Glossary of Prison Terms

Prisons and jails use a lot of specialized words and abbreviations. This page explains the ones you are most likely to run into, in plain language.

Different states — and sometimes different facilities in the same state — use different words for the same thing, or the same word for slightly different things. Treat these as general explanations, and confirm the specifics with the state or facility.

Words for a person in prison

Inmate / offender / resident / incarcerated person — Different systems use different words for a person in custody. Many corrections departments now say “resident” or “incarcerated person”; others still use “inmate” or “offender.” They all refer to the same thing.

Committed name — The legal name a person is booked and held under. Mail and money usually must use this exact name, along with the person’s ID number, even if the person goes by another name.

DOC number / ID number — A unique number assigned to each person in a state’s custody. It is called different things in different states — for example an SID, OPUS, ADC, or booking number. You almost always need it to look someone up, send mail, or send money.

Custody, housing, and status

Classification — The process a prison uses to decide a person’s custody level and where they are housed, based on factors like sentence length and history.

Custody level / security level — How restrictive a person’s housing is — commonly minimum, medium, close, or maximum. It can affect visiting, such as whether visits are contact or non-contact.

General population (GP) — The main housing where most people live, as opposed to restrictive or special-purpose units.

Restrictive housing — Also called segregation, administrative segregation, “the SHU” (Security Housing Unit), or solitary. Housing where a person is separated from general population and kept in a cell for most of the day. Visiting and phone access are usually limited.

Protective custody (PC) — Separate housing for people who need protection from others.

Intake / reception / diagnostic — The first stage after sentencing, where a person is processed, evaluated, and classified before being assigned to a facility. Visiting is often restricted during this period.

Death row / under a death sentence — Housing for people sentenced to death, in the states that have the death penalty. The rules there differ from general population.

Types of facility

Prison vs. jail — A prison, run by a state or the federal government, holds people serving longer sentences. A jail, usually run by a county or city, holds people awaiting trial or serving short sentences. This site covers state prisons; county jails have their own separate rules.

State, federal, and private prisons — State prisons are run by a state corrections department; federal prisons by the Federal Bureau of Prisons; private prisons by a company (such as CoreCivic or the GEO Group) under contract. This site covers state facilities.

Unit / institution / facility — Different words for an individual prison. Some states, such as Texas, say “unit.”

Reception / diagnostic center — The facility, or the part of one, where intake and classification happen.

Work camp / work release / community corrections / transitional center — Lower-security settings, usually for people near the end of a sentence, sometimes allowing work outside. The rules differ from a main prison.

Annex — A separate housing area attached to a main prison, sometimes with its own visiting schedule.

Visiting

Approved visitor list — The list of people cleared to visit someone. You usually have to apply and pass a background check before your first visit, and the person in prison typically starts the process. See Visiting Basics.

Contact visit — A visit in the same room, usually allowing a brief hug at the start and end.

Non-contact visit — A visit through glass or a barrier, often by phone handset, with no physical contact.

Video visit / video visitation — A visit by video, either from a kiosk inside the facility or, in some systems, from home through an app. It is not the same as a free video call, and it usually costs money.

Extended or family visit — A longer, private visit that a few states offer to people who qualify. Sometimes called a conjugal visit.

Special visit — A one-time visit approved outside the normal schedule, sometimes for family traveling a long distance.

Dress code — Rules about what visitors may wear. Being dressed out of code is one of the most common reasons visitors are turned away, so check the rules before traveling.

Duty warden / warden — The staff member in charge. The duty warden often makes the final decision on whether a visit or a visitor is allowed on a given day.

Staying in touch: mail, phone, and money

Commissary — The prison store, where a person can buy food, hygiene items, and supplies using money in their account.

Trust account / inmate account — The account where a person’s money is held. Family can add money to it, and the person spends it at commissary or on phone and messaging. See Sending Money.

Money order — A prepaid paper payment. Many facilities accept money orders for a person’s account, mailed to a specific address. It is often the cheapest way to send money.

E-messaging / electronic messaging — Short digital messages, like email, sent through a vendor’s app or website, usually for a per-message fee. It is not the same as regular mail.

Off-site mail scanning / digital mail — A growing number of states send incoming personal mail to an outside company that scans it, and the person reads a copy on a tablet or kiosk instead of getting the original. Legal mail usually still goes to the facility. See Staying in Touch.

Legal mail / privileged mail — Mail from an attorney or a court. It gets special handling and is usually opened only in the person’s presence.

Publisher-only / approved-vendor — A rule that books, magazines, or packages must be shipped directly by an approved store or publisher, rather than sent by family.

Tablet / kiosk — Devices people use for calls, messages, media, and reading scanned mail. They are provided by a vendor, usually for a fee.

Vendors (Securus, ViaPath / GTL, JPay, ICSolutions, Access Corrections, TextBehind, ConnectNetwork) — Private companies that states hire to run phones, video, messaging, tablets, or money transfers. Which company a facility uses determines how you set up and pay for calls and deposits.

Costs and care

Money transfer fee — The fee a vendor charges to add money to a person’s account. It varies by how much you send and which method you use, which is why a mailed money order is often the cheapest option.

Co-pay — A small charge for a medical visit in some systems. Care is generally not denied for inability to pay.

Finding someone and getting answers

Inmate locator / offender search — A state’s online tool for finding where a person is held and their ID number. Each state has its own, and results can lag behind reality, so confirm before traveling.

Grievance — The formal complaint process a person inside uses to report a problem.

Ombudsman — An independent office, in some states, that reviews complaints about prison conditions or treatment.

Detainer / hold — A request from another agency to keep custody of a person after their release date, which can affect where they go next.

Good time / earned time — Days subtracted from a sentence for good behavior or completing programs, which can move up a release date.

If a word you are looking for is not here, check your state’s overview page under States, or browse the national guides. Rules change and vary by facility — always confirm the specifics directly with the state or facility.