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

The InmateAid database is updated weekly, which covers the majority of facilities that report transfers and releases on a regular schedule. That said, not every jail and prison pushes updates at the same pace. Some facilities are slower to report transfers through official channels, which means there can be a lag between when an inmate actually moves and when that move shows up in any public-facing database including ours. If you know your son has transferred to a new facility and...

Each InmateAid phone line is set up for one forward-to number at a time. That means the InmateAid number your inmate dials routes to one specific number on the outside, whether that is yours or someone else's. If your inmate needs to reach multiple people at the discounted rate, the solution is to set up multiple lines, one for each person who wants to receive calls at the lower price. Each line has its own InmateAid number that forwards to a...

Paid restitution will not block the transfer. Once the financial obligation is satisfied, that is no longer a barrier to release or to transferring supervision to another state. What does have to happen is a formal process between the two states before he can go home to Alabama. Interstate supervision transfers are governed by the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision, which is an agreement between all 50 states that establishes how parolees and probationers can move between states while remaining...

Mail call at Riverhead typically runs around 4 pm. Once the mailroom processes and clears incoming mail, it is distributed to the housing units at that time. Keep in mind that the actual delivery to the inmate's hands depends on when the letter arrives at the facility, clears the mailroom inspection, and makes it to the next mail call rotation. On phone calls, inmates at Riverhead can make as many calls as time and their account balance allow. There is no...

The process is simple and costs your inmate nothing on their end. Every letter and postcard sent through InmateAid includes InmateAid's Florida address as the return address on the envelope. When your inmate wants to write back, they simply address their reply to that Florida address and mail it out through the facility's regular outgoing mail using a postage stamp. That stamp is the only thing it costs them, and indigent inmates who have no money on their books can typically...

Almost certainly not, and here is the honest read on what is likely happening. Every accredited correctional facility in the United States is required to provide inmates with basic hygiene items. Soap, toothpaste, and similar essentials are not optional amenities. They are baseline requirements under correctional standards, and facilities that fail to provide them face serious legal exposure. Maryland Correctional Training Center in Hagerstown is a state facility operating under Maryland DOC oversight, which means it is subject to those standards...

Furloughs cannot be requested or petitioned from the outside. That decision comes entirely from within the correctional system, initiated through internal channels and granted at the discretion of facility administration. Four months is also not enough time served to be considered for a furlough in virtually any system. Furloughs are reserved for inmates who have demonstrated an extended track record of compliance, programming completion, and institutional trust. That takes considerably longer than four months to establish, regardless of how well someone...

An inmate's financial situation, commissary balance, and what support they are receiving from outside are private information protected by the same privacy standards that apply to anyone on the outside. There is no database, no public record, and no official channel that will tell you what is on someone's books or whether they have family sending money. That information belongs to the inmate and is not accessible to outside parties. If you want to help a specific inmate whose name you...