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Relationships During Incarceration in Idaho | InmateAid
In February 2025, the Idaho Department of Correction began rolling out free tablets to every resident in its facilities. Every person in an IDOC prison gets a ViaPath tablet at no cost, along with a charger and earbuds. The tablets allow phone calls, video visits, messaging, commissary ordering, law library access, and more -- all from a single device.
Phone calls through the tablet cost $0.06 per minute. That is not free the way California and Connecticut have made calls free, but it is low -- among the lowest rates in this series. A 20-minute call costs $1.20. The financial pressure around phone contact in Idaho is substantially reduced compared to most other states in this series.
Tablet messages cost $0.25 each. Voicemails cost $1.00. The free profile on the tablet includes access to the messaging app, the phone calling app, educational resources, commissary ordering, and account management. The content in the cloud profile travels with the resident if they transfer facilities.
This is the most significant technology change in Idaho's correctional system in years and it changes what daily contact looks like for families. The call that costs $18 in Florida costs $1.20 in Idaho. That is a real difference for a woman managing a household alone on a single income.
What it does not change is everything else. The 6-week minimum wait to be approved as a visitor. The Idaho geography that puts some facilities hours from where most families live. The relationship dynamics that exist in every prison system regardless of what the phone call costs.
There are no experts here. We have experience. You measure your situation against ours and decide what is true for you.
The Wife and the Girlfriend Are Not the Same Person
It happens in Idaho visiting rooms the same way it happens everywhere else -- at Idaho State Correctional Center in Kuna, at Idaho State Correctional Institution in Boise, at North Idaho Correctional Institution in Cottonwood, at the other facilities spread across a state that is 500 miles tall.
Some of the men inside are running two tracks. There is the woman who knows the real situation and the woman who knows the version he performs. In Idaho, because the tablet allows more frequent contact at lower cost, he can maintain more contact with both. More contact does not mean more honesty.
The one who knows the real situation is talking about the now. She is managing an Idaho household -- in the Treasure Valley, in the Magic Valley, in a small community in the Snake River Plain or the Panhandle -- and she is doing it without another adult. She is not romantic about the relationship because she does not have the luxury of being romantic about anything. She has this week and what this week costs and what it requires.
The other one is talking about the future. What it is going to be like when he gets out. Where they are going to go. She is still holding onto a version of the relationship that has not been tested by the ordinary weight of an Idaho life.
He treats them differently. With the one who knows everything he is more transactional, more likely to bring up what he needs before asking how she is. With the other one he is more careful, still performing. The tablet makes both relationships easier to maintain simultaneously.
Some women reading this are the one who knows everything. Some are the other one. Some are finding out right now which one they are.
If you are not sure: does he know what is actually happening in your week, or does he only know what he needs from it? Are you the person he calls when something is good, or only when something is needed? Have you ever met anyone in his life who knew about you?
The answers are not comfortable. But they are information.
What the Tablet Changes -- And What It Does Not
The February 2025 tablet rollout changes the financial architecture of communication in Idaho prisons in a meaningful way. At $0.06 per minute, a daily 20-minute call costs $1.20. Over a month of daily calls, that is about $36 -- a real number but dramatically lower than the $18-per-call reality in states with unregulated or minimally regulated phone costs.
The tablet also offers video visits through ICSolutions, messaging, and a direct view of the trust account balance. For the woman on the outside, the tablet means her person can reach her more easily and more often.
What it does not change is the nature of what the contact is about. A $0.06 call can still be a call about commissary instead of connection. A message at $0.25 can still be transactional. The technology is better. The relationship still requires intention.
The messaging fee matters practically: at $0.25 per message, sending and receiving messages adds up over a month. Set a reasonable expectation about message frequency and the cost of maintaining it. The trust account that covers commissary also covers communication costs. Factor both into the monthly number you can sustainably send.
For families setting up accounts: phone calls go through ICS Corrections (ic solutions.com or 888-506-8407). Trust account deposits go through Access Corrections. The tablet content belongs to the resident's cloud profile and transfers between facilities.
The Commissary Conversation
Even at $0.06 per minute, the call can still turn into a fight about his books.
