The inmate will let you know. These letters are not like registered mail where someone signs for it. They are mailed into the facility and inspected by the staff. After they have decided that the mail is ready to be handed out to the inmates, they distribute it at "mail call". If the mail is rejected for any reason and is returned, we will investigate the reason and let you know possible remedies.

Our best advice is to call the facility chaplain and ask if this is available to the inmates and if so what the rules are.

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.