Reach a loved one on the inside with the whole internet.
When someone you love is incarcerated, they lose the one thing the rest of us reach for a hundred times a day: the ability to look something up. Outside Access gives it back. They send a plain message — you already pay for the messaging — and we look it up, draft it, or pass it along, then send the answer straight back to them.
Built for the parent, partner, sibling, or friend on the outside who sets it up and adds credits — and for the person inside, who just sends a message in their own words.
What Outside Access is
A window to the internet, opened from the outside.
Outside Access is a research, drafting, and message-relay service for people who are incarcerated. It is built around one simple fact: almost everyone inside already has a way to send electronic messages to approved people on the outside. We turn that channel into a doorway to the information the rest of the world takes for granted.
There is nothing to install on the inside. No app to download behind the wall, no new number to memorize, no tablet to buy, no form to file with the facility. The person inside writes what they want the way they would text anyone else — “find out what the parole board considers,” “help me draft a question about a bill,” “write my daughter a birthday letter,” “what does this statute say” — and Outside Access does the work and messages the answer back.
On the outside, you are in control. You create the account, you add the person, and you add credits when you want to. Credits are one-time and never expire — there is no subscription to remember, nothing that renews on its own, and no paid app to buy. You decide how much the service is used simply by how many credits you keep on hand.
We are not a security product and we are not trying to be clever. We are a way to keep someone connected to the world while they are cut off from it — to information, to their own paperwork, to their family, and to the ordinary business of a life that does not stop just because a person is inside.
Why this matters
Inside, you can’t just look it up.
A person on the outside settles a hundred small questions a day without thinking about it. What time does the office close. What the new law says. How to word a hard letter. Whether a bill got paid. What the weather will be for a visit. Every one of those answers is a search box away.
Inside a correctional facility, none of that is true. There is no open internet. The law library, if there is one, has limited hours and a line. A phone call is expensive and short. Mail is slow. A question that would take you fifteen seconds can take a person inside three weeks — a letter out, a wait, a letter back — and often the answer never comes at all, because the person on the outside is busy, or overwhelmed, or doesn’t know where to look either.
That gap is not a small inconvenience. It is the difference between meeting a filing deadline and missing it. Between understanding what a hearing will ask and walking in blind. Between a child getting a letter this week and getting one next month. Between a person feeling like they are still part of their own life and feeling like the world has closed over them.
Outside Access exists to close that gap. It turns the slow, uncertain relay of “ask someone on the outside to find out” into something fast, reliable, and dignified — an answer that comes back in the next message, with its sources attached, sized to fit the message box, ready to use.
What you can ask for
Services and limits to know before you start.
The person inside asks in plain language. Outside Access identifies the request and checks whether it can be fulfilled. Availability depends on the provider, authorization, credits and delivery channel.
Look anything up
Ask a public-information question: news, sports, how a process works, what a company does, or background for a hearing. Research answers include sources. Missing evidence or an incomplete answer is not a definitive finding.
Draft documents and letters
Ask for a letter, a résumé, a request to the court, a family update, a résumé of a case, or a checklist, and it comes back as a structured document — headings, clean paragraphs, citations where they belong — not a vague blur. Legal drafts are clearly marked as drafts to be reviewed, never filed automatically.
Read their social media and the web
Catch up on a public account on X, Bluesky, or YouTube, or hear what a specific public web page says, read back in words that fit a message. Public content only — Outside Access does not touch private accounts, sign-ins, or direct messages, and it never asks for a password.
Answers on Colorado rules and policy
Questions about Colorado statutes, regulations and policies use available official sources through Policy Lens, with citations attached. Check currentness and the original document; coverage is not necessarily complete.
Pass a message to family
The person inside can ask us to email or text a family member — a note, an address, a “tell Mom I’m okay.” We reach out to that person first, ask whether they want to receive messages, and only send once they have said yes. Every text carries a way to stop, and we record it when they do.
Create an image
Ask for a picture and it’s generated from the description — a card for a child’s birthday, a simple illustration, a visual to go with a letter. It comes back as an image delivered in the message, sized to send.
Edit a photo
Editing an existing image requires enabled, verified inbound-media handling and provider capability. An unavailable edit is not silently replaced by a newly generated image.
Invite people to help
The person inside can ask us to invite family or friends on the outside to set up their own account and pitch in — and one request can name several people for a single 5-credit charge, not one each. Everyone gets a one-time invitation and decides for themselves; no one is signed up without saying yes.
Clean answers, easy to read
Answers arrive as an easy-to-read picture plus the plain text in the same message, with the person’s remaining credits shown right at the top. Prefer just words? They can say “text only” and skip the picture.
Screenshot a web page
Ask for a picture of a public web page — a schedule, a listing, an article — and it comes back as a single clean image. Often cheaper than pulling a page’s photos one by one, and easy to read at a glance.
A full account ledger
The person inside can ask for their own ledger — every request they’ve made and the credits they’ve spent — so they always know where their balance went.
Special requests, reviewed by a person
For something outside the usual list, they can send a special request. A real person reads it and replies — it isn’t automatic and isn’t guaranteed, but nothing worth asking gets lost.
How it works
Set it up once. Then it’s just messages.
- Create your account and add credits. You sign up on the outside in a couple of minutes and buy a pack of credits. They are one-time and never expire — there is no subscription and nothing renews. This is the only place money changes hands.
- Add your person. You enter their legal name, ID, facility, and state, and confirm it yourself on a screen that reads it all back before anything is saved. You can connect more than one person, each with their own share of credits.