He is dependent. The tablet is free but commissary is not. Hygiene products, extra food, clothing items, and the premium entertainment profile on the tablet -- all require money in his trust account. The dependency produces a need that comes through the phone or the message as asking, checking, sometimes pressure. It is not always easy to tell the difference between a man who misses you and a man who is managing you.
You are managing an Idaho household. Agricultural areas, smaller cities, rural communities -- Idaho's economy varies significantly by region. The Treasure Valley around Boise has grown and costs have risen. Rural southern and northern Idaho runs on different economics. Whatever the local reality, the bills do not pause because he is not there to share them.
Women ask about this on InmateAid's Ask the Inmate section more than almost any other relationship question. Whether he is spending her money on messages to other women. Whether the need is about love or about logistics. The wondering sits underneath every contact and does not go away until someone names it out loud.
The conversation that saves the relationship is the one where you name the actual number you can send and hold to it. Set a sustainable monthly total that covers both communication costs and commissary. Communicate it clearly. Consistency matters more than any single large deposit.
What She Is Carrying That He Cannot See
When he went in, she absorbed everything he used to do. Every decision. Every bill. Every school meeting and sick kid and broken appliance and form that needs a signature. Every night the house is quiet in a way that is not peace.
Idaho's communities are often tight-knit, particularly in smaller towns and agricultural areas. When the news is bad, it travels. The people who knew you as a couple before do not always know how to relate to you as the person managing this alone. Some disappear. Some say the wrong thing. Family members who had reservations feel confirmed and say so.
What is left is her, managing children who are watching her to understand how they are supposed to feel about all of this. Making every decision without another adult. Fielding daily messages and calls from inside that sometimes feel like connection and sometimes feel like transactions.
The person inside experiences deprivation. What he often cannot see is that she is deprived too -- not of freedom but of partnership, of another adult, of someone to hand the weight to at the end of the day. The resentment that grows from that gap is real. It is not a sign the relationship is wrong. It is a sign both of them are under a pressure most couples never face.
The Six-Week Wait Nobody Warns You About
Idaho requires a visiting application and background check for every visitor. The processing time is a minimum of six weeks. This is one of the longest visitor approval waiting periods in this series.
There is also a waiting period before any visits are possible: residents are not allowed visitors during the reception and diagnostic process at intake. Visitors must wait until the resident has been classified and assigned to a facility before even submitting the application.
If the resident is new to the prison, visitors must wait until classification is complete to know which institution to send the application to. Then the six-week clock starts. The entire process from intake to first approved visit can take two to four months.
Visitor applications must be renewed annually for prison facilities. If your approval has lapsed, submit a renewal before you plan a visit.
The resident is responsible for notifying visitors of the outcome. IDOC staff will not tell you over the phone whether you are on the approved list -- write to him to ask.
Plan ahead. The six-week minimum is not flexible. If you want to visit in June, submit the application in April.
The Doubt Is Normal
At some point, most women in this situation think about leaving.
Maybe it was the six-week wait that stretched into three months. Maybe it was the message at $0.25 that said nothing real. Maybe it was an Idaho winter alone, in a small town where everyone knows, when the isolation was absolute. Maybe it was just a Wednesday.
The thought is not betrayal. It is what happens when a person carries more than they were built to carry alone.
Some women leave. Some should. The sentence can reveal things about the relationship that were already true. Leaving is not failure.
Some women stay and build something. Not the relationship they had before. Something different. Something that has been tested in a way most couples never are. The ones who build something stopped pretending and had the real conversations.
We are not going to tell you to stay or go. We will tell you that the doubt is not proof the relationship is wrong. It is proof that you are paying attention.
The Social Isolation Nobody Warns You About
In Idaho's smaller communities -- the agricultural towns of the Magic Valley, the timber communities of north Idaho, the ranching areas of eastern Idaho -- everyone knows everyone and everyone's business. When the news is bad, it reaches the people you needed it not to reach. The social world that existed around the relationship changes faster than you expected. Some people disappear. Some say the wrong thing. Some offer opinions about your decision to stay.
The children's school may or may not know. The coworkers might. The neighbors have theories. What you actually need -- one person who can sit with you in the reality of what this is without making it about themselves -- is harder to find than it should be.
