Find Out What Julie Chrisley Is Teaching Prison Inmates — and How It Could Be a Key to Her Early Release

Julie Chrisley is keeping herself busy while in prison.

As her daughter Savannah Chrisley continued reading her letters from prison on Tuesday’s episode of her Unlocked podcast, the former reality star revealed how education has become a part of her mom’s weekly routine.

“I’m teaching a real estate class and I asked where I could get the info for the class,” Julie, 51, shared across one of several letters. “There’s an outdated book and access to a typewriter if you buy the ribbon and commissary.”

Julie is also enrolled as a student in other prison courses. “I have two classes tonight, too, and also being a judge for one of the other classes. I’m one of the sharks for their Shark Tank presentation,” she added.

The Special Forces alum, 26, noted that Julie’s First Step Act (FSA) classes provide inmates with credits for “an early release.” According to the Bureau of Prisons, these “reentry programs” are “designed to ensure all sentenced inmates have the skills necessary to succeed upon release.”

The famed mother declared that her first FSA course “really was a waste of time, but at least I get credit.” However, she added that some good has come for prisoners enrolled in the program.

“I went upstairs and everyone was going crazy,” she shared. “FSA credits had been applied and so many people’s dates got moved up. It’s going to be a crazy week. Lots of people are getting released.”

All letters were written during Julie’s first few weeks at Federal Medical Center Lexington in Kentucky. She entered in January 2023 as her husband, Todd Chrisley, reported to Federal Medical Center Pensacola in Florida.
It’s uncertain if Julie is still teaching her real estate course or continuing with her other classes. PEOPLE has reached out to Savannah’s rep for comment.

Julie and Todd, 54, were originally sentenced to a combined 19 years in prison for fraud and tax evasion. Amid their ongoing appeal process, their sentences were reduced, with Julie now serving five years while Todd will remain behind bars for 10 years.

In November 2023, Savannah revealed that “the appeals court has granted our oral arguments,” meaning they “get to go and argue why mom and dad should be home.”

In the meantime, Julie is also keeping herself occupied in prison with a job, though it wasn’t entirely clear what the role is.

“I started work on the 27th [of February 2023],” she shared in the letters, which Savannah read on Unlocked. “I work Monday through Thursday, 6:00 a.m. until 1. I enjoy it because I stay busy.”