Sending letters/money to prisoners after release

[epstarling]

This is a pretty specific scenario, and I can't find any answers on the internet.

My story is modern day and takes place in Colorado.

A character of mine is in prison and refuses to see her family. They continue to send her letters and occasionally add some money to her prison account. What would happen to a letter sent to a prisoner (at the prison

Comments

[keaira_starr]

Yes, an estranged family member could send letters to the parole board in support of the prisoner's early parole. As far as I know, it isn't even necessary that they be family. It is, however, recommended that the letter-writer is of good standing in the community, and can attest to the prisoner's support system outside of prison.

[epstarling]

Thanks for your help!

Do you know by chance how they would send it to the the parole board, if they're estraged from the prisoner? I'm guessing they would know about when her first eligibility date was, but since they're not communicating, they wouldn't know exactly. So could they just send it in advance and the parole board would save it in her file until she's up before the board?

Thanks again!

[keaira_starr]

Ack. Sorry this response is so late.

In any case... It's better if all of the letters are sent together, usually in a manila folder. This reduces the chances of letters getting lost, etc. Families could definitely get the letters together and send them to the parole board, without knowing the exact eligibility date. It's better to know when the eligibility date is, but... it's not necessary, as they'll just put the letters in the person's file.

Also, in terms of family being able to find the released prisoner... I know that, depending on the terms of the person's release/parole, the released prisoner may have to live with family-- as in, they are literally released into the custody of the family member. I'm unsure as to when this is necessary, but I know many people who had to live with respected family members upon release, and they were imprisoned for different reasons (possession of drugs, selling drugs, murder, arson). It was a condition of their parole.

[epstarling]

Thanks again for getting back to me! And don't worry about the delay (always takes me a while to get back to this myself--as you can see