Penmate Inmate Support Guides
Phone & Messaging

TRULINCS Contact Requests: what happens when an inmate adds you and how to accept or refuse

If someone in federal custody adds you as a contact in TRULINCS, agreeing to communicate is also a decision about privacy. Participation is voluntary, but it comes with clear consent to monitoring and recordkeeping.

• 2 min read Verified from official sources

TRULINCS is the Bureau of Prisons electronic messaging system that inmates use to communicate with people outside. This is not private email. By participating, both the inmate and you (the community contact) voluntarily consent to the monitoring and retention of all incoming and outgoing messages, plus any transactional data tied to that activity.

When an inmate adds you as a community contact, the entire process centers on your choice to participate. Before you agree to communicate through TRULINCS, understand the core rule: participation equals voluntary consent. That consent covers monitoring and retention of messages in both directions, along with any transactional data related to the electronic messaging activity.

"Consenting" in TRULINCS goes further than just letting staff read a message if they want to. It means Bureau staff can monitor and retain all incoming and outgoing electronic messages, including message contents, transactional data, and other related system activity. That applies whether you're sending a message, receiving one, or interacting with the system in any way that creates a record (the transactional data).

  • ✓ The inmate’s notice, acknowledgment, and voluntary consent to participate in TRULINCS must be documented on BP-0934 (Inmate Agreement for Participation in TRULINCS).

Attachments don't go through. If a community contact sends an attachment with a TRULINCS message, the system strips it out. The inmate will never receive it.

You may come across specific form names tied to TRULINCS. BP-0934 is the Inmate Agreement for Participation in TRULINCS, which documents the inmate's notice, acknowledgment, and voluntary consent to participate. There's also a TRULINCS Contact Request Form listed in the Trust Fund/Deposit Fund Manual, identified as BP-A1054.

  • ✓ Decide whether you want to participate, knowing that TRULINCS participation is voluntary consent to monitoring and retention of incoming and outgoing messages and transactional data.
  • ✓ If you are tracking paperwork, know the inmate’s participation consent is documented on BP-0934.
  • ✓ If you see a “Contact Request” form referenced, the manual lists it as BP-A1054.
  • ✓ Do not waste time attaching files. Any attachment you send from the community side will be stripped and will not be delivered to the inmate.

Find an Inmate at USP Thomson

Search for a loved one and send messages and photos in minutes.

Exact spelling helps find results faster

Free to search · Used by families nationwide
Woman using phone to connect with loved one

More from USP Thomson

How Federal Prison Phone Calls Work: monitoring, time limits, who pays, and prohibited call types

Federal prison phone calls come with rules that can catch families off guard. Here's what BOP policy says about monitoring, time limits, who pays, and which call types aren't allowed.

How First Step Act Time Credits (FTCs) Work — for families of people at USP Thomson

First Step Act Time Credits - usually called FTCs - let someone earn credits they can use to move into prerelease custody sooner (like home confinement) or, in some cases, shorten the supervised-release portion of their sentence. There's one important cap: even when someone qualifies to apply FTCs toward supervised release, the maximum is 365 days.

Phone & Messaging

How to Contact an Inmate at Facility

Staying in touch matters, and this facility does allow phone contact. A few rules around call routing, monitoring, and time limits will shape what you're able to do.