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

A bail amount with no release date visible is completely normal at this stage and it makes sense once you understand what each piece of information means. Bail is set by the court to ensure your boyfriend shows up for his future court appearances. It is not a release date. It is a financial guarantee the court requires before considering releasing him while his case moves through the system. The bail amount appearing in a search simply means a judge has...

On the free call question, most facilities allow a phone call shortly after booking, typically within the first couple of hours of arrival. Whether that call is actually free varies by facility. Some provide one free call as standard practice. Others allow the call but run it through the facility's phone carrier, which means it comes at the regular rate and someone on the receiving end needs to have an account set up to accept it. Do not assume it...

Magazines can be sent to inmates in both jails and prisons, and InmateAid has been doing exactly that since 2012 with no issues. The confusion around this is understandable because some third party services only work with state and federal prison systems and do not service county jails. InmateAid is not one of those. The magazine subscription service works across jails and prisons, which matters a great deal for someone like your fiancé who is fighting multiple cases pretrial and could...

Once the number has been added to the approved call list, the timeline depends on where the inmate is in the facility's intake and orientation process. For someone who has already completed orientation at Northern State Prison, the number can be active and available for calls within a few days of being submitted. The phone carrier has to process the new number and add it to the approved list in their system, and that typically takes two to four business days...

There is no set timeline, and that uncertainty is one of the more frustrating parts of this situation for families trying to plan around it. When an inmate completes their sentence but has an interstate detainer waiting, they do not walk out the door. They stay in custody at the current facility until the requesting state arranges transport. How long that takes depends almost entirely on logistics and resources on the other end. The requesting jurisdiction has to schedule a transport...

Yes, absolutely. Getting time served at a hearing does not always mean immediate release and there are several reasons your boyfriend could still be in Cache County Jail even after a favorable court outcome. The hold from another state This is the most common reason someone remains in custody after receiving time served or a sentence that should result in release. If another state has an active warrant, detainer, or hold on your boyfriend Cache County Jail is required to keep him...

In most cases the letter will find its way to your friend regardless of whether it went to the main site or the annex. Correctional facilities that operate multiple sites on the same campus or within the same system typically have mail forwarding procedures in place for exactly this situation. Staff at the receiving mailroom generally know where to redirect mail when an inmate is housed at an adjacent or connected site. TCIX, the Turney Center Industrial Complex in Only, Tennessee,...

Yes, unfortunately it is, and the lawyer who promised otherwise was not being straight with you. Facility designation in the federal system is controlled entirely by the Bureau of Prisons Designation and Sentence Computation Center in Grand Prairie, Texas. Nobody outside of that office has binding authority over where an inmate gets placed. Not the sentencing judge, not the defense attorney, not the prosecutor. The judge can recommend a facility close to the inmate's home address in the sentencing order, and...

On delivery confirmation, the honest answer is that there is no tracking mechanism once mail enters a correctional facility. InmateAid sends everything through USPS, and like standard mail it does not go out certified or with return receipt requested. Once it clears the facility's mailroom inspection and gets distributed at mail call, there is no digital ping that comes back to confirm it landed in your person's hands. The most reliable confirmation is the low-tech version: ask them. If they received...

Florida law specifically disqualifies certain categories of offenders from earning gain time, which is the credit that reduces the amount of a sentence that must be served. Sex offenses involving minors are among the most restricted categories in the Florida corrections system. Under Florida statute, inmates convicted of certain sexual offenses, particularly those involving victims under the age of 18, are required to serve 100% of their imposed sentence with no reduction for gain time. This is not a classification officer's...