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

Yes, the Beto unit at Tennessee Colony is a TDCJ state prison facility. Being sent there rather than an ISF means he is serving his violation time in a full prison setting rather than the shorter Intermediate Sanction Facility program that was initially recommended. This does happen. Recommendations made by parole officers or review boards are not always the final word. Bed availability, classification decisions, or administrative factors can result in an inmate being placed at a different level than what...

Yes. Phone calls from your father to you should not create a problem, even with a warrant in your name. Prison phone calls are recorded and monitored, but a warrant for someone on the receiving end of a call does not automatically flag the call or block the communication. Inmates call family members with complicated situations all the time, and it does not raise red flags the way an in-person visit would. Visiting is a different matter. In-person visitation requires a...

Transfers happen for a wide range of administrative reasons: population management, custody level changes, program availability, construction or facility upgrades, disciplinary reassignment, or system-wide bed space adjustments. Inmates are rarely given detailed explanations for why they are being moved, and they have no legal right to choose their facility or object to a transfer order. If an inmate refuses to comply with a transfer order, that refusal is treated as a disciplinary offense. Refusing a direct order from staff is a...

Act on this immediately, because furlough requests take time to process and time may be the one thing you do not have. Contact the facility and ask to speak with your husband's counselor or case manager today. Explain the situation plainly: his brother is on hospice, his condition is serious, and you are requesting a compassionate furlough for a family visit. Furloughs are not granted freely. The standard criteria are that the inmate has a clean disciplinary record and is reasonably...

Yes. Inmates are allowed to bring their personal property with them when they transfer between facilities. Everything he has purchased or been sent during his time at Dixon can go with him, packed into what the system typically calls a property box. The accepted items include clothing, shoes, reading material, personal photographs, letters he has received, and hygiene products. Anything that was legitimately acquired through the commissary or received through approved mail channels and is currently in his possession is eligible...

A warrant does not disappear when someone turns 18, and a no-bill warrant, which typically means the grand jury declined to issue an indictment on the original charges, is worth understanding clearly before your daughter takes any action. A no bill from a grand jury means the charges were not formally advanced at that time, but it does not necessarily mean the case is completely closed or that the warrant has been lifted. Prosecutors can sometimes refile depending on the...