Auto Secure LoginHow to Message an Inmate: Approved Ways to Stay in Touch
Every jail and prison sets its own rules for contact. Here is how to find the approved way to reach someone inside, what it costs, what can be read and how to avoid scams.
Updated October 16, 2026
How to message an inmate: the four usual ways
There is no national system for contacting someone who is locked up. Federal prisons, state prisons and county jails each decide what they allow, usually some mix of these:
- Mail: letters and cards. Usually the cheapest option, but mail is opened and inspected, and facilities limit what you can enclose.
- Phone calls: the person inside calls out, usually to approved numbers; in most facilities you cannot call in.
- Video visits: some facilities offer video calls, at the facility or from your own device, through the facility's provider.
- Electronic messages: some facilities let people inside read and send messages on a kiosk or tablet, using an account you open with the facility's provider.
In-person visits are a fifth route, usually from an approved visitor list. Whatever you choose, learning how to message an inmate starts with one question: which methods does this facility allow?
Each facility chooses its own provider and rules
Jails and prisons usually contract with one communications company, chosen without input from the people who will use it, as the FCC's 2026 compliance guide explains. That company runs the phones, video visits and messaging for the facility, and families have to use it. That is why how to message an inmate has a different answer at each facility, and a transfer can change it.
Rules also differ on who can be contacted, how often, how long a call or message can be and whether photos are allowed. The facility's own instructions always come before anything online, including this guide. On its website, look for:
- the company it uses for calls, video and messages;
- how to get on the approved contact or visitor list;
- mail rules: address format, ID number and items that are not allowed;
- how to add money, and to which account;
- how lawyers arrange legal calls or visits.
How to find the person and the facility's approved method
Before you work out how to message an inmate, confirm where the person is held and which rules apply there.
- Find the facility. For federal prisons, use the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) inmate locator, which covers people in federal custody since 1982 and searches by name or number. For a state prison, use the state department of corrections' inmate search. For a county jail, check the sheriff's website or call the jail.
- Write down the person's full name and ID number, such as a register, DOC or booking number. Mail, deposits and contact requests usually need it.
- Open the facility's official website and find its page on mail, phones, visiting or friends and family.
- Sign up only through the company and links that page names. If you are unsure, call the facility and ask which provider it uses.
People are often moved after an arrest or a sentence. The BOP locator notes that someone no longer in BOP custody may still be held elsewhere or be under supervision.
Federal prisons: how to message an inmate through TRULINCS
In prisons the BOP operates, electronic messaging uses a system called TRULINCS. According to the BOP's TRULINCS page, the person inside starts the process:
- They add you to their contact list, and staff must approve it.
- You get an automated email from CorrLinks asking whether you accept their messages or want to block them.
- You accept within 10 days. After that the invitation expires and they must add you again.
The BOP's communications page says messages are text only, with no attachments, up to 13,000 characters. Both sides must consent to monitoring, and people inside have no internet access. The person inside pays fees to use the system. All BOP-operated facilities have TRULINCS; contract facilities do not.
So for federal custody, how to message an inmate comes down to waiting for their invitation. You can still write letters. The BOP says the person inside ordinarily pays for phone calls, though in some cases the receiving party pays.
Can you text an inmate? What an inmate messaging app really is
In most places you cannot text an inmate the way you text a friend; a regular text to a personal phone does not reach anyone inside. What people call an inmate messaging app is usually the app of the company the facility contracts with. You open an account, link it to the person, pay for messages and they read them on a kiosk or tablet.
Before you pay, check that the app is the one named on the facility's website, read the price list and ask whether replies, photos or video messages cost extra. Apps that are not the facility's provider do not connect to its tablets or kiosks, and some outside arrangements break facility rules. The BOP, for example, says third-party or alternative call arrangements are not permitted.
