The phone service at all the prisons, jails and detention centers are set up through bid process. The winner of the contract is the ONLY provider for that facility making them a monopoly - Telmate in this case. Therefore you have to use them to receive calls. The choice is whether you pay them for a long distance call or a local call (to a number we get for you). Here is how it works... We get you

The inmates answering these question are ex-inmates who have served time in federal prison, private prison and county jail. They spend significant time and know a great deal about the inner-workings of the system of incarceration. Getting answers like what you are reading in the pages of Ask the Inmate is valuable information that isn't usually free - but on InmateAid it is - and you can ask ANYTHING!

NO, once the postcard is completed, it is automatically and immediately processed by a third-party. We have no way of stopping it from being mailed once it is paid for.

Inmates that have money on their inmate trust accounts can purchase stamps and envelopes at the weekly commissary. If they do not have money on their books, the prison will provide indigent inmates with all the materials necessary to send out mail to their loved ones. If your inmate writes to you directly, using your address, the cost of the mailing is a 49 cent stamp. Many of our members use the Inmate Response Mail service through

No, absolutely not. You can also elect to make the inmate's profile private

Send us the inmate's name, ID number, DOB, the and the facility they are incarcerated in - we will set it up for you and notify you when it is synced to the services on InmateAid. If you are missing any of the information, send us some of it and we will research it for you.

Mail is handed out Monday through Friday

Yes, that is one way if they have the contract with the facility where your inmate is incarcerated. All money transfer solutions have a fee.

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 the mail is fit to be handed out at mail call, your inmate will receive it. Any delay that occurs at the facility is out of our control. We

It depends on where they are incarcerated. Most facilities have a money transfer solution but you'd have to check with them to see who it is. We have a deal with [Western Union](https://www.westernunion.com/us/en/send-to-inmate.html?src=aff_cj_mt_Inmate+Aid%252C+LLC_6191743_SENDMONEYPAGETEXT) which primarily deals with the federal BOP but they do not cover all of the facilities. You can click the link and check to see if Western Union is a solution for your inmate.