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How TRULINCS Email Works: A Complete Guide for Families of MCC New York Inmates

TRULINCS is the Bureau of Prisons' electronic messaging program. It looks like email but runs inside a controlled system with its own approval steps and message limits. If your loved one is at MCC New York, knowing how approval, monitoring consent, and message rules work will help you avoid surprises and keep messages flowing.

• 3 min read • bop.gov
How TRULINCS Email Works: A Complete Guide for Families of MCC New York Inmates

TRULINCS (Trust Fund Limited Inmate Computer System) is the Bureau of Prisons' electronic messaging system. It lets inmates exchange written messages with approved contacts in a secure environment. For families, this means your loved one can send and receive messages electronically - but only through this program, not a regular email account.

Why it feels different than regular email: TRULINCS is designed as secured messaging between inmates and the public, so access and communication happen inside a structured program - not a typical inbox.

Before any messaging can happen, your loved one needs approval to use TRULINCS. This isn't informal - each inmate's acknowledgment and consent is documented on form BP-0934 (the Inmate Agreement for Participation in TRULINCS Electronic Messaging Program).

You need approval too. You can only exchange TRULINCS messages with an inmate after you accept their request to communicate. When you approve, you're also consenting to Bureau staff monitoring your messages and agreeing to follow the program's rules.

Consent reminder: By using TRULINCS, both the inmate and the people they message consent to Bureau staff monitoring and retaining all messages - including contents and transactional data.

TRULINCS messages are text-only. No attachments allowed - documents, images, and other files can't be sent through the system.

Each message is capped at 13,000 characters - roughly two pages of text. If you write long updates, plan to split them across multiple messages.

TRULINCS is funded entirely by the Inmate Trust Fund, not taxpayer dollars. That's why using the system may involve fees rather than being free.

How TRULINCS Email Works: A Complete Guide for Families of MCC New York Inmates
  1. Confirm your loved one is approved to use TRULINCS - an inmate has to be approved before they can participate.
  2. Have the inmate send you a request to communicate - messaging starts with the inmate initiating the request.
  3. Accept the request - you must accept before you can exchange TRULINCS messages with that inmate.
  4. Start exchanging messages - once the inmate is approved and you’ve accepted, TRULINCS messaging can move forward through the program.
  • ✓ The inmate is responsible for maintaining their TRULINCS contact list.
  • ✓ If you stop receiving messages, it can help to ask your loved one to double-check that you’re still correctly listed on their contact list.
  • ✓ If your contact details change, let your loved one know so they can keep their list current.

Before you hit "approve": Accepting a TRULINCS request means you consent to Bureau staff monitoring message content. All messages and related transactional data may be monitored and retained.

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