Honest answers to the questions outside correspondents and inmates ask most.
No. Browsing profiles and writing letters is free. The inmate pays the listing subscription. The only paid services on the outside-correspondent side are optional add-ons: Letter Relay ($15/month if you'd rather not share your mailing address) and ES↔EN Translation ($5/letter for cross-language correspondence).
If you write via CorrLinks email, delivery is logged on the CorrLinks side and the inmate receives it in their inbox typically within minutes. If you write via postal mail, delivery depends on the facility's mailroom processing time — usually 3–7 days for federal facilities. If you use the Letter Relay add-on, InsideLines confirms receipt via email.
Reply latency varies by facility. Some inmates have daily terminal access; some have weekly. The expected window for the first reply is one to four weeks. Subsequent letters typically move faster as the correspondence settles into a regular cadence. If no reply is received after six weeks, please contact the platform and a wellness check will be initiated via CorrLinks.
What you'd write to a thoughtful person you're getting to know. Books, work, family, news, what you're cooking, what you're worried about, what you're proud of. The thing not to do is treat the inmate as an interview subject — don't make "what's it like inside" the only thing you ask about. They are a person with a life, not a curiosity exhibit.
Don't send sexually explicit content — it violates BOP communications policy and will get the inmate disciplined. Don't discuss anyone else's open legal case. Don't make promises (visit, money, release advocacy, romantic commitment) you don't intend to keep. Don't write something this week you wouldn't be willing to write again in three months.
Photos via mail: yes, subject to BOP content rules (no nudity, no contraband, no images of minors not your own children). Most federal facilities accept photo prints, not Polaroids. Gifts and care packages are NOT permitted via inmate mail in federal facilities — there are specific approved-vendor channels for that. Ask before sending.
Please communicate the decision explicitly. The inside correspondent has no way to distinguish a deliberate ending from a postal delay, and a brief closing message is a more considered ending than indefinite absence. There is no obligation or fee associated with closing a correspondence.
If you're already on StayCloser, reply to any CorrLinks message from Dr. Tati with "InsideLines listing — yes" and the consent flow starts automatically. If you're not on StayCloser, write to InsideLines at the mailing address on the contact page, or have a family member email [email protected] on your behalf.
$25/quarter Standard, $40/quarter Featured, $60/quarter Premier. Annual options at 20% off. Inaugural cohort gets the first quarter free. Payment methods include Stripe (via family member), check from the facility, money order, or commissary in some cases. See pricing.
If your charges fall under crimes against women, children, or vulnerable adults, we cannot list you. Subscription is refunded in full and we explain the rejection. This is non-negotiable — it's the rule that lets us promise outside correspondents a baseline of safety, and we apply it consistently. We understand some applicants will find this frustrating.
Varies by tier, by your bio, and by visibility. Most inmates on Standard receive a first letter within 4–8 weeks of profile publication. Some take longer. A small percentage receive no letters during their first subscription period — we cannot guarantee outcomes, only the listing. Featured and Premier tiers receive more visibility, which usually means more first letters, though not all first letters convert to sustained correspondences.
Yes. Profile updates are free across all tiers. Bio edits, photo additions, interest changes, mailing address updates if you transfer facilities — all included. Premier tier guarantees updates within 24 hours; Standard and Featured update within 3 business days.
Your profile is removed within 30 days of your release date. If correspondences started on InsideLines continue post-release, that's between you and your correspondents — InsideLines is not a post-release service.
InsideLines is an arm of the StayCloser ecosystem, founded and operated by Dr. Tatyana Moaton-Santiago through Envision Consulting. The platform is a separate brand surface from StayCloser (which handles text relay for families) and WithYouMail (the inmate-facing relay infrastructure).
No. We're a for-profit service. We chose the .org domain to signal mission-coded service rather than commercial-first, but we're not a 501(c)(3). The inmate subscription is what sustains the platform.
No. InsideLines is not affiliated or endorsed by any federal or state law enforcement or corrections agencies. We are a private service operating within the constraints of BOP communications policy.
For safety concerns (a profile that should not be listed, a letter that's threatening or violates policy): [email protected]. For everything else: [email protected]. We respond within two business days.