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

The money does not automatically follow them. County jail and state prison operate on entirely separate account systems, and funds from a county commissary account are not transferred to the state when an inmate moves. To get the remaining balance, the inmate needs to request a check for whatever is left in their county account. That check is typically issued to the inmate's home address, so there needs to be someone on the outside to receive it. The inmate or their...

Commissary lists for federal prisons are available on InmateAid. Navigate to the facility's page on the site and scroll down to the Commissary Lists section. You will find itemized lists with current prices. Keep in mind that only the inmate can make purchases at commissary, typically once per week, and they use funds deposited into their inmate account. You can add money to that account through the approved deposit method for their facility, which InmateAid can also help you find. On...

The timeline depends on where he transferred from. If the transfer was within the same prison system, meaning one Minnesota DOC facility to another, the intake process tends to move faster because his records, classification, and approved contacts are already in the system. Phone and visitation access can sometimes be restored within a few days in that scenario. If the transfer crossed agencies, such as coming from a county facility into the state system, or from another state's system, the processing...

There are three reliable ways to stay connected, and each of them serves a different purpose. Letters and postcards are the most consistent option. A letter costs almost nothing to send, reaches the inmate through regular mail regardless of what is happening with their phone account, and gives them something physical to hold, read, and reread. If you want him to know you are thinking of him and reaching out, a letter is the most direct signal of that. InmateAid's letter...

You still pay for the calls. InmateAid does not replace the prison phone system or eliminate the charges. What it does is reduce what you pay by identifying the carrier's rate structure and finding a number that triggers the lowest available rate for your specific facility. Here is how the savings work in practice. In the federal system, calls to a local number cost $0.06 per minute, while calls to a long-distance number cost $0.21 per minute. If your inmate uses...

Yes to the first question. In most county jails, phone calls can be paid for directly from the inmate's trust fund or commissary account. The funds sit in their account and get deducted when calls are made, the same way commissary purchases work. This is one of the reasons putting money on an inmate's books matters beyond just snacks and hygiene products, it also covers their ability to call out. On the prepaid account question: no. When you set up a...

There is no legal time limit. When an inmate is being held on a warrant from another county, the holding facility is not required to transfer them on any particular schedule. They can remain in custody until the next court date in the originating county is scheduled, which could be days, weeks, or longer, depending on the court's docket and how quickly the other county initiates the transfer process. The inmate is in custody and the holding facility has no reason...

The rule that bars former inmates from visiting a facility where they previously served time is standard policy at most prisons, and it applies regardless of how long ago the time was served. The reasoning is straightforward: someone who was incarcerated there has existing relationships with staff, knowledge of the facility's layout and operations, and potential connections to current inmates. From a security standpoint, that creates risk that the facility is not willing to accept. The only person with the authority...