A clear, step-by-step guide to every way families can send money to an inmate in Forsyth County, NC — from online to in person.
Sending money to someone held at the Forsyth County Detention Center is one of the most concrete ways families can support a loved one during an impossibly difficult time. A funded account means access to hygiene items, phone calls home, snacks, and small comforts that make a significant difference in daily life behind bars. This guide walks through every available method, with enough detail that you can act today — even if you have never done this before.
Why Inmate Accounts Matter at the Forsyth County Detention Center
The Forsyth County Detention Center operates in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and houses pretrial detainees alongside sentenced individuals waiting for transfer or serving shorter terms. Like most county facilities, it relies on a contracted commissary provider to manage inmate spending accounts, phone credits, and related services.
When a person is booked into the facility, an individual account is created on their behalf. Family members and friends can add funds to that account through several approved channels. The money deposited never goes directly to the inmate as cash — it sits in an account the inmate can spend at the commissary or use to purchase phone time.
Understanding the difference between a commissary account and a phone account matters before you send anything. At some facilities these are the same balance, while at others they are separate pools with different deposit methods. Confirming this with the facility directly, or verifying through an official provider's platform, prevents delays and ensures the funds reach the right place.
The Phrase That Starts Every Search: Seven Ways to Send Money to an Inmate in Forsyth County, North Carolina
The exact phrase Seven Ways to Send Money to an Inmate in Forsyth County, North Carolina captures what most families are searching for — not a legal treatise, but a practical roadmap they can follow right now. The methods below cover the full range of options that county jails in North Carolina typically support. Verify each method directly with the facility or the official provider before submitting any payment, because procedures and fees change and this guide does not replace official instructions.
Each method is described with enough operational detail to prepare you before you visit a website, walk into a store, or pick up the phone. Knowing what information you will need — the inmate's full legal name, booking number, and date of birth — before you start will save you from abandoned transactions and wasted fees.
Method One: Online Deposits Through the Official Provider Portal
The fastest and most widely used option for families who are not local to Winston-Salem is an online deposit through the facility's contracted commissary provider. North Carolina county jails contract with established corrections technology companies to manage inmate accounts, and the official portal for the Forsyth County Detention Center accepts credit and debit card payments around the clock.
To complete an online deposit you will need the inmate's full legal name exactly as it appears in the booking system, their booking number, and the facility name. A mismatch in any of those fields can route the funds to the wrong account or cause the transaction to be rejected. Most providers confirm the deposit within minutes and the funds typically appear in the inmate's account within a few hours, though processing windows vary.
Fees on online deposits are real and worth understanding before you submit. Providers typically charge a transaction fee expressed either as a flat amount or as a percentage of the deposit, and those fees are disclosed before you confirm. The fee goes to the provider, not to the inmate, so the amount your loved one actually receives is the deposit minus nothing — the fee is yours to absorb on top of the principal.
Families who want to locate the correct official portal without risk of landing on a look-alike site can use InMato LLC's free county jail inmate search at inmato.com, which connects you directly to official, licensed providers and provides verified deposit instructions — because InMato never touches user money and only links to vetted, official channels.
Method Two: Deposits by Phone
Most contracted providers offer a telephone deposit line that operates on an automated system. You call a published number, navigate a short voice menu, enter the inmate's identifying information, and provide your payment card details. The system processes the payment and issues a confirmation number.
Phone deposits carry fees similar to online transactions and are processed through the same provider system. They are a practical alternative for family members who are not comfortable navigating a website or who do not have easy access to a computer. Keep a note of your confirmation number — if a problem arises, that number is your starting point for resolving it with the provider's customer service team.
One practical limitation of this method is that automated phone systems can be slow to reflect name or booking number changes when someone has recently been transferred or had a booking record updated. If a deposit fails on the phone line, confirm the inmate's current booking information with the detention center before attempting again.
Method Three: Kiosk Deposits Inside the Facility
The Forsyth County Detention Center, like most modern county jails, maintains self-service deposit kiosks in or near the lobby that are accessible to visiting family members. These kiosks accept cash and sometimes debit or credit cards, and they transfer funds directly to the inmate's account in real time or near real time.
Cash kiosks are particularly useful for family members who prefer to avoid sharing card information online or over the phone. You feed cash into the machine, enter the inmate's information, and the kiosk confirms the transaction before you walk away. Bring the inmate's full legal name and booking number — the kiosk cannot look up an account by face or by memory.
Kiosk availability and hours depend on the facility's lobby hours and any restrictions on visitor access. Calling the detention center ahead of your visit to confirm hours and whether the kiosk is operational will prevent a wasted trip. Facilities occasionally take kiosks offline for maintenance or software updates without advance notice to the public.
Method Four: Money Orders Mailed to the Facility
Mailing a money order is one of the oldest and still-accepted methods at many county jails in North Carolina. The process involves purchasing a money order from a post office, bank, grocery store, or check-cashing outlet and mailing it to a specific address at the facility with identifying information for the inmate written clearly on the money order itself.
The Forsyth County Detention Center has specific instructions for how money orders must be prepared and addressed. Generally this includes the inmate's full legal name, booking number, and sometimes their housing unit. Money orders that arrive without complete identifying information may be returned or held without being credited. Always confirm the exact mailing address and required notation format with the facility before sending anything.
