I'm curious as to how often and how much phone time prisoners get in federal prison. Does anyone know? My bf is in state prison, in Texas, and they get 5 minutes every 90 days. He will be serving federal time soon and I'm curious as to what the phone privelages are in federal prison.

Thank you!

Federal inmates get 300 minutes per month.....15 max at a time. (with the exception of November and December they get an extra 100 min. for the holidays) You will also find that it is much cheaper if he buys his phone time from there as opposed to the collect charges!

Yes, they get 300 minutes per month, and they can call daily once they have there phone list turned in and approved...when you pick up you will hear a recording "this call is coming from a federal prison", make sure to enter the correct number (5), because if someone accidently enters the 77 to void all future calls, he will not be able to get through again to that number. My husband went to McCreary Ky this past Tuesday, he was able to call me by Friday, it usually takes a little longer I believe. You will also here half way through your conversation that "this call is from a federal prison"...when you hear this you have half of your time left. Good luck to you, and 15 minutes will be great compared to the 5 you have been getting. She is right, try and have him money to set up his phone to be pre-paid or you will really rack up a big phone bill in collect calls. Lynda

I'm gonna add a couple of things. After they make a call whether they talked the whole 15 minutes or not they cannot call right back. Some places it's 30 minutes, where my man is at it's an hour. Also once the 300 minutes is up THAT'S IT for the rest of the month so budget the minutes wisely.

Thank you!

Alright I have a quick question. Somehow my son's father is no longer able to call me collect. I believe that my son must have pressed 77...I never knew before that that could cause u to no longer recieve calls. I let him answer the phone when his father called and thats when he must have done it. I went as far as to call my phone company to see if someone in the house had put a block on it but they said no, there was nothing on it. So this is my question....HOW DO I GET IT TAKEN OFF???? Please help someone:(

My very aged mother accidentally did this once.

You need to send a copy of your phone bill (so they know the number is yours) to the prison with a letter asking specifically that they remove the block you accidentally placed with 77.

Apparently this happens somewhat routinely -- a lot of children and a lot of very old people don't grasp what that @#$% recording is telling them -- and they'll remove the block right away once they have such a letter+bill from you.

For future reference... When your inmate is calling someone, he can hear what the recording is saying to the person outside, and he knows when the system is asking the person to confirm the initial 77 block request. If he's sure that doing a 77 block then is a mistake, he should hang up right then. The phone system will stop handling the 77 block and things will not get wedged as they are for you now.

All this said, note that it's a whole lot less expensive to do direct-dial calling than collect calling.

There's only 1 problem....my phone bill isn't in my name. So do i have to get them to send the letter or can I still send it????

Interesting problem. I haven't got a sure answer for you, but I would like to think that a letter from you, noting that you're the name on his phone list, would be sufficient.

Best bet is probably to call the prison to ask what you should do.

Some more information for the original poster - the phone numbers in federal prison have to be submitted by the prisoner, pre-approved and then added to the prisoner's phone list. Except attorney phone calls are handled differently. Zelda

Who knows how long it takes to have the PAC ready? (whatever it is called)

The speed with which PAC and lists are set up seems to vary with the institution, and (to be frank) how much the administrivial folks care about taking care of it promptly.

For me, my initial phone list was set up in less than a week.

Can they add someone to their phone list at any time?

Yes, the phone list can be updated at any time but there is a limited amount of numbers so one may need to be deleted in order to add another. The new list will have to be approved so the new number may not be available for several days.

Ok.. here is my question. If the 300 minutes is not used up does he get to carry over the minutes?

I wish the 300 minutes wasnt used up. My man talks on the phone so much he is usually out before the middle of the month

Ok.. here is my question. If the 300 minutes is not used up does he get to carry over the minutes?They do not roll over.

I hate the 300 minute limit also. my husband at fci elreno always uses his up at the beginning of the month then I have to go 2 weeks without talking to him.

