TRULINCS, the Trust Fund Limited Inmate Computer System, is the federal inmate email platform run by the Bureau of Prisons at its own facilities. Inmates use shared terminals to exchange text-only messages with approved outside contacts, pay $0.05 per minute of active terminal time, and every message is read and retained by staff. Contract facilities operated by private companies do not run TRULINCS, so access depends on whether the inmate is housed in a BOP-operated institution.
How the System Works
TRULINCS behaves like a stripped-down email service. Inmates draft plain black text at a terminal and send it to people who have registered through CorrLinks, the external web portal. There is no formatting, no attachments, no photos, and no embedded media. The terminals run on a closed network with no internet access, no browsing, and no search. The only functions available are the ones the BOP has authorized.
Messages cap at roughly 13,000 characters, about 2,000 words. Daily message caps also apply, and the exact limit varies by facility. Delivery is not instant: screening usually takes anywhere from one to twenty-four hours, and longer during busy periods or when a message is pulled for manual review.
Who Can Use TRULINCS
Most inmates in BOP-operated facilities are eligible, but some are excluded based on offense history or institutional status. Inmates whose crimes involved using computers, email, or the internet as tools, such as digital fraud or hacking, are barred from the program. So are inmates convicted of soliciting minors for sexual activity or of possessing or distributing child pornography through the internet.
A “Public Safety Factor – Sex Offender” designation is not an automatic disqualifier. Staff review the underlying conduct and decide case by case. Inmates in the Special Housing Unit have no access at all. If staff suspect misuse, they can impose a temporary restriction of up to 30 days while investigating, and the Warden must reauthorize any extension in writing every 30 days. A formal finding of a prohibited act can lead to loss of privileges through the Disciplinary Hearing Officer or Unit Discipline Committee.
Getting an Outside Contact Connected
The connection always starts inside. The inmate adds a person’s full name and address to their approved contact list at the terminal, and staff approve the request. The system then emails the outside contact an identification code unique to that connection.
The contact registers at the CorrLinks website using that email address, creates a password, and enters the identification code exactly as provided. A verification link goes to the same email address. After the account is verified and set up, the system may take several hours to synchronize before the inmate appears in the contact’s messaging list.
One thing worth knowing before you sign up: accepting the invitation and creating a CorrLinks account is consent to monitoring. That consent is built into the terms of service and applies to every message going forward. There is no opt-out for monitoring while using the system.
What It Costs
Inmates pay $0.05 per minute of active terminal time, drawn from their commissary balance. A 15-minute session runs $0.75, and the account must have funds before the inmate can log in. Family and friends can add money through approved deposit methods, including Western Union transfers online, by phone, through a mobile app, or in person. Cash, credit, and debit are accepted depending on the method, and fees vary by provider.
For outside contacts, reading and sending messages through the CorrLinks website is generally free. Some added features or mobile app access may carry subscription or per-message charges paid directly to the service provider, separate from the inmate’s terminal charge.
When an inmate is released, any unused TRULINCS credits are returned automatically to the Deposit Fund account and disbursed through a release card or U.S. Treasury check. No request from the inmate is needed.
Rules, Monitoring, and Consequences
Every message on TRULINCS is monitored, read, and retained. Inmates sign an acknowledgment form consenting to monitoring as a condition of using the system, and a warning banner appears at every login. Staff review messages for content that could threaten institutional safety or support criminal activity.
Prohibited content includes anything related to planning escapes, manufacturing weapons, coordinating criminal operations, or contacting victims in violation of a court order. Keyword filters flag suspicious messages for manual review. Using coded language or shorthand to evade filters can trigger immediate suspension.
Consequences scale with the conduct. Minor concerns can bring a 30-day investigative restriction. Serious violations lead to formal discipline and loss of privileges through the Disciplinary Hearing Officer. Forwarding messages to unauthorized addresses or tampering with equipment can result in full removal from the program, with the Warden notifying both the inmate and the outside contact. The most serious cases can be referred for criminal prosecution.
Attorney Messages Are Not Privileged
Anyone thinking about using TRULINCS for legal communication needs to stop and read this section. Messages between an inmate and an attorney on this system are not privileged. The acknowledgment form inmates sign says so directly, and the login banner repeats it. Both the inmate and the attorney consent to monitoring by using the platform.
The BOP’s consent form states that the monitoring provision “applies to electronic messages both to and from my attorney or other legal representative, and that such electronic messages will not be treated as privileged communications.” The same form points out that inmates “have alternative methods of conducting privileged legal communication.”
Those alternatives run through the U.S. Postal Service. The BOP’s correspondence policy treats properly marked attorney mail as “Special Mail,” which staff may open only in the inmate’s presence. That protection covers physical mail, not electronic messaging. Case strategy, sensitive facts, and anything you would not want a prosecutor to read should go by traditional mail. The convenience of TRULINCS is not worth what it costs on the legal side.
Using CorrLinks Day to Day
Once registered, an outside contact logs into CorrLinks and sees a dashboard of approved inmate connections. Clicking a name opens a compose box with a character counter; going over the limit blocks delivery. After sending, the message enters the screening queue.
Because delivery is not immediate, checking the CorrLinks inbox directly is more reliable than waiting for email notifications, which do not always fire for every message. The interface keeps a running history of sent and received messages, so confirming delivery is straightforward.
If a message is rejected for a policy violation, the sender usually gets a delivery failure notice. Repeated rejections can prompt staff to review the account and restrict access. Flagged messages that clear review still arrive, only later than usual.