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

The confusion around transfer information is extremely common in the federal system, and the other inmate telling your brother he was being messed with may or may not be right depending on the source of the original information. In the Bureau of Prisons, designation decisions are made by the Designation and Sentence Computation Center in Grand Prairie, Texas. That information is then passed to the inmate's unit team, which includes the case manager, counselor, and unit team manager. These are the...

There are phones available most times of the day and early evening. Inmates may call through several programs that vary in price from $1.30 to $18.00 per 15 minutes. If they are calling you long distance, the calls are the most expensive. If they are calling you on a local number, the calls are the cheapest. If you are long distance, InmateAid can get you a local line that will ring on any phone number you give us and cut...

The 50% figure you mentioned is not consistent with how CDCR generally calculates time served. The standard for most California state inmates is 85% of the imposed sentence, with the remaining 15% accounted for through good time and work time credits earned during incarceration. Maintaining a clean disciplinary record is the primary way an inmate protects those credits and avoids having time added back onto the sentence. For a five year sentence beginning July 2013, a January 2016 release date reflects...

Whether a visit takes place in an open contact setting or through a glass partition with a phone is not a facility-wide policy that applies equally to every inmate. It is determined by the individual's custody level and housing assignment within the facility. Inmates at lower custody levels or in general population units are more commonly eligible for contact visits where you sit across a table in the same room. Inmates in higher custody classifications, administrative segregation, protective custody, or those...

FCI Danbury operates as a low security federal correctional institution, which means the daily experience is meaningfully different from medium or high security facilities. Inmates are not confined to their cells for the majority of the day. Instead the facility uses a system called controlled movement, where inmates are permitted to move between areas of the compound during designated time windows, typically announced by a tone or announcement, rather than being allowed to roam freely at all times. The two primary...

The confusion here is understandable because it feels like being punished twice for the same thing. But internal discipline and criminal prosecution are two entirely separate systems operating independently of each other. The facility's decision to put him in the hole for 45 days was an administrative response to a rule violation. A criminal indictment by a prosecutor is a completely different action under a completely different legal framework, and one does not cancel out the other. Phone calls inside correctional...

There is no universal requirement that correctional facilities contact family members when an inmate is injured, and in practice, notification varies widely depending on the severity of the incident, the facility's internal protocols, and whether staff have a relationship with anyone on the outside. In serious cases such as a major medical emergency or a life-threatening incident, most facilities will make contact with next of kin. For lesser injuries, altercations that do not result in hospitalization, or situations that staff consider...

Getting the acceptance notice is genuinely good news, and a February transfer date, while it may feel distant, is not unusual. Boot camp placements are managed based on program capacity, intake cycles, and the inmate's current classification status. Advance notice of several months is actually a sign that the system is working as intended, giving the inmate a clear target and time to prepare. The custody level question is worth clarifying. Boot camp programs are typically minimum security, which is the...

Yes. In the California system, a CDC number is assigned to a person the first time they enter the Department of Corrections and stays with them permanently. Whether this is a parole violation, a new commitment, or a return on new charges, the same CDC number follows your husband throughout any future involvement with the California system. You can use that number to locate him in the CDCR inmate locator as soon as he is processed into Wasco Reception Center. On...

The silence after a transfer to a new state facility is normal and almost always temporary. Coastal State Prison, like most Georgia Department of Corrections facilities, requires new arrivals to complete an intake and orientation period before phone access and visitation are established. That process typically runs one to two weeks depending on the facility's pace and current population. During that window your son is being evaluated, assigned to a housing unit, and meeting with his unit team. Phone lists and...