Mike Smits
Family Paying for the Inmates Calls and Prison Phone Calls
There is no direct way for an outsider to pay for calls made by a prisoner. The only way to defer inmate telephone costs to the family is for the family (or others) to send money to the inmate and then for the inmate to transfer those funds to his prisoner telephone account for use. The funds are sent to a P.O. Box in Iowa:
Federal Bureau of Prisons
[Inmate's Name]
[Inmate's Federal ID Number]
P.O. Box 474701
Des Moines, IA 50947-0001
and very quickly credited to the inmate's account for use as the inmate sees fit. The only alternative for outsiders to pay the expenses for an inmate's calls is for an outside party to obtain an account with a telephone service provider who specializes in connection lines for inmates. This typically does save the inmate and his family money.
Transferring Funds Between the Inmate's Regular and Telephone Account
An inmate transfers the funds he wants on his telephone account from his regular account (the Des Moines, IA account). This is done by the inmate in only one way: Through the use of the phones in the inmate's unit where he is housed. There is no other way to transfer funds onto the prisoner's account. And only he can do this. To do this, an inmate pushes 118 after picking up the receiver. He will then have to enter his Prison ID number and his PIN number after which he will be prompted to push a 3 to transfer funds. He will then be asked to press the amount in "whole numbers followed by the pound key." Then after confirming this on the phone by an additional keystroke, the funds will be on his account for use in making calls.
No-Nos for Inmates When Making Telephone Calls
There are a few things that federal inmates should avoid when making calls. They include making threats to anyone, discussing any type of criminal activity or running a business from prison. Again, inmate telephone calls are routinely monitored for just such type of activities.
- Username
- textinmate
- Member Since
- May 31, 2023
- State
- active
