How to Send a Money Order to a Men's State Prison

Sending money to prisoners can make their lives slightly nicer.

Prisons allow friends and family to send money to inmates so they have money to buy things from the prison store. This allows the prisoners some amenities while they are incarcerated. These funds can be a way of helping someone out or a nice gift since many things cannot be brought to the prison itself. The monies go into the prisoner's trust account, and each prison has a bank that holds the money.

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Money order
• Address
• Prisoner information

Instructions

1. Look online for the specific prison where the offender is located. Most prisons have a specific voucher that needs to be filled out so the funds are not misdirected. It works much like a bank deposit slip.

2. Print the voucher and fill out all the information. Once you see the voucher, you will know whether you will need additional information from the prisoner.

3. Obtain all necessary information such as prisoner number to completely fill out the voucher.

4. Purchase a money order. Prisons accept money orders because the funds are guaranteed and can easily be traced. This helps if there is ever a case where the monies do not get deposited to the correct account.

5. Mail the money order and the voucher to the address provided by the prison. Follow any specific guidelines for addressing the envelope provided by the prison or the website to ensure proper delivery.

Tips & Warnings

• You also can call the prison to have a voucher maied to you if you do not have access to a computer.

• Even if the information is online, you might wish to call the prison to verify the process and the address. Sometimes things change and are not immediately updated in the system, so verifying the information will help protect the funds you are sending.

• Some prisons take other forms of payment, but all prisons accept money orders.

• Let the prisoner know the money is coming. This allows him to contact you if the monies do not arrive. While he will never actually see the check, he can still look for the additional funds in his account.

• If you do not know the location of the prisoner, you should contact the state or the county to find out the current location of the inmate. Funds can get lost if sent to the wrong prison.

References

• Prisonary.com: Men's State Prison
• Prison Today: Sending Money to Inmates
• California State Prison, Los Angeles County: Prisoner Locator