Getting money to your loved one when they are incarcerated

Access Corrections (www.accesscorrections.com) is the way that friends and family can send money to a loved one when they are incarcerated. Montgomery County (Maryland) uses Access Corrections for both of it’s locations – the Montgomery County Detention Center (MCDC) located at Seven Locks in Rockville and at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility (MCCF) in Boyds, MD (county jail). When you send money, it is used primarily to order commissary (food and clothing) or for the inmate to make calls using the phone located in the pods in the housing unit. How does it work? You can set up an account either on the Access Corrections App (for Android or iOS) or website, and family or friends can deposit funds of up to $300 per transaction into the account. Government funds can also be sent to be deposited into the inmates’ account. Does Access Corrections charge a fee? Of course and it can get expensive, but with a few tricks you can lower the fees. If you are able to pay (i.e. deposit) cash into one of the kiosks, the fee is $3.00, for any amount up to $300. If you use a credit or debit card, either online, through the phone system, or at the kiosk, the higher the deposit (up to $300), the higher the fee, up to $8.95. So the cheapest way to send money is to deposit the maximum of $300 via an in-person kiosk (and you only pay a fee of $3.00). Whatever you do just remember that you will save on fees if you make fewer deposits that are in higher amounts, and when possible, deposit cash at the kiosks. Once deposited, the funds show up within a few hours on the inmate account, and can be checked at the kiosk located in the housing pods. Typically, funds are available for use within a few hours.