TRULINCS Email Explained: How to Stay Connected Without Internet Access
TRULINCS is the Bureau of Prisons' controlled email-style messaging system. It lets you exchange written messages with someone in federal custody, even though they have no internet access.
TRULINCS is a text-only messaging system used in the federal Bureau of Prisons. The most important thing to know: it is not open internet email. Inmates access TRULINCS through a controlled internal system with no connection to the internet. The BOP encourages people in custody to maintain relationships with family and friends because research shows it significantly reduces the risk of recidivism. TRULINCS supports that goal by making regular written contact possible in a structured way.
TRULINCS is funded through the Inmate Trust Fund, not taxpayer dollars. That funding comes from sources like commissary profits, phone profits, and TRULINCS fees. This is why the service is managed within the BOP's internal financial system.
Not everyone can use TRULINCS automatically. Before an inmate can send or receive electronic messages, they need to be approved to use the system.
Approval applies to you, too. Each person an inmate wants to communicate with through TRULINCS must give permission before messages can be exchanged. If you haven't been approved as a contact, the system won't allow back-and-forth messaging with you.
Monitoring consent: Both inmates and their contacts must consent to monitoring before using TRULINCS.
Limits Screening
- ✓ Messages are text-only.
- ✓ Attachments are not permitted.
TRULINCS has a size limit. Each message maxes out at 13,000 characters, which the BOP describes as roughly two pages of text. If you have a lot to say, plan on splitting it across multiple messages.
Content screening: All TRULINCS messages are screened for content that could jeopardize the public or the safety, security, or orderly operation of the facility.
Think of TRULINCS as one option in a bigger set of ways to stay in touch. Compared to phone calls or physical mail, it's limited to plain text only, and inmates using it have no internet access. Like other communication methods in the federal system, TRULINCS messages are not private the way normal personal email is. All messages are screened for content that could threaten public safety or the security and orderly operation of the facility. Both the inmate and the contact must consent to monitoring before using the system. If you're weighing whether to use TRULINCS, that's the core tradeoff: easier written contact, but within strict limits and oversight.
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