Federal Inmate Money Transfer for Commissary or Telephone

Deposit Funds - Federal Bureau of Prisons

In 1930 the Department of Justice authorized and established a Commissary at each Federal institution. The Commissary was created to provide a bank type account for inmate monies and for the procurement of articles not issued regularly as part of the institution administration. The purpose of individual inmate Commissary accounts is to allow the Bureau of Prisons to maintain inmates' monies while they are incarcerated. Family, friends, or other sources may deposit funds into these accounts.

Funds may be sent to Federal inmates via the United States Postal Service, and/or electronically via the MoneyGram Inmate Money Program. In all cases, the inmate must physically be housed at a Federal Bureau of Prisons' facility before funds can be received and posted. If the inmate is not physically in a Federal Bureau of Prisons' facility, the funds cannot be posted and will be returned or rejected.

MoneyGram "Send Money to an Inmate" Program

Inmates' families and friends may also send inmates funds through MoneyGram's "Send Money to an Inmate" Program. All funds sent via MoneyGram will be posted to the inmate's account within two to four hours when those funds are sent between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. EST (seven days per week, including holidays). Funds received after 9:00 pm EST will be posted by 7:00 am EST the following morning. Funds sent to an inmate through the Quick Collect Program may be sent via one of the following ways:

Stay ONLINE using a credit/debit card: The inmate's family and friends may go to MoneyGram and select FBOP

For each MoneyGram transaction, the following information must be provided:

• 1) Valid Inmate Eight-Digit Register Number (entered with no spaces or dashes) followed immediately by Inmate's Last Name
• 2) Committed Inmate Full Name entered on Attention Line
• 3) Code City: FBOP, DC

Please note that the inmate's committed name and eight-digit register number must be entered correctly. If the sender does not provide the correct information, the transaction cannot be completed. The Code City is always FBOP, DC.

Each transaction is accepted or rejected at the point of sale. The sender has the sole responsibility of sending the funds to the correct inmate. If an incorrect register number and/or name are used and accepted and posted to that inmate, funds may not be returned.

U.S. Postal Service

Inmates' families and friends choosing to send inmates funds through the mail must send those funds to the following address and in accordance with the directions provided below:

• Federal Bureau of Prisons
  Insert Valid Committed Inmate Name
  Insert Inmate Eight-Digit Register Number
  Post Office Box 474701
  Des Moines, Iowa 50947-0001

The deposit must be in the form of a money order made out to the inmate's full committed name and complete eight-digit register number. Effective December 1, 2007, all non-postal money orders and non-government checks processed through the National Lockbox will be placed on a 15-day hold. The Bureau of Prisons will return to the sender funds that do not have valid inmate information provided the envelope has an adequate return address. Personal checks and cash cannot be accepted for deposit.

The sender's name and return address must appear on the upper left-hand corner of the envelope to ensure that the funds can be returned to the sender in the event that they cannot be posted to the inmate's account. The deposit envelope must not contain any items intended for delivery to the inmate. The Bureau of Prisons shall dispose of all items included with the funds.

In the event, funds have been mailed but have not been received in the inmate's account and adequate time has passed for mail service to Des Moines, Iowa, the sender must initiate a tracer with the entity who sold them the money order to resolve any issues.