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

Administrative segregation refers to both a classification and a type of unit. There are at least three distinct types of segregation: administrative segregation, disciplinary segregation, and protective … Any of these types of segregation might involve a regimen of solitary (or near solitary) confinement. Administrative segregation (ad seg) is when an inmate is housed separately from the main prison population. In most prisons, ad seg is another term for solitary confinement. Typically, inmates get "put in the hole" if they violate prison rules,...

InmateAid was founded in April 2012 by someone who spent 66 months in federal prison and understood firsthand what families on the outside actually need. Not a corporate interpretation of it. The real thing. That origin shapes everything about how the site operates, from the tone of the answers in this archive to the way the phone service is priced to the fact that mail gets resent at no charge when something goes wrong. The people who find InmateAid are rarely...

It depends on four words in the sentencing order: with or without parole. A life sentence with the possibility of parole is fundamentally different from life without parole, even though both sound permanent from the outside. If parole is possible, there is a real and legitimate path to release. It is not easy, it is not fast, and it is not guaranteed, but it exists. Inmates serving life with parole become eligible for a hearing after serving a minimum number of...

Most facilities allow photos that are suggestive without being explicitly sexual, and panties and bra generally fall within that line as long as nothing is fully exposed. The standard that most mailrooms apply is whether private parts are covered. Tasteful lingerie photos, the kind you would see in a mainstream retail catalog, typically pass without issue at the majority of facilities. That said, every facility sets its own policy and some are stricter than others. County jails tend to be more...

The sheriff's department from the county that issued the warrant is responsible for the transport. That means deputies from that county will travel to wherever the inmate is currently being held and physically transport them back to the jurisdiction where the warrant originated. Two things about how this works that families always want to know. First, they will not announce when they are coming. The pickup happens without advance notice to the inmate or their family, and that is entirely intentional....

Yes, but the access is significantly reduced compared to general population. Inmates in disciplinary segregation, the SHU, or the hole at most facilities are limited to one 15-minute phone call per week. That is not a lot, and it requires some planning on both ends to make the most of it. Make sure your number is on his approved call list before he tries to use that one weekly call, because a failed attempt due to a registration issue is a...

Almost certainly yes, at least temporarily. Getting caught with tobacco in a facility where it is prohibited is treated as a contraband infraction, and work release is a privilege that gets pulled when an inmate demonstrates they are not following the rules. The whole premise of a work release program is that the facility trusts the inmate enough to send them outside the walls. A contraband write-up puts that trust directly in question. How long he stays in the hole is...

It takes real effort and a willingness to be creative, but it is absolutely doable and worth fighting for if that is what you want. On the marriage side, communication is everything. Write letters, real ones, not just updates about the bills and the kids. Write about the future you are planning together. Write the kind of letters that remind both of you why this is worth holding onto. Intimacy does not have to disappear because he is inside. Sexy letters,...

The short answer is not immediately, but not for long either. When an inmate first arrives at Arrendale State Prison's diagnostic unit, there is a processing and orientation period before most privileges kick in. Phone access typically opens up within about a week of arrival. That first week is intake, classification interviews, medical screening, and getting assigned to a housing unit. It is a busy and disorienting stretch for the inmate, and the facility runs on its own timeline during that...

No, and here is exactly why. When you go before a disciplinary hearing board, you are allowed to bring two people as defense witnesses. That sounds like an opportunity, and it is, but who you choose matters as much as what they say. Bringing another inmate into that room is almost always a mistake. The board is made up of staff, and staff view inmate testimony through a lens of suspicion that is hard to overcome regardless of what is actually said....

What you are dealing with is one of the most common and most painful dynamics in prison relationships, and it has almost nothing to do with you. When someone is incarcerated, they lose control over virtually every aspect of their life. What they eat, when they sleep, where they go, who they interact with. The one thing they feel they should still have some connection to is the person they love on the outside, and they cannot control that either. So...

Yes, and the savings are specific enough to be worth knowing exactly. With an Arizona 480 area code number, a 15-minute call from ASPC Yuma-Cibola runs $3.19. That is the rate your inmate is currently paying every time they dial your number. With an InmateAid local number matched to the Yuma facility, that same 15-minute call drops to $1.72. That is $1.47 saved per call. It does not sound dramatic until you do the math across a month. If your inmate calls...