Julie Chrisley’s Family Visiting Prison for 51st Birthday — the ‘Last’ She Hopes to Spend Behind Bars (Exclusive)

Although Julie Chrisley is preparing to kick off her 51st birthday under less-than-ideal circumstances, she still has the love of her family to keep her going.

A source confirms to PEOPLE that Julie, who turns 51 on Friday, will get a special visit from daughter Savannah Chrisley at her Kentucky prison facility. The Unlocked podcast host will be joined by younger siblings Grayson, 17, and Chloe, 10.

Chrisley family attorney Alex Little of Burr & Forman LLP also tells PEOPLE how “hopeful” Julie has remained amid challenging times.

“Julie is strong and optimistic and certainly doesn’t want to be behind bars for her birthday,” Little says. “But she’s hopeful that with the appeal, this will be the last birthday that she does spend on bars.”

While there is “no real update” on the “long” appeal process ahead, Little notes that the date for Julie and her husband Todd Chrisley’s oral arguments was moved from March 2024 to April 2024. “It’s like a Supreme Court arguing with different judges. So it’s just the judges and the lawyers,” he adds.

Julie, along with her husband Todd, was sentenced in November 2022 for tax evasion and fraud. She reported to Federal Medical Center Lexington last January.

Julie was initially expected to serve seven years of her combined 19-year sentence with Todd, but her sentence was reduced to five years in September 2023. Todd’s sentence shifted from 12 years to 10 years.

During their time behind bars, Julie and Todd, 54, have both faced challenges. But Savannah, 26, previously shared that it’s “definitely harder” for her mother.

“She’s just staying busy. You know, like, she’s trying to do anything and everything, take classes, [be] first at bat — everything known to man that she can do, she does,” said Savannah on her Unlocked podcast in May 2023.

“And you know my mom. Like, she walks in a room, if something needs to be done, she just starts doing it,” Savannah continued. “So she’s trying to stay busy. Her health, she’s trying to focus on that. I think she’s trying to shield us from a lot of things. Because that’s my mom. That’s who she is.”

Julie and Todd — who have been married since 1996 — began appealing their case in December 2022. Savannah has since given a positive update on that front, revealing in November 2023 that “the appeals court has granted our oral arguments.”

Getting choked up while explaining the “huge news,” Savannah said her family is now “one step closer to getting mom and dad home.”

“Only about 6 percent of cases that are submitted for oral arguments get accepted. So this is huge news,” she explained in her Instagram video. “We get to go and argue why mom and dad should be home. So, God is good.”