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

It could take up to a week or so to gain approval. The facility normally does not notify you when you are approved. It is your inmate's responsibility to let you know. There are a couple of different types of visitation for inmates: Video visitation is becoming more common and in some instances can be done from the comfort of your own home.  Video visitation works similar to the way you would use Facetime or Skype.  Non-contact or telephone visitation is when you...

Yes, he can and should ask. Work assignments in prison are not automatically carried over when an inmate moves to a different housing unit, even within the same facility. The assignment is often tied to the unit or to a specific supervisor's roster, and a dorm transfer can break that connection regardless of conduct or performance. The first step is for him to speak with his new unit's case manager or counselor and express his interest in getting a work assignment....

Yes, both you and your one-year-old can visit. Being married is not a requirement for visitation at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles. For you, the process involves submitting a visitation application to the facility and completing a background check. MDC Los Angeles is a federal facility operated by the Bureau of Prisons, and the BOP requires all prospective visitors to be approved before visiting. Once approved your name goes on the inmate's approved visitor list and you can schedule...

When a sentenced inmate serving time at a state prison gets pulled back to a county jail, there is almost always a court-related reason behind it. The Georgia Department of Corrections does not move inmates out of their designated facility without cause, and a transfer back to Fayette County specifically points to something happening in that county's court system. There are two common explanations. The first is a new charge. If something has come to light, whether a crime that predates...

It depends on the facility and how their phone approval system works, and the answer is different in federal versus state and county systems. In the federal system, inmates manage their own approved call lists and add numbers directly through the phone system at their unit. There is no automatic flag that cross-references approved numbers against co-defendant status. Unless a specific no-contact order has been issued by the court prohibiting communication between co-defendants, a federal inmate can technically add your number...

They are two separate lists with two different approval processes, and understanding the difference is useful when you are trying to get on both. The phone list is managed by the inmate and processed through the facility's phone carrier, whether that is Securus, GTL, IC Solutions, or whoever holds the contract at that facility. The inmate submits numbers they want to be able to call, the carrier runs a basic verification, and approved numbers become active for outgoing calls. The process...