggest hurdles in the process and clearing both of them is genuinely good news. But there is still a gap between approval and the day someone actually walks out the door and that gap can feel agonizing when you are this close. After parole is granted and the home plan is approved, the facility has to complete a series of administrative steps before the actual release can happen. The...