Wire of Hope’s Prison Pen Pal Program also offers useful information about the US Federal and State Prison systems, such as mail rules, email providers, money deposits, phone calls, packages, visits, etc.
The first step is to know the name of the facility your prison penpal is currently housed in. If you don’t know it, go to our prison penpal and inmate locator. The second step is to determine if the facility is affiliated to the Federal Bureau of Prisons or a State Department of Corrections. To make sure, simply look up online the name of the prison along with the State (example: Polunsky Unit Texas). You should find out whether it is a Federal Correctional Institution (FCI), in which case you need to look up the information under the Federal Bureau of Prisons, or a State Prison or Correctional Institution, in which case you need to search for the information by State.
Please note that these pieces of information and links are subject to change at any time. If you notice any inaccuracy, please let us know about it so we can update this page. Keep in mind that this information is general. It can vary from a facility to another and/or depend on the security level of the inmate.