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

No, and that access does not exist regardless of who deposited the money or how much was sent. Inmates retain privacy rights over their financial transactions inside the facility. The account belongs to them, and the spending history is not visible to outside parties, including spouses and family members who funded the account. There is no portal, no statement, and no way to pull up a transaction log from the outside. That said, it is worth putting your mind at ease about...

Once your account is set up and the number is active, the next step is simply getting that number into his hands, because he cannot use it until he knows what to dial. There are two straightforward ways to do that. The first is through InmateAid's letter service. You can send him a letter directly through the platform with the new number included, and it will arrive through regular mail within a few days. The second option is to mail it...

Depends on the three-way...:)  if we are tlking about a 3-way call, then my advice would be to NEVER attempt it. The phone companies provide the prisons with the latest detection technology that sniffs out three-way calling. It is 100% against the rules of all institutions and loss of phone privilege for six months or more is the penalty. The people that get away with it do so for only a few calls before getting caught. With InmateAid's Discount Calling Service, we...

The straightforward answer is that getting on that list as a girlfriend is going to be very difficult, and at most juvenile facilities it is not permitted at all under standard policy. Juvenile detention centers deliberately limit outside contact to immediate family during placement. The reasoning is that the time inside is meant to be a reset, a period where the young person works on themselves without the distractions and social dynamics from their life before detention. Girlfriends, friends, and peers...

This is one of the harder realities of juvenile facilities, and the answer is not what you are hoping to hear. Juvenile detention centers operate under much stricter contact rules than adult jails or prisons. The policies are designed around the assumption that juveniles need to be insulated from outside influences while they are in placement, and visitation and phone access is typically limited to immediate family only. That means parents, siblings, and grandparents. A girlfriend, regardless of how serious the...

It is understandable to want to help, but the honest answer is that people on the outside have no formal influence over where an inmate is housed or what custody level they are assigned to. This surprises a lot of families because it seems like something a judge or an attorney could at least push for. The reality is that even a judge cannot dictate facility placement. A judge can recommend or suggest a particular type of facility in the sentencing...

There will be some sort of form to fill out as you will probably need to somehow gain approval from the jail staff. You should call the facility to get the visiting days, the hours, the dress code and all the restrictions you want to know about ahead of arrival. If you know the name of the jail, look it up using our Prison Directory. Find the facility and click on the Visitation button on their page. The details should...

The process is simple. You wait in the parking lot and he comes out to you. There is no check-in process, no paperwork for you to complete, and no reason to go inside the facility. Release processing happens entirely on the inside. Staff complete the discharge paperwork, return his personal property, issue any remaining account balance, and walk him through the final administrative steps before he is released. When everything is finalized he walks out the door and you are right...

Family transport for an inmate transfer is not standard practice and has not been something commonly granted at federal camps, but the situation at minimum security camps is unique enough that it is worth asking directly. Federal prison camps house the lowest security level inmates in the Bureau of Prisons system, and that classification comes with privileges that do not exist at higher security levels. One of those is the possibility of unescorted travel for transfers. Rather than being transported in...

Commissary prices at Reception and Medical Center Lake Butler and Florida state facilities generally run about 15 to 20 percent higher than what you would pay at a standard retail store. That markup exists because the commissary is the only option available and the facility knows it. There is no competition and no alternative, so pricing reflects that reality. The product selection covers food items like ramen, chips, cookies, and canned goods, hygiene products including soap, shampoo, deodorant, and toothpaste, writing...

Yes. The Fire Camps are minimum security facilities within the CDCR, the California state prison system. The inmates are absolutely allowed to make phone calls seven days per week. These inmates actually serve the counties that they are in by fighting fires and providing selfless forestry safety. They are trusted to be in the public domain while serving their sentence. Their model behavior is awarded by receiving all the privileges afforded inmates. The phone service is Global*Tel Link-Offender Connect. The calls...

Yes, the call still runs through the facility's phone system and the cost comes out of the inmate's account just as it always has. What InmateAid changes is the price of that call. Here is how the system works. Every jail and prison has a single contract with one phone carrier. Securus, GTL, IC Solutions, Telmate, Paytel, Reliance, CityTeleCoin, and more than twenty others compete to win that contract, and once they have it, they are the only option at that...

Phone and commissary accounts remain active and functional right up until the moment of release. There is no early shutdown or wind-down period in the days leading up to a release date. Whatever balance remains in the account continues to be available for calls, commissary purchases, and other approved uses until the inmate actually walks out. On the day of release, any remaining balance in the trust or commissary account is returned to the inmate in the form of a check...