Idaho has limited formal support infrastructure for families of incarcerated people outside the Boise area. The Idaho Commission for Pardons and Parole has family-related information. Community legal aid organizations and reentry nonprofits in the Treasure Valley sometimes connect families to resources. If you can find one person who can hold your reality without judgment, find them and let them in.
Visiting in Idaho: Six Weeks, Annual Renewal, Be On Time
Idaho does not have conjugal visits. No private time at any IDOC facility.
Visiting is allowed at all nine IDOC prisons and five community reentry centers. The application goes to the specific institution where the resident is housed. Processing takes a minimum of six weeks. The visiting room officer's supervisor approves or denies based on the application, background check, and departmental policy. Applications must be renewed annually.
Video visits are scheduled through ICSolutions at icsolutions.com or by calling 888-646-9437. All visitors must be on the approved list and registered with ICSolutions. Close custody residents at some facilities visit by video only.
**Be on time.** If you are late to your visit at IDOC facilities, you will be turned away. This is policy, not a suggestion. If you are driving several hours to visit, build in buffer time. Do not count on arriving at exactly the scheduled start.
Each facility sets its own visiting schedule. Check the specific facility's page at idoc.idaho.gov for current hours. Idaho's geography means visiting schedules vary significantly: facilities in the Boise area are more accessible than North Idaho Correctional Institution in Cottonwood, which sits in a remote valley in Lewis County -- five to six hours from Boise on winding roads through the mountains.
For out-of-state IDOC residents: do not mail the application to the out-of-state facility. Submit it online at forms-idoc.idaho.gov/Forms/VisitorApplication.
The Practical Layer: What Needs to Happen
When a partner is incarcerated in Idaho, the practical tasks land on the person outside.
**Power of attorney.** Any legal or financial matter that requires his signature needs power of attorney executed from inside. Most IDOC facilities have notary services. LawDepot offers templates. Do this early.
**Idaho is a community property state.** Idaho is one of nine community property states. Debts and assets acquired during the marriage are generally shared. This has implications for any significant financial decisions made during the sentence. Understand what you are jointly responsible for.
**Joint finances.** Address shared accounts now. Joint debts continue.
**The tablet communication system.** Set up accounts now: IC Solutions (icsolutions.com or 888-506-8407) for phone and video; Access Corrections for trust account deposits. The tablet is the primary communication hub. Understanding both platforms before you need them saves frustration later.
**Benefits.** SNAP, Idaho Medicaid, childcare assistance through DHW, utility assistance. Use what exists. Idaho's rural communities sometimes have limited access to services -- check Idaho 2-1-1 (dial 2-1-1) for local resource referrals.
None of this is the romantic part of the relationship. All of it is the relationship.
For the Partner Inside: What You Cannot See
This section is for him.
The tablet makes it easier to reach her. That does not mean every message should be about commissary or about what he needs. Ask about her week before asking about his books. Let the call -- at $0.06 a minute, affordable by the standards of this series -- be about connection and not logistics. The commissary will get handled. The relationship requires intention that costs nothing except attention.
And understand what the six-week wait costs her. She submitted the application. She waited. She is doing everything the system asks and the system is slow. That patience deserves something real on the other end.
When He Gets Out: The Part Nobody Wants to Say
The girlfriend who held onto the idea of him -- who maintained the relationship through messages and calls and hope -- is usually gone within the first month after release. The adjustment to ordinary Idaho life, the job search with a record, the supervision conditions, the way he is different from what she remembered -- it is harder than the calls suggested. Most of those relationships do not survive contact with Tuesday.
The woman who managed the Idaho household alone, who waited six weeks for visiting approval and drove to Cottonwood and back in a day, who told the truth about the money and stayed when staying was the hardest thing -- she already knows who he is under pressure. She has no illusions left. That absence of illusion is what makes rebuilding possible.
Reentry in Idaho is hard. Employment for people with felony records is limited. Rural communities have fewer resources. Supervision conditions are real constraints. He has been institutionalized in ways neither of you fully understands until you are living in the same space again.
The girlfriend is hoping for the relationship she imagined. The woman who wrote through thick and thin is working with the one that actually exists.
