In many institutions they are allowed to make long distance phone calls. They are collect and are more expensive than regular is the prison makes a profit on the calls. They are also usually limited in length to around ten or fifteen minutes. You should be cautious in giving out your phone number as it can become expensive.

Many prisons have access to prison approved email services such as jpay.com and several others. Th collect calls. The reason for thisese services are usually not free. Using Jpay.com can be a little confusing. In Texas for example the inmates can receive an email but they must respond via postal mail. For this reason you must include your postal mailing address so they can respond. In another state Washington they can both receive and send emails via jpay.com. Many federal prisons use the pay for use service accesscorrections.com. They invite you on their list and you must accept them before they can email you. It is free for you but the inmate pays a fee. There are other services emerging. So my suggestion is to write the first letter via postal mail and ask the inmate if they have access to emaail Many will liste on their ad that they do have access to email.

This is the Department of Corrections number. You must include this next to the prisoner’s name when writing them or the letter will not be delivered.

Usually not but the rules vary from prison to prison. On your first letter do not send anything other than your letter and possibly a photo of yourself. Ask the inmate you are corresponding with for rules of her/his specific institution. Polaroid photos are not allowed.

Be honest with them. You only have one chance to make a first impression. Most of these prison inmates are in need of friends and contact outside of prison. Mail is a very positive experience for them. Just be yourself. Many of these inmates will not respond if you do not show them some respect or if you send sexually explicit letters.

Yes – You may want to mention to the inmate that it will cost them extra postage to reply. As of year 2020 it is $1.20 for most countries for a once ounce letter . It is possible but rare that some institutions may have their own policy and not allow it.

Yes under the about us section on the website.

No. All changes made to an ad must come directly from the prisoner who placed the ad. They need to put their request in writing and mail it to our office. We do this to protect the privacy of their ad and make sure no one changes it when they do not so desire it.

Yes – you can submit and pay for an ad. If they have an existing ad use the payment page. If you want to make a payment for a new ad choose penpal.

Yes, you can email us to request that we send the inmate an application at [email protected] or via our contact section

There are several states that give out this information free on their websites. You can click on that inmate's facility which to will bring you the website. There you can do an inmate search. Also the crimes are ,listed in the inmate's bio.

Yes, if you don’t they will not be able to write you back. Also, believe it or not there are some states that take the envelope and only give the inmate the letter. So to be safe put your return address on the letter itself also.

Use a PO box address or virtual address if you feel uneasy.

No. You must be at least 18 years of age. It is not wise for someone under 18 to write a prisoner nor is it wise for a prisoner to write someone under 18

No. It is possible that some may get listed if it does not show up on the DOC website or an internet search fails to discover that the inmate has sex offenses.

Caution must always be used when dealing with inmates.

BEWARE OF:

· FAKE PICTURES.

OLD PICTURES
. It is common that they cannot send us a recent photo. We do not remove them from the site for this reason if the photo is of them.

· UNDERSTATING THEIR AGE.

· SHORTENING HIS/HER RELEASE DATE.
This can be very complicated because they may be stating the expected release date after earning gain time or they may be stating an optimistic parole date. If a lady says she gets out in two years and she is in for life we obviously will remove them, but it is not always that simple. · LYING TO GET MONEY.

They sometimes outright lie to get money sent to them. The best advice is not to send money or only very small amounts for stamps, stationary, or small luxuries such as shampoo, deodorant, shoes, etc.

The most common reason is incorrect or incomplete address.

You must write the address exactly as it is displayed on their profile listing to ensure proper routing and delivery. This includes the inmate control number.

You must also provide and complete and accurate return address. If by chance the inmates postal address is incorrect, there is little we can do as we only post what has been provided to us with their profile information.