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

Go to inmateaid.com/shop/bop-calls to sign up for federal inmates; inmateaid.com/shop/calls for state inmates. Easy process: *Enter facility name *Enter their phone number *Enter their name and email address *Pay $8.95 for FEDERAL with cc or debit card via encrypted third-party tokenization platform *Pay $19.95 for STATE with cc or debit card via encrypted third-party tokenization platform *Local number is delivered instantly on the screen, texted and emailed, too. *Each month on the same date, $8.95 (or $19.95) will be deducted until user clicks cancel button on the account *If the...

Speaking from 66 months of direct experience, a one-year sentence is on the lighter end of what the system hands out, and the environment that comes with it reflects that. Short-term inmates are typically placed in minimum or low-security facilities where the general population is made up of people who are also close to the door and have no interest in making trouble. Everyone is counting down and most people just want to get through it cleanly. Prison rape is a...

The $200 per month figure is reasonable for covering an inmate's basic needs inside. That amount handles phone calls, commissary essentials like food and hygiene products, and leaves a small buffer for other incidentals. It is a generous but not excessive level of support for someone at a Pennsylvania state facility. The loan is a serious problem and needs to be addressed directly. Taking out a loan at 27% annual interest to fund an inmate's commissary account is not sustainable and frankly...

The facility provides the baseline. Three meals a day, a bunk, basic hygiene items for indigent inmates, and access to medical care. Nobody starves and nobody goes without the absolute minimum required by law. That much is guaranteed. What the facility does not provide is anything beyond that minimum, and the gap between the minimum and a tolerable daily existence is where outside money makes a real difference. Without funds on their books, an inmate cannot make phone calls. Every call costs...

First, you arrive at booking in handcuffs and are then are processed by a member of the sheriff or police staff. Processing includes fingerprinting and a mugshot. You are stripped bare and checked for concealed contraband. You are then showered and given a set of stand-issue prison clothes and some form of a bedroll and are then placed in a holding cell. The next move is a placement somewhere in the facility (depending on your crime and criminal history profile) and a semi-permanent bunk...

In most cases, no, and the reasoning is straightforward even if it feels harsh from the outside. When parole or community supervision is revoked, the board or the court is making a finding that the person could not meet the conditions of supervised release. The revocation hearing is the formal process where that determination gets made, and losing that hearing means the board concluded the violation was sufficient to warrant returning to custody. At that point the expectation in most jurisdictions...

Yes, InmateAid's discount phone service works at Bradford County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania, as it does at facilities across the country. The way it works is straightforward. Every jail and prison contracts with a single phone carrier, and that carrier charges different rates depending on the type of number being dialed. InmateAid identifies which carrier services Bradford County and determines what rate your current number is being charged versus what the lowest available rate for that facility is. When your inmate...

Both approaches work, and understanding the difference helps you choose the one that makes the most financial sense for your situation. The first option is setting up an AdvancePay account through Securus directly. You fund that account and your boyfriend's calls to your number draw from it. The catch is that Securus charges a transaction fee every time you deposit money, which can be significant depending on the deposit amount and method. Those fees add up over time and represent money...

A restitution center placement is actually one of the better outcomes from a probation violation, and understanding why puts the situation in a more manageable perspective. When probation is violated for unpaid fines, the judge has a range of options. The worst case is full revocation and serving the remainder of the original suspended sentence in custody. A restitution center is significantly better than that outcome. It is a structured facility specifically designed to allow people to work, earn income, and...