Nope, no carry over minutes in the BOP! :D

Also... there are quite a few locations that differ from the usual '15 minutes'. I have had a couple where it was 20 minutes. Also time between calls...they can't always call back to back. Waiting time between calls can vary as well. 30 minutes to 1 hour from my experience. FTC are often back to back and don't count towards time limit from my understanding.

Where my honey is at, they get the 300 minutes a month, 15 minute call at a time and if the call cuts out before we get to say 'i luv u" he can call right back, he dont have to wait 30 minutes. Where he was before he had to wait 30 minutes before callin me back. So the only good thing i like about where he is at now is that the phones are open until 11:30 pm and he can call me back-to-back.

How does this phone limitation work, who keeps up with the inmates minutes on the phone? Can you buy minutes form another inmate? Is the system so that you have to have a passcode to even pick up the phone? Help me understand this?

The inmates pass code, approved numbers, and minutes purchased and used are all computer generated.

Inmates should keep up with their minutes so that they do not face the end of the month with no means to contact family. If one talks every day, that's only 10 minutes per day during a 30 day month.

Can they add someone to their phone list at any time?

This depends on the individual institution. When my sweetie was in USP Atlanta, he could request to add and remove numbers when he wanted. He is now in Edgefield, and can only add or edit his phone list once every 6 months!! :(

How does this phone limitation work, who keeps up with the inmates minutes on the phone? Can you buy minutes form another inmate? Is the system so that you have to have a passcode to even pick up the phone? Help me understand this?

They can use the phones to transfer money from their commissary account to their phone account and to check their phone minutes.

I know this may sound crazy but this is like the 2nd time that Ive been here I'm new. When I looked at your count down it brought reality to me for my love. I'll keep you in my prayers.

No. no rollover minutes but the money does.

I'm curious as to how often and how much phone time prisoners get in federal prison. Does anyone know? My bf is in state prison, in Texas, and they get 5 minutes every 90 days. He will be serving federal time soon and I'm curious as to what the phone privelages are in federal prison.

Thank you!

They can make 15-minute phone calls, with 30 minutes in between calls. There is a limit to the calls per month because they have a phone card that they renew via commissary. I don't know what the limit is because it hasn't happened. My man calls me four times a week and it works for us. If something is going on, he calls more often, but generally four times a week plus a couple calls to his other relatives gets him through a month's worth. Has this helped?

Nope, no carry over minutes in the BOP! :D

Also... there are quite a few locations that differ from the usual '15 minutes'. I have had a couple where it was 20 minutes. Also time between calls...they can't always call back to back. Waiting time between calls can vary as well. 30 minutes to 1 hour from my experience. FTC are often back to back and don't count towards time limit from my understanding.
WOW you are lucky. I thought all fed institutions were like BOP Beaumont: 15 minutes with 30 in between. 1 hour!!!!! WOW~!!!!!

No, you can't carry over the minutes. They will only honor 300 minutes per month.

No, the minutes do NOT carry over.

300 minutes is the maximum EXCEPT for November and December when the BOP allows 40 minutes. Money is transferred from the commissary account to the phone account at any time during the month. Although the minutes do not roll over, money in the phone account which is unused remains in the account.

Not as far as I know.

Also the 300 minutes do not start over on the 1st of the month for everyone. My husband says it depends on the last 3 numbers of his register number, his happens to be 3 so they subtract 2 so yes his does start over on the 1st. He is in FCI Beckley so I don't know if this is the case with all prisons or not.

Is there any way to get more minutes once the 300 minutes is used up. My fiances exhusband is being very nasty to her mom and possibly there kids and she used up 75 minutes in one day. She needs to be able to check on them and shes gonna be out of minutes too soon. Can the warden of unit team grant more minutes in Federal?

There is no way to gain additional minutes. In November and December the BOP does allow 400 minutes.

In a family emergency the Chaplain or the counselor may allow a call from their office phone.

And I don't think the BOP will consider a family feud to be an "emergency."