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

The number is delivered three ways simultaneously, and checking all three will resolve this quickly. First, check your email inbox for a message from InmateAid. It should arrive within about an hour of your purchase. If you do not see it in your main inbox, check your spam or junk folder. Messages from new senders, especially first time purchases, frequently get filtered there before your email provider learns to recognize them. Second, check for a text message on the phone number you...

This is one of the most painful intersections of criminal justice and changing law. A 30-year federal sentence for marijuana, even with conspiracy attached, reflects how aggressively the federal government prosecuted drug offenses during certain periods, and the contrast with today's legal landscape is stark. On the legal question: federal legalization of marijuana would not automatically release anyone currently serving time for marijuana convictions. Laws are not typically retroactive in that way without specific legislation authorizing resentencing or clemency for people...

Parole board approval is the green light but it is not the finish line. The administrative process that follows approval is what determines when your person actually walks out, and that timeline varies significantly. The paperwork involved in processing a parole release moves through multiple departments and requires coordination between the parole board, the facility, the supervising parole officer, and in many cases, the jurisdiction where the parolee will be living. Each step has its own processing time and its own...

No notification system is needed on your end. The letter handles it. When you send a letter through InmateAid it goes out as physical mail through USPS, printed on real paper and mailed to the facility. It arrives at the mailroom, goes through the standard inspection process, and gets handed directly to your inmate at mail call. That moment is the notification. There is no electronic alert, no staff announcement, no system message telling them something is coming. They simply walk...

23 housing refers to 23-hour lockdown, which is another way of describing segregation or the Special Housing Unit, commonly known as the SHU or the hole. The name comes from the reality of what it means day to day. The inmate is in their cell for 23 hours out of every 24, with one hour out for a shower or limited movement depending on the facility's specific protocol. This placement outside of general population happens for several reasons and not all...

He is going back to Copiah County to stand in front of the judge who signed that warrant, and that conversation is not going to start from a friendly place. Drug court is an alternative to incarceration specifically designed for people whose criminal behavior is driven by substance abuse. A judge who offered someone drug court was extending a significant act of trust, choosing treatment and supervision over a prison sentence. A warrant issued from that program three years later tells...

Yes, and the savings are immediate and significant. Securus holds the contract at that facility, which means every call your inmate makes runs through Securus regardless of what number they dial. That part does not change. What InmateAid changes is which rate tier applies to your specific number within the Securus system. At $0.52 per minute you are paying the highest rate Securus charges for that facility. With an InmateAid number, that same call through the same Securus system drops to $0.21...

Each facility has one phone carrier only. The company that they use determines the pricing. That is why the price is so high. InmateAid uses software to determine the best price based on YOUR phone number and the carrier. We can save big money on about 70% of the instances. We encourage you to email or call to get an honest estimate before you buy. If you buy and we cannot save you money, we will refund the transaction, no...

About one week, and the timing is tied to how the BOP structures its orientation process. The Bureau of Prisons runs Admissions and Orientation on Wednesdays at most facilities. That is the formal day when new inmates go through the full intake briefing, get their accounts set up, and have phone and visitation access activated. The exact wait depends on what day your person arrived. Someone who comes in on a Tuesday only has to wait one day until Wednesday orientation....