- Assign credits to them. Credits land in your family balance first; you decide how many to give each person. Unspent credits come back to your balance if you ever remove someone.
- They send a message. The person inside writes what they want, in their own words, through the messaging channel they already use — the same way they’d write any approved contact. There is nothing new for them to learn.
- We do it and reply. Outside Access reads the request, does the work — research, a document, a public-web read, a relayed message — and sends the answer back, split into readable parts if it’s long. Credits are charged only after the work is actually done.
- Keep going. They reply with the next request whenever they want. You top up credits whenever you want. That’s the whole rhythm — a question in, an answer back.
Who it’s for
For the person outside doing the looking-up.
If you are the one your incarcerated loved one calls when they need something found out, Outside Access is built for you. You already carry the weight of being their connection to the outside world — their researcher, their errand-runner, their messenger. This takes the repetitive, time-eating part of that off your plate without taking away your control.
You do not have to be technical. You do not have to be available at 2 a.m. when a question lands. You set it up, you keep credits on hand, and the service handles the rest — so the answer doesn’t wait for you to have a free evening.
And it is built with respect for the person inside. They are not treated as a case number or a risk to be managed. They ask a question like anyone would, and they get a real, sourced, useful answer, in language that fits where they are. Dignity is not a feature we added; it is the reason the product exists.
Outside Access does not bypass anything a facility has in place, does not reach private accounts, and does not work around sign-ins or paywalls. It works within the channel the facility already permits — it simply makes that channel far more useful.
Consent, built in
Nobody on the outside hears from us until they say yes.
When the person inside asks us to reach a family member, we don’t just start sending. We contact that person first — by email where we can, because it is gentler and cheaper — and ask plainly whether they want to receive messages connected to their incarcerated loved one. We send only after they agree, and we keep that agreement on record.
Every text message we send carries a clear way to opt out, and when someone replies to stop, we record it and stop — and we let you know that they did. This protects the people we reach, it protects you, and it keeps the whole service on the right side of a simple principle: a message to someone on the outside is a thing they get to say yes to.
One-time credits
Simple credits. No subscription, nothing to cancel.
You buy credits in a pack, assign them to your person, and each request draws from that balance. Credits never expire, and you are charged for work only after it’s actually done.
Starter
$9.99
100 non-expiring credits
Everyday
$19.99
250 non-expiring credits
Plus
$34.99
500 non-expiring credits
Launch Max
$49.99
750 non-expiring credits
What each request costs
- A research answer with sources: 15 credits.
- An answer on Colorado rules, statutes, or DOC policy, with the citation: 15 credits.
- A drafted document or letter: 15 credits.
- Reading public posts or a web page: 5 credits (10 with images).
- Creating an image from a description: 20 credits.
- Editing an existing photo, when enabled: 25 credits.
- Inviting people to join and help: 5 credits for the request — however many you name.
- A screenshot of a public web page: 15 credits.
- A full account ledger of their requests and spending: 5 credits.
- A special request for a person to review: 5 credits (reviewed, not guaranteed).
- Each message we deliver back inside: 5 credits per message (an image rides as its own message).
- Failed work releases its reservation. A delivery with an uncertain outcome is reviewed before any repeat.
Questions
What families ask before they start.
Does my loved one need to install anything, or ask the facility for permission?
No additional app is needed. Outside Access uses an authorized messaging channel your loved one already has. Facility rules and contact-approval requirements still apply; confirm availability for the intended resident.
How does a request actually happen?
The person inside writes what they want in plain language — a question, a document to draft, a public page to read, a note to pass to family. Outside Access reads it, figures out what kind of request it is, does the work, and sends the answer back, split into numbered parts if it’s too long for one message. You don’t have to be online for any of it.
What does it cost, and is it a subscription?
It is not a subscription. You buy one-time credit packs — from $9.99 for 100 credits up to $49.99 for 750. Credits never expire and nothing renews on its own. A research answer is 15 credits, a document is 15, reading public content is 5, and each message we deliver inside is 5. You’re charged only after work is done.
Which states and facilities does it work with?
The facility catalog includes Washington and Colorado. Choose the intended state and facility when adding a resident. Availability depends on resident approval and provider support. Policy answers use official Colorado sources; public research and document preparation are not restricted to that state.
Can it get into private accounts or read direct messages?
No, and it’s built not to. Outside Access reads only public web pages and public social accounts. It does not sign in to anything, does not touch private accounts or direct messages, does not bypass paywalls, and never asks anyone for a password. It works entirely within what is public and what the facility already permits.
How do you handle messages to family members?
With consent. When your loved one asks us to reach someone, we contact that person first and ask whether they want to receive messages — by email where possible, because it’s gentler and cheaper. We send only after they agree, every text includes a way to opt out, and if someone opts out we record it and tell you.
Do I have to confirm who I’m adding?
Yes — you enter the legal name, ID, facility, and state, and the service reads them all back on a dedicated screen before anything is saved, so you confirm the exact person yourself. Nothing is connected on a guess.
What happens to credits I don’t use?
They stay yours. Credits never expire. They land in your family balance first, you assign them to a specific person, and any unspent credits come back to your balance if you remove that person later. There is no “use it or lose it.”
Is this available in Spanish?
Yes. The app, website, help materials and welcome guide are available in English and Spanish. You can also set the preferred language for each resident.
What should I check before paying?
Review the pack, currency and payment mode shown before checkout. Confirm availability for the intended resident and facility. A healthy website does not establish that every feature, contact or delivery is enabled.
Give someone their questions back.
Create an account, add your person, and answer the next thing they ask — with the whole internet behind you.