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

If the line is set up and operational but calls are not coming through, the most common explanation is that an additional step needs to be completed with the facility's contracted phone carrier before the number can actually be dialed from inside. InmateAid provides the local phone number and confirms it is active on our end. But the number also needs to be registered and approved within the jail's own phone system before your inmate can use it. That process works...

It depends on the reason as there are many reasons letters get returned to us. If the facility changes their policy and does not allow letters and or photos we definitely refund your money. If the inmate gets moved, released or rejects the letter - no refund. If there was no inmate ID, wrong facility chosen by user, content deemed by the facility to be unacceptable - no refund. If the letter comes back with a reason, we will notify...

The rule is simple: you have to be wearing something. Full nudity will be rejected at the mail room at virtually every correctional facility in the country, and the entire envelope may be confiscated along with everything else inside it. Lingerie and bikinis are fine. Photos showing suggestive poses in swimwear or underwear pass through without issue at most facilities as long as private areas are covered. That is where the line is, and staying on the right side of it...

Yes, and it is one of the more avoidable ways visitation gets taken away. Correctional facilities take honesty during the visitation process seriously. Staff are trained to verify information visitors provide, and a lie that gets caught, even a seemingly minor one about transportation, creates an immediate trust problem. In your situation, telling a sheriff you drove yourself and then being observed getting into someone else's car is exactly the kind of discrepancy that gets flagged and reported. Whether your visiting privileges...

No. InmateAid does not read your letters. The volume of mail processed every day is handled in bulk by machine, and there is no staff review of letter content on our end. Your words go from your keyboard to the printer to the envelope without anyone at InmateAid reading them. What does happen after the letter leaves our hands is a different matter. Every piece of incoming mail at a correctional facility is opened and inspected by mail room staff. That...

There is no single maximum. How much time can be reduced depends on the mechanism being used and what the inmate is willing to do. For the average federal inmate focused on standard good time credits, the baseline reduction is 15 percent, roughly 54 days per year of sentence imposed, assuming a clean disciplinary record. Adding RDAP completion on top of that produces up to 12 additional months off the sentence. Those are the most accessible reductions available to most people...

Yes, your inmate can write back to you using the “Letters From Inmates” service. Here is how it works: Your inmate writes a regular letter and mails it to the InmateAid address The letter is received, scanned, and uploaded to your account You get notified when it is ready About the cost: There is a small fee (typically $1.49) to open and read each letter in your account Important to know: The inmate does not need internet access or to pay anything extra to respond They just send a normal letter through the mail The...

At Silverdale Detention Center (formerly operated by Corrections Corporation of America), many facilities have moved away from collect calls. The main reason is cost and system changes: Collect calls are often the most expensive type of inmate call Phone providers are shifting to prepaid and debit systems instead Facilities prefer systems where billing is clearer and controlled While it feels like a loss, collect calls usually end up costing more per call than prepaid options. Lower-cost options to consider: Set up a prepaid phone account with the facility’s provider Use a local number setup to reduce long distance charges If possible, have...

If your inmate is transferred to a new facility before a letter arrives at the old one, the letter will almost certainly come back to InmateAid rather than follow them. Correctional facilities do not forward inmate mail to new locations the way the postal service forwards residential mail. When a returned letter arrives back at InmateAid, we will reach out to you. If you can provide the new facility address and inmate ID at the new location, we will resend the...

When one letter gets through and another is refused at the same facility, the issue is almost certainly content-related rather than an addressing or ID problem. If the address or ID were wrong, neither letter would have arrived. Facilities inspect all incoming mail and mail room staff have discretion to reject anything they determine violates the facility's mail policy. What triggers a refusal varies by facility and by the individual officer reviewing the mail that day. Content that references ongoing legal...

If a monthly payment is declined, your discount phone number is not permanently lost. InmateAid holds the number for you and no one else can be assigned that number while your account is being resolved. Once the payment is made successfully, the number is reinstated and your inmate can continue using it without having to go through the facility approval process again. The number stays yours. If you added funds to your card and believe the payment should now go through, contact...