An inmate trust account is the account a jail or prison keeps on behalf of a person in custody, holding any money they have while incarcerated. Because people in custody aren’t allowed to carry cash, every dollar they receive or spend moves through this account: deposits from family, wages from prison jobs, purchases at the commissary, phone calls, postage, and court-ordered deductions. If you’re trying to support someone inside, this account is where your money lands and where a lot of it quietly disappears before it reaches them.
How the Account Works
Each person admitted to a correctional facility gets a trust account tied to their inmate identification number. The facility, or a contracted third-party vendor, runs the account and tracks every deposit, purchase, and withdrawal. The Bureau of Prisons describes the purpose as giving inmates “an opportunity to purchase articles or services not issued or delivered as basic care by the institution.”1Federal Bureau of Prisons. Program Statement 4500.12 – Trust Fund/Deposit Fund Manual State facilities operate the same way in broad strokes, with their own rules and vendors.
It isn’t a checking account. The person inside can’t write checks, swipe a debit card, or move money to anyone they choose. Every transaction is processed internally, and the facility decides what’s allowed.
How to Deposit Money
To put money on someone’s books, you’ll need two things: their full committed name (the legal name they were booked under) and their inmate ID number. In the federal system, that’s an eight-digit register number followed by the inmate’s last name.2Federal Bureau of Prisons. Sending Funds Using MoneyGram Get either wrong and the deposit can be delayed or sent back.
Methods depend on the facility. Common ones include:
- Money transfer services. The federal Bureau of Prisons uses MoneyGram, which takes cash deposits at physical locations or online credit-card deposits up to $300 per transaction. Many state systems contract with vendors like JPay or GTL, offering online portals, phone deposits, and lobby kiosks.2Federal Bureau of Prisons. Sending Funds Using MoneyGram
- Money orders and cashier’s checks by mail. In the federal system, mailed funds must go to a centralized commissary account address, not the facility itself. Personal checks, when accepted, are often held for a clearing period.3eCFR. 28 CFR 540.23 – Inmate Funds Received Through the Mails
- Lobby kiosks. Some facilities have kiosks in the visitor area that take cash or card for immediate deposit.
Watch the fees. Third-party vendors charge a per-transaction fee on top of whatever you send, and the fee can run several dollars per deposit depending on the vendor and payment method. For families making frequent smaller deposits, that adds up fast. A mailed money order is usually the cheapest route and the slowest.
What the Money Pays For
Commissary
The main use of trust account funds is the commissary, the on-site store where inmates buy food, hygiene products, stationery, stamps, over-the-counter medications, and sometimes clothing or small electronics. Commissary items fill the gaps that institutional supplies leave open. The soap the facility hands out works; a preferred brand or a tube of real toothpaste has to be bought.
Prices tend to run well above outside retail. Markups vary by state and vendor, but items at two to three times grocery-store prices are common, and some facilities have been documented charging more. The federal Bureau of Prisons caps commissary spending at $360 per month.4Federal Bureau of Prisons. Program Statement 4500.11 – Trust Fund/Deposit Fund Manual State facilities set their own limits.
Phone and Video Calls
Calls are a major expense. They’re placed through the facility phone system and billed against the trust account, or against a separate phone account funded from the same balance. The FCC now caps prison phone rates at $0.11 per minute for audio calls and $0.23 per minute for video calls.5Federal Communications Commission. Implementation of the Martha Wright-Reed Act – Rate Caps Jail rates follow similar caps. Even at those rates, a 15-minute call every day runs about $50 a month.
Everything Else
Trust account funds also cover postage for outgoing mail, photocopying for legal documents, and at some facilities small medical copays for sick calls. Some facilities charge a modest monthly account maintenance fee.
What the Inmate Earns Inside
People who work inside the facility earn wages that go straight into their trust account, and the numbers are small. In the federal system, regular (non-industry) jobs pay between $0.12 and $0.40 per hour, while Federal Prison Industries (UNICOR) jobs pay $0.23 to $1.15 per hour. State prison wages vary widely. Texas, Georgia, and Arkansas pay nothing for regular work assignments. A handful of states pay up to $2.00 per hour for certain jobs. The national average for regular prison work sits around $0.14 to $0.63 per hour.
At those rates, most people inside depend on deposits from family and friends to keep commissary and phone access going. A full day of work at $0.20 per hour barely covers a single bag of ramen at many commissaries.
Mandatory Deductions Families Don’t Expect
Here is the part that catches outside supporters off guard. In the federal system, every inmate with outstanding financial obligations is enrolled in the Inmate Financial Responsibility Program. The program pulls payments from the trust account toward court-ordered debts in a set priority: special assessments first, then restitution, fines and court costs, state or local court obligations, and finally other federal debts.6eCFR. 28 CFR 545.11 – Procedures
The minimum payment for most federal inmates is $25 per quarter. Inmates in higher-paying UNICOR jobs (grades 1 through 4) are expected to put at least 50% of their monthly pay toward their obligations.6eCFR. 28 CFR 545.11 – Procedures One cushion is built in: the first $75 deposited each month is excluded from the payment calculation so the inmate can maintain phone access.
The program is technically voluntary. Refusing it carries real consequences, though: loss of UNICOR jobs, loss of performance pay above maintenance level, no furloughs, no outside-the-perimeter work assignments, no community-based program placement, no release gratuities, and a commissary spending limit of $25 per month instead of the standard $360.6eCFR. 28 CFR 545.11 – Procedures Refusal is rare. Many state systems run similar programs.
What this means in practice: if you deposit $200 into a federal inmate’s account, a portion of that money beyond the $75 monthly exclusion may be redirected to restitution or fines before it can be spent at the commissary. The inmate signed a financial plan and knows the deduction is coming. The person sending the money usually doesn’t.
Checking the Balance
Inmates typically check their trust account balance through electronic kiosks in the housing units or common areas. These touchscreens display the current balance and recent transaction history. In facilities that issue tablets, balance information may be available there too. A printed statement can be requested from staff, though how fast that happens depends on the institution. People on the outside generally can’t view the balance directly, though some deposit vendors show whether a recent deposit posted.
What Happens to the Balance at Release
When someone is released, whatever is left in the trust account goes back to them, minus any outstanding obligations. Deductions at release can include unpaid restitution, court fines, facility fees, or other debts accumulated during the stay. What’s left gets disbursed, and the method is where more fees often appear.
Many facilities now put the remaining balance on a prepaid debit card instead of handing over cash or writing a check. These release cards come preloaded, and they also come with charges: monthly maintenance fees that start after a short grace period (often between two and thirty days), ATM withdrawal fees, balance inquiry fees, and inactivity fees if the card sits unused.
If you or someone you know receives one of these cards, drain the balance quickly. Transfer the funds to a personal bank account, withdraw the full amount at a bank teller if the fee structure allows, or spend it down before maintenance fees start pulling from it. Most cards offer a grace period in which the account can be closed and a refund check requested, but that window starts the moment the card is issued, and a mailed check can take weeks. For someone leaving a facility without a stable mailing address, that isn’t always realistic.