- Zone/location assignment
- Key board peg assignment
- Number of keys on ring
Letter K — Terminology FAQ
Common questions about terms starting with KWhat is a kite and how are they intercepted?
A kite is a handwritten note passed secretly between inmates -- folded tight, palmed, and passed hand to hand or via a string run through cell walls or plumbing. Kites allow communication outside the monitored mail and phone systems. Staff intercept kites through informants, cell searches, and observation. Kites containing evidence of planned violence, gang coordination, or contraband arrangements are treated as serious security intelligence. Possession of a kite during a search results in a disciplinary report.
What is keistering and how does the facility respond?
Keistering is concealing contraband internally. When staff suspect internal concealment -- based on informant information, behavior, or a failed search -- the inmate is placed in a dry cell (no plumbing) under continuous observation until the item is recovered naturally. Body cavity searches by medical personnel can also be ordered under specific circumstances and legal standards. Items recovered this way have included drugs, phones, and SIM cards.
How does key control work day to day in a prison?
Every key is numbered and assigned to a specific officer for their shift. At shift change, keys are signed in and out with a count verification. Emergency keys on sealed rings require documentation of any opening. If a key goes missing, the facility goes into emergency status -- no movement until the key is found or the lock is changed. Key logs are reviewed regularly. Modern facilities layer physical keys with electronic access and camera monitoring.
What other K-related prison slang terms should families know?
Beyond kite and keister, families should know: knock (to knock is to get someone's attention through a wall using a code), kicker (slang for an additional charge or enhancement added to a sentence), and k-bar (slang for commissary in some institutions). Slang varies significantly by region, facility type, and era -- terms common in federal facilities may not be used in state systems and vice versa.
Know the Terms. Understand the System.
The JailGuide prison survival guide explains what these terms mean in practice — what happens during a shakedown, how a write-up affects good time, what the case manager actually controls. Written from direct federal experience.
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