How to Fund Calls, Get Your Number Approved, and Handle Emergencies at Tennessee Prisons

Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) facilities do not allow inbound phone calls to inmates. If you're trying to reach someone inside, the system only works one way: the inmate calls you. That single rule is behind most of the phone issues families run into, from why your number has to be on an approved list to why emergencies follow a completely separate process.

There is one practical exception worth knowing about. In a family emergency, TDOC directs you to contact the facility chaplain, who may arrange a phone call for the inmate. More on that below, especially if you need quick voice contact and normal calling routines aren't cutting it.

TDOC uses an approved telephone number list. Each inmate can have up to ten numbers on it, and the phone system will only connect calls to those registered numbers. Need a number added, removed, or changed? The inmate has to request that through their unit team at the facility.

1. Write a removal request. Keep it clear that you want to be removed from the inmate’s approved telephone list.
2. Send it to the facility’s warden or superintendent. TDOC’s process is that removal requests from family or friends go in writing to the warden/superintendent.
3. Understand how list changes normally happen. The inmate still has to initiate most list updates through the unit team, but this written request is the route TDOC provides if you want your number taken off the list.

ConnectNetwork (powered by GTL) is the primary phone platform for TDOC calls. It handles the inmate telephone setup, and for most families, it's also how you add funds so calls can actually go through.

Funding timing matters when you're trying to catch someone's limited call window. Most ConnectNetwork payments process instantly, and TDOC states that all transactions are credited within two business days. If you just added money and calls still aren't connecting, give it a little time, especially near a weekend or holiday.

• ✓ PIN Debit (mail) deposit for Tennessee DOC ConnectNetwork accounts: GTL Tennessee DOC Debit Lockbox 1705, PO BOX 209705, Dallas, TX 75320-9705
• ✓ Per TDOC ITS policy, telephone credits by mail to the service provider: Global Tel*Link Corporation Dept 1705, Denver, CO 80291-1705

Here's the frustrating part: if you need your number added and you can't reach the inmate right now, TDOC's process puts the change entirely in the inmate's hands. Inmates can have up to ten numbers, and only the inmate can request changes to the approved list through their unit team. There's no workaround where a family member can call in and have staff add a number for you.

1. Try to get a message to the inmate through permitted channels. Your goal is simply to ask them to add or update your number.
2. Ask the inmate to go through their unit team. TDOC requires the inmate to initiate approved-number list changes through the unit team.
3. Use the written removal route if that’s what you need. If the issue is that you do not want calls, submit a written request to the facility’s warden/superintendent asking to be removed from the approved list.

For a true family emergency, TDOC directs you to contact the facility chaplain. The chaplain may arrange a phone call for the inmate. If you need immediate voice contact and calls aren't going through the normal way, this is the pathway TDOC identifies for emergencies.