Just thought of a question?

Have a question?

Ask The Inmate

Ask a former inmate questions at no charge. The inmate answering has spent considerable time in the federal prison system, state and county jails, and in a prison that was run by the private prison entity CCA.

Ask your question or browse previous questions in response to comments or further questions of members of the InmateAid community.

Subject: Inmateaid website questions

We have been around since 2012, and we serve folks with people in all LA County Jails

Read more
Subject: Bail & bond questions

Non-violent offenders are treated for bail similarly to all defendants. The magistrate assesses the crime, the criminal history, the size of the loss, and potential harm to the public if released. If it is determined that all of the criteria is benign and there is no risk that the offender will appear for their court appointment, then there is a chance that they will be ROR's (released on their own recognizance) 

Read more
Subject: Send inmate mail

Inmates have no access to the internet, however there are some facilities that allow inmate email. This is not an "open internet", but a closed system where all email correspondence is on a 2-3 hour delay and everything is closely monitored.

Read more
Subject: Survive prison

It matters more than most people on the outside realize. Incarceration is isolating by design. The days are long, the environment is monotonous, and the psychological weight of being cut off from normal life accumulates over time. Anything that keeps an inmate connected to the people and the world they are going back to lifts that weight in a real and measurable way. A phone call that gets answered is not just a conversation. It is confirmation that

Read more
Subject: Survive prison

The hard truth is that your options are limited, and it is worth knowing that going in so you are not spinning your wheels chasing solutions that do not exist. What you are describing sounds like group punishment. When something happens in a unit, whether it is a fight, contraband found during a search, or any number of other incidents, the entire population gets locked down regardless of individual involvement. Facilities do not owe an explanation to inmates or

Read more
Subject: Send inmate mail

On the phone situation, there is no way around this one. You cannot call her. Inmates initiate all outgoing calls, and there is no direct dial in. If you are at work when she calls, those calls are going to get missed until you work out a better window with her. The only fix is communicating a schedule to her through mail so she knows when you are actually available to pick up. For the cheapest phone rates, InmateAid's

Read more
Subject: Family services

Inmates are not eligible for any government assistance including Social Security and welfare. Since you are asking, if you attempt to collect on behalf of an incarcerated person there is a very good chance you will become an inmate, too.

Read more
Subject: Survive prison

Every facility is different, we would advise calling the chaplain to get the current acceptable rules for rosary or religious chains

Read more
Subject: Inmate transfer

When an inmate moves between facilities within the same state system, in this case the Arizona Department of Corrections, any money already in their account transfers with them. The funds are tied to the inmate, not the facility, so a move from Kingman to Lower Buckeye does not require you to do anything with JPay. The account carries over automatically. Going forward, you can continue using JPay to send money the same way you always have. The inmate ID

Read more
Subject: Bail & bond questions

The bail bondsman is not the one you need to worry about here. Their role is limited to guaranteeing that you show up to court for the charges they bonded you out on. They are not law enforcement and they do not have authority over a separate warrant from a different jurisdiction. The old DUI warrant is its own separate matter entirely. It was issued by a court in whatever jurisdiction handled that case, and that jurisdiction is responsible

Read more
Search Arrest Records