FAQ
**Did Idaho really give inmates free tablets?** Yes. Beginning in February 2025, IDOC began rolling out free ViaPath tablets to every resident in its nine prisons. Each resident receives a tablet, charger, and earbuds at no cost. The tablet includes free access to messaging (message fees apply), phone calling (standard rates apply), educational resources, commissary ordering, and account management.
**How much do phone calls cost in Idaho?** Phone calls through IDOC's tablet system cost $0.06 per minute. A 20-minute call costs $1.20. Tablet messages cost $0.25 each. Voicemails cost $1.00. Calls go through ICS Corrections -- set up an account at icsolutions.com or call 888-506-8407. Trust account deposits go through Access Corrections.
**How long does visitor approval take in Idaho?** A minimum of six weeks. Residents cannot have visitors during the reception and diagnostic process at intake. After classification, the application goes to the specific facility and takes at least six weeks to process. Applications must be renewed annually for prison facilities.
**Does Idaho have conjugal visits?** No. Idaho does not have conjugal visits. IDOC's FAQ explicitly states this.
**What should I know before driving to visit someone in Idaho?** Be on time -- IDOC facilities will turn late visitors away. Check the current visiting schedule at the specific facility page at idoc.idaho.gov. Idaho is a large state -- NICI in Cottonwood is five to six hours from Boise on mountain roads. Build buffer time into any long drive.
**Is it normal to think about leaving?** Yes. Almost every woman in this situation thinks about it at some point. The thought does not mean the relationship is over. It means you are carrying a heavy load and you are honest with yourself about it. If the thought comes with relief rather than grief, that is worth taking seriously.
**What happens to the relationship when he gets out?** Reentry in Idaho is hard. Employment for felony records is limited, particularly in rural areas. Supervision conditions are real. Relationships built on calls and messages and future-talk often do not survive contact with ordinary life. The ones that have the best chance are built on honesty about who both people are under pressure.
[SPEC NOTE: Folder 16R8MTFxsOtqCIV4-WZb9Ys4mX8tc7YRR. Internal CTAs: Idaho inmate search, send money, visitation guide IDOC, Staying Connected hub, Idaho reentry resources. SOURCING: idoc.idaho.gov 2025-02-26 Update (every resident gets free ViaPath tablet; charger and earbuds free; cloud profile; phone calling and video visits on tablet); idoc.idaho.gov 2025-03-12 Update/FAQ #6 (free profile includes messaging app with message fees, phone calling at standard rates, educational resources, commissary ordering, eBooks, radio, trust account wallet; phone calls $0.06/min; voicemails $1.00; tablet messages $0.25; premium entertainment $0.05/min); idoc.idaho.gov FAQ (no conjugal visits -- "No, we do not"; visitation allowed at all 9 prisons and 5 community reentry centers; 6-week minimum processing; each institution sets own schedule; residents NOT allowed visitors during reception/diagnostic; application submitted to specific institution); idoc.idaho.gov visiting page (must wait until resident classified; residents NOT allowed visitors during reception and diagnostic; visiting room staff notify resident of outcome; out-of-state applications online at forms-idoc.idaho.gov; applications renewed annually for prison facilities); idoc.idaho.gov ISCC visiting page (all visits approved/registered/scheduled through icsolutions.com or 888-646-9437; all close custody by video; must be on time or turned away; vending coins or debit only; clear diaper bags); icscorrections.com IDOC page (ICS Corrections Inc. for calling; 208-258-3670; 888-506-8407 IC Solutions customer care; Access Corrections for trust deposits; GettingOut for messaging); idoc.idaho.gov visitation rules (video transitioned from GTL to ICSolutions; cannot ask staff if on approved list; write to resident to ask); Idaho community property state; 9 prisons including ISCC/IMSI/ISCI/SICI/ICC Kuna-Boise area; NICI Cottonwood Lewis County north Idaho 5-6 hrs from Boise; idoc.idaho.gov. NOTE for Poorwa: verify free tablet rollout current per idoc.idaho.gov; verify $0.06/min phone rate current; verify $0.25 message fee current; verify 6-week minimum wait current; verify annual renewal requirement current; verify no conjugal visits current; verify ICSolutions still video platform; verify Access Corrections still trust deposit; verify NICI Cottonwood still operational; verify Idaho community property state; len/character check before publish.]