Hi :)
Does anyone else have a PP in Robertson Unit in Abilene, TX? My penpal and I have two letters going back and forward and I haven't heard from him in about a month, which is not a normal thing. The last letter he sent said they had shut down the mail just before Christmas for a couple days...
Does anyone know if it shut down again now? I have tried searching the web for any information but nothing has come up...
Thanks in advance.
Last post
Hi there....sorry my guy is in Texas but not there. Iv never heard of them shutting down the mail but hey anythings possible.
Hope you get it sorted and you hear from him soon :)
Don't have anyone there, but the mail was "shut down" the Friday before and the Monday after Christmas, then again the Monday after New Year's, then again on the 16th of this month. The mailroom won't work on postal holidays and TDCJ administrative holidays. Give it a little bit and the mail should get back in track soon. :)
Oh I forgot about the 16th being a holiday in the states! I'll try to be a bit more patient.. haha
Thanks! :)
Every TDCJ unit has a lockdown twice a year, and it is likely that this is what your pal meant by "shut down". They can last up to 2 weeks, and inmates are not permitted to go to commisarry during that time, so if he didn't have any supplies then you would have to wait until he could get some to write to you. Also, there is no phone use during a lockdown, so the mail volume increases. And also, the inmates have nothing to do all day, they get fed in their cells, so he may feel that he has nothing to tell you.
Robertson unit was on lockdown,I can't remember the exact dates,but it was at the end of november.
They go on lockdown all the time, for a couple of hours right through to a few weeks. But every TDCJ Unit has a specific lockdown and shakedown of all areas, twice each year, usually mid winter and mid summer.
They did the shakedown too and he said it was one of the two they do yearly.
One letter came Friday, and one letter came two days later on the Monday. So something must of been delayed! Oh well, glad I got them both!
Anyone has any information about Robertson Unit, if they are on lockdown? I cannot find much information about it.
Lately the mail has not been working that well. A letter got lost, and it is taking ages to receive letters. I have another friend that has a pen-pal in the same Unit, and she also said one of her letters got lost and the other (sent 3 weeks ago) has not been received yet by the pen-pal.
I suppose it is because Christmas is approaching...?
I checked it out on prisontalk.com and nothing it listed there. TDCJ Prison Lock-Down Status - Prison Talk I know for awhile during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy all my mail was so but it seems to be back to normal now.
Thank you, JoshA, we will continue to be patient, then :)
Have you written to them just to let them know you haven't received a letter in a minute. Maybe just a short card or postcard, or a jpay?
Yes, through JPay. I only know from my friend who said that her pen-pal sent her a letter saying he did not receive anything for a month and whether everything was ok. My pen-pal sent me a short letter saying whether I received two of his letters, which I did not, since he also did not hear from me for a month (while I sent him a couple of letters). I am especially worried this time because I sent him his sentence (in a newspaper) back and is the only copy he had of it...It would make me feel pretty awkward if that one got lost!
Hopefully everything will come to normal soon!
It's been Thanksgiving, so that takes about a week out of normal mail times. You wont find anything official online about lockdowns in TDCJ because they happen so often.
True, I forgot again that Thanksgiving slowed down the mail. This has been the first year I have sent cards for it, since we do not celebrate it here. Lovely first experience!
I have a penpal there. A letter has never gotten lost, but they have been very, very delayed lately.