What can be read, recorded or rejected
Assume anything you send can be read and that calls and video visits can be recorded. In federal prisons, a notice by each phone says calls are monitored, electronic messages are screened and general mail is opened and inspected. State and county rules vary, but monitoring is the norm.
- Avoid discussing the details of a pending case. Ask the person's lawyer how to talk about it.
- Legal mail and attorney calls often follow special rules. The BOP opens properly marked special mail only in front of the person and allows unmonitored attorney calls in certain circumstances.
- Messages, photos or mail that break the rules can be rejected, and the person's phone or messaging privileges can be limited.
What it costs: the FCC's rate caps for calls and video
The Martha Wright-Reed Act of 2022 let the Federal Communications Commission set just and reasonable rates for calls within a state, not only between states. The FCC adopted rules in a 2024 order and revised the rate caps in a November 2025 order. Its 2026 compliance guide says the revised interim caps took effect April 6, 2026, for audio and video, in-state, out-of-state and international.
Under those caps, a call from a prison can cost at most 11 cents a minute and a video call 25 cents a minute, each including a 2-cent facility add-on. Jail caps depend on the jail's size and are highest for the smallest jails. These are maximums: what you pay depends on the facility and provider, and it can be lower. Other FCC rules say providers may not:
- charge separate fees for things like automated payments or third-party money transfers;
- charge a one-time fee to connect a call;
- require a minimum balance on a prepaid or debit calling account.
Money you deposit in a calling account stays yours until it is spent. The caps cover audio and video only, so check the provider's prices for messages and tablets. They are interim until the FCC sets permanent caps.
Protect your money and spot scams
Families of people in custody can be targets. Scammers pose as deputies, police or jail staff and demand money, and the FTC warns that real law enforcement will not demand payment by gift card, cryptocurrency, payment app or wire transfer.
- Add money only through methods listed on the facility's official website. For federal prisons, the BOP lists approved ways to send funds and says to wait until the person arrives at the facility.
- If someone calls asking for money for a release, a program or a fine, hang up and call the facility at a number from its official website.
- Use a unique password for the provider account, never share it or your card details with someone who contacts you first, and keep a receipt for every deposit.
- Report scams at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and tell the facility.
If an unknown number keeps calling about someone inside, our guide on checking whether a number is a scam can help.
Where APMSG fits
APMSG is an inmate messaging app designed to be held and paid for by the family rather than a facility.
As designed, the person inside needs no screen or app: they dial their own dedicated number, enter a private PIN and use a spoken menu in English or Spanish to record a message of up to 60 seconds, hear voicemail or place a call. Relatives use a web or Android app that shows the balance as messages and calls remaining, and several relatives can fund the same person without seeing each other's accounts.
Check the facility's rules before any outside service. The federal Bureau of Prisons does not permit third-party or alternative call arrangements, and APMSG's own page says facilities shut these numbers down when they find them. APMSG is not the facility's messaging system and does not connect to it. APMSG does not read or moderate messages. See how APMSG is designed.
Frequently asked questions
Can I text an inmate from my phone?
Usually not with a regular text message. Facilities that allow messaging use their contracted provider's app or website, and the person reads your message on a kiosk or tablet. Check the facility's website for the provider it uses.
How do I message an inmate in federal prison?
Through TRULINCS. The person inside adds you as a contact, staff approve it and you get an email from CorrLinks asking you to accept. Accept within 10 days or the invitation expires.
Are messages to inmates private?
No. Expect messages, calls and video visits to be monitored or recorded. Legal mail and attorney calls can follow special rules, so ask the lawyer and the facility.
How much does it cost to call an inmate?
It depends on the facility. Since April 6, 2026, FCC caps limit audio calls to between 10 and 19 cents a minute, depending on the facility type and size, including a 2-cent add-on. Messages are priced by the provider.
Is there an inmate messaging app the family controls?
Most messaging runs through the facility's own provider. APMSG is designed as a family-held line; it does not connect to facility systems and does not replace the facility's approved method.