My husband starts serving at Leavenworth on Monday. I know I should expect some sort of letter with info and that he has 30 days where he can't call. My questions are - how many others on here have loved ones at USDB, and do you guys ever arrange group visits?

Also, how many magazine subscriptions is an inmate limited to? And, do they ever have access to email?

-Gigi

Hi Gigi,
I have a son serving life w/o parole at FT. Leavenworth at the DB. My son has never said how many subscriptions that he can have, but I know that he is getting at least six subscriptions right now. They can order them from there also. Also, you can order books for him through publishers...they have to be shipped from the companies though. You cannot send anything directly to him, except letters..cards...pictures. Even that, he will learn in his 30 day "reception period" how much of that stuff he is allowed in his cell. My son sends things home to me, when he gets to his limit. I don't know if anyone ever tried to coordinate thier visits so we could meet, but that might be a great idea. I know that someone posted that it is soooo boring there when you are not actually visiting with your inmate.....and they are right!!!! I saw on another thread that you were asking about military lodging. My son is still in his appeal process, but we have never been allowed to use the military lodging. I have only stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Lansing, but Lisa says that The Days Inn in Leavenworth is a good place to stay, and I'm sure that the price is better than the Holiday Inn.
Pennie

Hi Gigi,
I found the phone number for Inmate personell at the USDB. 913-758-3649 and the gal there is Diane Bond. She may be able to find out for you about magazine subscriptions, and if you haven't gotten your letter from the DB yet, she may be able to make sure that you get one....oh and as for email, the inmates don't have access to the internet.
Hope the number helps.
Pennie

i heard from someone else that there is a cheaper hotel and it is closer. i will find out which one it is and get back to you about that.

well, i checked real quick and its called:

http://www.hotels.com/images/chrysalis/stars/3.gif

America's Best Value Inn
01 South 3rd Street
Leavenworth, KS 66048

not sure what their number is. i think there is some kind of military discount possible as well.

Thanks so much for all your responses. I'm going to call the center tomorrow.

Hi Gigi,
Actually, I had to call the DB today on another matter...and I got a phone number for the Director of Administration of Inmates...I spoke with Michelle at 913-758-3669 or 913-758-3646...she seemed very knowledgable, and she may be able to answer more questions for you...Also the phone number that I gave you yesterday...913-758-3649-Diane Bond..is Inmate personnell..and she can answer visitation questions and may be able to send the visitation rules out to you...
I wonder if inmate families can use the military discounts??? Anyway, it would be great to know.
Thanks,
Pennie

Hello to all ... was at the USDB from 1997-2001 ... at the old "Castle" ... my family used the military discounts at places that gave them ... as long as you have a dependant ID you can get most discounts and services.

Once any appeal is over and they take your ID's then your opportunitiy for military discounts is done.

Also ... when I was there limits were not on the number of subscriptions you could have, but instead the number of books, magazines, and newspapers you were allowed to keep in your cell. I had about 15 subscriptions ... but kept very few ... read them and then got rid of them ... not much reason to hold on to most magazines ... the few that were 'keepers' I mailed home. Access to the internet is not an option for inmates ... so no email or chats can happen. Hope the information helps ... I've been out for a while, but my guess is the changes are not so big.

Gigi,
My son is 5 years in on a 70 year (parole eligible at 10) sentence at the DB. There are still so many questions I have about policies and procedures. As a general rule, I've found that asking my son is my best source of information (unless, of course, it's "about" him!). I've found that the personnel at DB are usually very helpful but I've had a run-in or two with some. I tend to be a fairly proactive advocate for my son (much to his chagrin at times) and won't settle for a non-answer. A lot of the things you want to know, we can answer here; much of it, though, has to just be experienced. I say that because dealing with the DB policies is kind of like Murphy's Law sometimes. There is NO access to computers, even for educational purposes. I'm not even sure the law library has a computer - I'll try to remember to ask my son. There is a regular library with all kinds of reading material, a music room with instruments (surprising!), and weight room. There may be other amenities, but I can't think of any off-hand. My son has told me he doesn't have to submit a "510" (request for approval) on books that are shipped to him anymore - they are either approved or disapproved on arrival. When he was in SHU, there was a limit on how many magazines/books he could have, but the same isn't true for gen pop. My son mails home anything he wants to keep.

I have mentioned a group visit before but didn't get much response. It would be nice to meet everyone. I've met a couple of people at the DB who post here. I think the coordination might be a bit much considering how far flung we are. But we could try! Perhaps the next long weekend could be a target date? Anyone interested?

I've seen the hotel Disco posted about. It looked nice and it is only about 1/2 mile from the post main gate. I don't know anything about the rates or facilities but we can check all that out and perhaps book a block at a discount rate? We'd need to have firm commitments from anyone planning to visit. How 'bout it, y'all (yes, I'm from the South!)?

~Lisa.

As new4az stated there are no limit on the subsriptions an inmate may have, it is the limit placed on what can be kept in his cell. DeNada there is a computer in the Law Library. It has basic Word (though you cannot save files), and uses a program called LawDesk for legal research. The disadvantage is that is isn't updated like it should. The Library also has all of the Military Justice Reporters for doing research, which are kept up to date. There is also an inmate law clerk there to help inmates. If Graves is still there, he knows the military legal system quite well. About every three months or so, I would have to drop a "510" to have this done. Each general population unit also had a computer with LawDesk on it. Inmates in the minimum custody housing units were also allowed to have a word processor machine for typing in their cells (these were hard to find and are very limited.)
If anyone has any other questions PM me.

RM