Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to write to prison pen pals?
Is it Dangerous to write to some one in prison? Well, you cannot go through life afraid of everything... There is Danger in everything that you do, it's dangerous to drive your car because some moron could cross into your lane and hit you head on. It's dangerous to ride on a public bus with 40 complete strangers, anyone of which could be armed with a weapon. It's dangerous to eat that Cheese Burger from McDonald's, prepared by a complete stranger that could have added a "special" ingredient. Danger is around every corner. Prison Pen Pals are NO more of a Danger to you than a stranger at your local bar or club. Prison Pen Pals are NO more of a danger to you than the average person on Myspace or Facebook... at least with a prison pen pal you have a person's REAL NAME, REAL AGE, and a REAL IDENTITY... Inmates cannot lie about or hide who they really are. On Myspace or facebook you could be talking to anyone... and if you are a heavy user of myspace, eharmony, match and all those other social networking website's, chances are that you have already had contact with someone that has served time... there is no background check for any social networking web site. We Deal with multiple inmates charged with various crimes... we are not in fear of our lives and we have never had an incident.
Do I have to use my return address?
Do I Have to use a return address on my letters to a prisoner? Yes, If you do not want an Inmate to have your home address please consider renting a PO Box or UPS Store address... Both are available for only a few bucks a month. Prisons require a Return address on all incoming mail... No return address will result in a rejected letter. Go to the post office and rent a P.O. Box for 6 months ...use one PO Box to write to as many inmates as you like ...use the PO Box for the rest of your mail too, a PO Box is more secure than your average mailbox ...with the rise of identity theft, all of your important mail should be going to a secured P.O. Box anyway's.
How Do I Verify an Inmate's Conviction?
It is Rare for an Inmate to lie about the conviction that he/she is serving time for. Inmates are aware of how easy it is to research a criminal history so in most cases the inmates do not lie about conviction. If you want the full criminal history of an inmate you may submit the inmate's name and reg # to your local sheriff's dept... or the sheriff's dept where the inmate's criminal case or charge originated. You can also try contacting the prison where the inmate is currently incarcerated. We try to double check an inmate's conviction before putting the web page live on our website. We check on an inmate's conviction by running a search for the inmate on the website of the Prison where the inmate is currently doing his/her time. In most cases, the inmate's prison will list the official conviction. Federal Prison Web sites do not list convictions but it isn't hard to put 2 and 2 together... if an inmate is serving Federal Time it's probably for Drug Trafficking, Conspiracy, Money Laundering, Bank Robbery or Crimes that cross state lines into multiple jurisdictions... Fed Cases can get pretty complicated and Feds are tight lipped on the official convictions. Most Federal Cases are the result crimes that are viewed as a threat to the American way of life and or the Security of America and it's Assets (MONEY) while State Cases are usually crimes against an individual... Sometimes the Feds do pick up state cases ...for example, Illegal Possession of a hand gun is usually a State Offense but the Feds will pick up the case if the inmate has already been convicted of other offenses. Fed cases can involve homicide and or sexual assaults but that is rare...
You may use the link found on the inmate's profile page to visit the website of Inmate's Prison... there you may run your own background check on the inmate.
On all GP pen pal profiles -> [ Current Facility: Some Correctional Facility ]
H I N T: When you visit the website of the prison where the inmate is serving time look for a link to the prison's "Offender Locator" or "Offender Search" ...many times these parts of the prison's web site will give the official release date and official crime for the prisoner in question.
"Google" Charges that you cannot understand:
Battery by Body Waste (IC 35-42-2-6)
We make mistakes and sometimes inmates do lie, ALWAYS conduct your own investigation on an inmate's background: Google the inmate's name, if the the inmate's crime was serious there will be news sites with detailed info on the crime and or visit the web site of the Prison where the inmate is being held, the Prison's site will have the official conviction of the inmate.
By the way, only pay attention to CONVICTIONS, not charges (arrests)... anyone including yourself can be charged (arrested) with any crime at anytime... After an arrest it is up to the District Attorney to decide if the charges are valid, proper, and or worth prosecuting... Just because a web site, newspaper, or news station says that someone was arrested for a crime does not mean that the person was prosecuted/convicted... charges could have been dismissed/dropped... so ONLY pay attention to convictions.
How Do I get an Inmate listed on this web site?
How Much does it cost to get an inmate listed? - $29.99/year for a web page. Period. No special rates. No special attention. All inmates are treated equally. We do not promote a certain group or category of inmates over another.
Payment Methods?- Prison Checks/Money Orders from Inmates are accepted. Money Orders from friends or family members of the inmate are accepted. Major Credit Cards from friends or family of inmate are accepted online and processed via Pay Pal. Personal checks from friends or family members of the inmate are accepted. Online Payments Here
Where do I find an application for listing an inmate - If you would like to have an inmate be notified of our service we have an electronic form that you may fill out. We will mail inmates our info packet, brochure, and application if you provide all of the required info. Use Our application mailer to mail an inmate an application(click)
After purchasing, How long does it take for a listing to appear? - If the inmate's listing was purchased by credit card (online) the listing will appear within 72 hours of payment. If the payment was made by prison check or money order, the listing will appear within 1 week of us receiving the payment. If payment was made by personal check the listing will appear after the check clears at the bank.
What are the rules for sending mail to inmates?
Do not mention criminal activity. Do not discuss open criminal cases or charges. Do not discuss anything that could be used as evidence against you or the inmate. Do not send stamps, Polaroid Pictures, or Cash... to keep it safe, until the inmate indicates what he/she can and cannot receive through the mail your first letter to an inmate should contain only a letter to the inmate inside of an envelope. REMEMBER that your letter will be scanned over by a mail room guard, the guard may not read the entire letter but the guard will spot check the letter to make sure that you and the inmate are not planning any sort of escape or any other illegal activity. Polaroid's will be rejected by most prisons & Stickers will be rejected by most prisons. Pornography and Nudity also will be rejected by most prisons. Incoming letters must have a your return address. Incoming letters must have the inmate's Registration Number... On this website, The registration number is the number that is listed next to the inmate's name (John Doe #85748757). Incoming letters will be screened/read/glanced over by guards.
Are Prisoner addresses Current/Correct?
New Pen Pals, Addresses and Corrections are made on a weekly basis. If an inmate is Moved from one prison to another, the inmate is allowed to update their contact info free of charge.
Can I get an Inmate's Page Removed or Updated?
No. ONLY THE INMATE can request to have his/her page removed or disabled. The inmate must write to us to have his/her page removed or disabled. If there needs to be an update to the inmate's page the inmate must write to us with the update info.
Question Not Answered?
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