Can you call someone in jail

You can also exchange voice messages with a prisoner using the Prison Voicemail service. To help us improve GOV. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. Cookies on GOV. UK We use some essential cookies to make this website work. Accept additional cookies Reject additional cookies View cookies. Hide this message. Home Crime, justice and the law Prisons and probation. Staying in touch with someone in prison.

Letters, video and telephone calls Letters You can contact a prisoner by writing to them. Most letters sent to and from prison are checked by prison staff. Video calls You can make secure video calls to people in some prisons using your mobile phone or tablet.

Video calls are free at the moment. Calls can last up to 30 minutes. Eligible people in prison ask to invite their approved visitors. All parties must agree to the conditions of the video calling. The video caller will receive request forms by email or mail, completes the video calling request agreeing to conditions and indicates a preferred time and day.

Each prison will decide which days and times are available for video calling. Staff will help video callers arrange a suitable time once their request to video call is accepted.

Sometimes a person in prison may want to request a video call with someone who is not an approved visitor. They can discuss this with prison staff. If you're invited to a video call you will receive details by email on how to connect to the video call. The emai will have a link to open in your personal device, and a password to join the meeting at the scheduled time.

A Corrections staff member will be in the room during the call to help and to make sure participants comply with the agreed conditions, in the same way they are present at visits in prison. Video calls must end after 10 minutes to allow as many people to connect with their loved ones as possible. Everyone in the room for the video call must be booked for the call. For example, a partner and children, or two parents. You cannot record or photograph the call in any way.

If you do, the call will be ended immediately and could result in prosecution in court under section 1 f of the Corrections Act. In most cases when the inmate is first admitted they will submit a list of phone numbers that go on this list. If the inmate didn't have your number memorized then chances are you are not on the list. But good news, you can be added to the list at anytime once the inmate knows your number.

The best way to get the inmate your number is to include it in a letter you write to them. Some states like Texas actually have a website setup to register your phone number with the department of corrections, which makes you eligible to receive calls from an offender. Not all facilities will require you to be on an approved list, but you could still run into problems receiving inmate calls.

A common reason someone cannot receive a call from their inmate is because they only have a cell phone, and cell phones cannot receive collect calls. Establishing a pre-paid account through the above companies can usually circumvent this. Other problems people run into are not realizing they have collect calls blocked through their telephone service provider. Sometimes people will have the calls dropped during the middle of their conversation, the cause of this is usually due to a three way calling, or call waiting feature being enabled on your phone.

Call waiting will make the call drop, so if you are experiencing many dropped calls this is something to look into. Three way calling is also prohibited and will usually lead to the call not even going through.

One more thing you should know, is that all calls are recorded and monitored. This means it's not a good idea to discuss any crimes the inmate may be accused of, as it could result in additional charges, evidence etc. The simplest way to reduce the cost of calling someone in jail or prison, is to limit the amount of time you are on the phone with that person, as well as the frequency of the calls.

While this is not ideal because you want to hear your loved ones voice it can drastically impact the overall charge of offender calls. This will help eliminate any lulls, awkward silence moments in your conversation, and will allow you to maximize the use of your time on the phone.