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

The lights out protocol in a county jail marks the transition from the active portion of the day to overnight operations. At most county facilities this happens at around 9:30pm, though the specific time can vary by institution and sometimes by housing unit within the same facility. When lights out is called, inmates are expected to return to their cells or assigned sleeping areas. Movement through the facility is restricted, phone access is typically cut off or significantly limited, and the...

You pay for the line and it is our knowledge of the system that allocates a phone number that you use with the prison phone company to save money. Sometimes there are no savings (we refund the deposit), other times there is a savings of $2-$4 per call, and the best we do is where some county jails are getting $15-25 per 15-minute call... our fee of $20 is covered by the savings. If you talk a lot, this is...

If the system your person is incarcerated in requires phone bill verification as part of the number approval process, that requirement applies across the entire system regardless of custody level or facility type. Moving to a work camp does not exempt an inmate from the verification requirements that govern the broader DOC phone system. The rules travel with the inmate, not with the facility. That means if phone bill verification was required at the previous facility, it is still required at...

Inmates required for hospital stay are released pretty quickly back to the facility - they don't keep them longer than necessary as it is an additional cost to the department, whom are very budget-conscious. There are no set rules for phone calls, they are handled on a case-by-case basis - sometimes they are forbidden for security reasons. You might try calling the facility and ask to speak with the case manager, counselor or unit team secretary to get more information....

InmateAid does not replace Securus, but it can make Securus significantly cheaper. The way it works is that Securus charges different rates depending on the type of number the call is going to, and those rates vary by carrier and location in ways that are not obvious to the person receiving calls. InmateAid finds the phone number in their system that triggers Securus's lowest available rate for your specific facility, and provides you with a forwarding number that routes calls...

This is one of those questions where the stated goal and the actual policy do not line up and you are right to notice the contradiction. The Bureau of Prisons does emphasize family connection as part of its reentry philosophy and research consistently shows that maintained family relationships reduce recidivism. The 300-minute monthly limit exists anyway and has for decades, driven more by institutional management, contracted phone system economics, and security considerations than by any genuine commitment to maximizing family...

Generally no. Printed calendars are not typically on the approved incoming mail list at most correctional facilities and will usually get rejected at the mailroom before reaching your loved one. The reasoning behind it varies by facility but common concerns include the size of the paper, the format, and anything printed that goes beyond standard letter correspondence. Some facilities flag printed materials that look like they were produced at home rather than coming from an approved publisher or vendor. Others have...