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

First, we are sorry for your family's loss. Losing someone while a loved one is incarcerated and unable to be there is one of the harder aspects of incarceration for everyone involved. The answer is that it is possible but not guaranteed, and the decision rests entirely with the warden. The CDCR has a formal policy for what is called a Temporary Community Release, which covers situations where an inmate needs to leave the facility briefly for a compelling personal reason including...

For Sterling Correctional Facility in the Colorado Department of Corrections, the answer is straightforward. OffenderConnect.com is the designated provider for CDOC facilities and it is the only platform you need for this situation. What makes OffenderConnect different from most prison phone carriers is their rate structure. They charge the same flat rate for all calls regardless of whether you are in Colorado or anywhere else in the country. That eliminates the in-state versus out-of-state rate disparity that drives up costs at...

TV tends to pick the most extreme situation that could happen. If they were to film a day in a jail, it would put you to sleep. Nothing really goes on... it's wake up, eat, clean your cell, watch tv, eat again, watch tv, play cards, read a book, read a magazine, play basketball, do puzzles, eat a third time, watch tv - read - play chess, go to bed. Tomorrow and tomorrow are all the same... like the movie Groundhog Day. Gotta...

It is not better or worse than any other prison. Fights happen in all prisons and jails. The inmates that get into fights are the same type personalities that get into fights outside of prison. If your inmate wants to steer clear of fighting, they should learn about the "rules of respect" - not interrupting others, don't butt in line, don't reach over another's plate, don't be a snitch, don't be in other's business, don't listen in on other's conversation,...

The approval timeline varies by facility but a week to two weeks is a reasonable window for most standard visitor applications once everything is submitted correctly. Immediate family members, meaning spouses, parents, siblings, and children, tend to move through the approval process faster than non-family visitors. Facilities prioritize those relationships and the background check process often clears more quickly when the connection to the inmate is direct and documented. Non-family visitors go through the same background check but may face a slightly...

SCI Camp Hill in the Pennsylvania State Prisons Systems - The prison phone provider for setting up prepaid accounts is SecurusTech. You may set up prepaid accounts online at Securus Website. All calls are $0.06 per minute - no matter where that number is to, all calls are the same price. The InmateAid Discount Telephone Service would not help make the calls any cheaper. All telephone numbers are the same rate so getting a line from us is not beneficial for any of the PA DOC state prisons. ...

A contraband cell phone in a North Carolina correctional facility is a serious infraction, and the consequences play out on two separate levels. At the federal level, the law is clear and significant. The Contraband Cell Phone Act makes it a federal crime to possess a wireless device in a federal prison, carrying up to five years of additional prison time. North Carolina state facilities operate under state law rather than federal jurisdiction in most cases, but the trend across the...

No good! Cell phones in prison or jail is a new charge, a felony thanks to the Obama Administration. If they are in federal, the punishment is probably 6-12 months in the SHU (disciplinary segregation), no phone privileges, no visitation, no commissary and at the end of the SHU stay, they will be shipped to a higher security facility most likely hundreds of miles away from the nearest family member to add another hardship to the folks that care about...

Feeling unsafe inside is a serious situation and there are legitimate paths to address it, though none of them are immediate or simple. A formal transfer request is the long-term option, but it comes with significant constraints. Most facilities require an inmate to have been housed there for a minimum of nine to eighteen months before a transfer request is even considered. Beyond the time requirement, transfers are driven by the system's needs rather than inmate preferences, and a request based...

This is not an odd question at all. The desire to hear directly from someone who caused your family irreparable harm is a deeply human response, and what you are describing is something that exists within the justice system as a formal process. Before pursuing a standard visitation application, it is worth knowing about victim-offender dialogue programs. Many state departments of corrections have structured programs specifically designed for situations like yours, where a victim or surviving family member wants to meet...

Mail distribution schedules vary by facility and are set by each institution's internal operations rather than a statewide standard. At most Texas Department of Criminal Justice facilities including Pam Lychner, mail is typically distributed on weekdays when it arrives rather than held for a single weekly distribution day. That means your inmate generally receives mail within a day or two of it arriving at the facility mailroom, Monday through Friday. The mailroom processing step is what adds time between when mail...

The likelihood of deportation rather than a standard release into the community is high, and preparing for that reality now is important. When an undocumented person is booked into a Texas jail or state facility, ICE typically places a detainer on them during or shortly after the booking process. That detainer is a formal request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement asking the facility to notify ICE before releasing the individual and to hold them briefly so ICE can take custody. If...