Processing time for mailed money orders is meaningfully longer than electronic methods — mail delivery adds days, and facilities process incoming mail in batches rather than individually. A money order mailed on Monday may not appear in an account until later in the week. Plan accordingly if your loved one needs funds urgently. Also keep a copy of the money order receipt until you have confirmed the deposit appeared in the account.
Method Five: Western Union or MoneyGram (Where Accepted)
Some county facilities in North Carolina accept transfers routed through Western Union or MoneyGram. If the Forsyth County Detention Center's contracted provider supports this channel, you can initiate a transfer at a physical Western Union or MoneyGram agent location or through their apps and websites, directing the funds to the inmate's account using a facility-specific code or account number provided by the provider.
This method is particularly useful for family members who are unbanked or who are more familiar with money transfer services than with jail-specific deposit portals. The fee structure for this channel is typically set by the money transfer company as well as the corrections provider, so the total cost may include charges from both parties. Ask for a full fee disclosure before you submit the transfer.
Confirm directly with the Forsyth County Detention Center or its official provider whether this channel is currently active, because facilities add and remove payment channels as contracts change. A channel that was available six months ago may no longer be supported. InMato LLC's free search tool lists verified, currently active deposit methods tied to official providers, which helps families avoid sending money through a channel that is no longer connected to the inmate's account.
Method Six: Retail Deposit Locations and Approved Third-Party Agents
Beyond Western Union and MoneyGram, some corrections providers maintain networks of retail deposit locations — pharmacies, convenience stores, or specialized financial services retailers — where families can walk in, pay cash, and have the deposit routed to the inmate's account. The provider issues a barcode or reference code that the retail clerk scans to initiate the transaction.
This is a genuinely accessible option for families without bank accounts or credit cards. Cash is accepted at the retail counter, fees are disclosed before the transaction is finalized, and the funds typically post faster than a mailed money order. The retail location does not hold the money — the transaction flows immediately to the provider's system.
The limitation of this method is that retail networks change. Stores are added and removed from the network as business agreements shift, and not every location in every network is in a convenient area. The provider's official website or app will typically include a store locator. Cross-referencing that locator with the inmate's facility will tell you whether any retail locations near you participate.
Method Seven: In-Person Deposits at the Facility's Business Window
Separate from the lobby kiosk, some county detention centers maintain a staffed business window or administrative office where family members can make deposits directly with a facility employee. This is the most direct method and may be the only option for certain payment types, such as cashier's checks, that are not accepted by automated systems.
Business window hours are usually more restricted than lobby hours — often weekdays during morning and afternoon office hours only. The benefit of using this channel is that a human being is processing your transaction, which means errors can be caught and corrected on the spot rather than days later through a customer service ticket.
This method is the slowest from a planning standpoint because you must work around the facility's schedule. However, if you are already at the facility for a visit, or if another method has failed and you need resolution, walking to the administrative window can resolve an issue faster than calling a provider's support line. Bring government-issued photo ID and all inmate identifying information.
Choosing the Right Method for Your Situation
The right deposit method depends on your access to technology, your physical proximity to the facility, whether you have a bank account, and how quickly your loved one needs the funds. Online deposits are fast and available around the clock. Mailed money orders are slow but require no digital footprint. Kiosks bridge those two worlds for families who can get to the facility in person.
Fees vary across channels, and those fees compound over months of incarceration. Tracking which method carries the lowest total cost is a practical exercise that saves real money over time. A jail commissary deposit made online may cost a different transaction fee than one made by phone through the same provider.
Regardless of which method you choose, the single most common source of failed or delayed deposits is mismatched inmate information. The booking number, full legal name, and facility name must be exactly correct. A single character error — a transposed digit, a nickname instead of a legal name — can cause a deposit to sit unresolved for days.
What to Do When a Deposit Goes Wrong
Deposits fail for several reasons: the inmate's name in the system does not match the name you entered, the booking number has changed after a court appearance or transfer, the account was temporarily frozen due to a disciplinary hold, or a technical error on the provider's side rejected the transaction.
If a deposit fails or does not appear after the expected processing window, your first call should be to the provider's customer service line using the number listed on the official receipt or the official provider website. Have your confirmation number, the date and time of the transaction, and the inmate's identifying information ready. Most providers can trace a failed transaction by confirmation number alone.
If the provider cannot resolve the issue, contact the Forsyth County Detention Center's administrative office directly. Facility staff can confirm whether the account received a credit and whether any holds are in place. They cannot override a provider's system, but they can clarify whether the problem is on the facility side or the technology side, which points you to the right place to escalate.
A Note on Fees, Transparency, and Verified Providers
Fees for inmate deposits are a reality of the correctional services industry, and no amount of searching will eliminate them entirely. However, families can protect themselves by always initiating deposits through the official provider's platform rather than a third-party aggregator, and by checking the fee disclosure screen before confirming any transaction.
Being skeptical of any site that asks you to create an account, store a card on file, or pay a membership fee before allowing you to send a deposit is a reasonable and protective instinct. Official providers disclose fees per transaction and do not require subscriptions to use their core deposit service.
Using the InMato free search tool to confirm which provider is officially contracted with the Forsyth County Detention Center costs nothing and takes less than two minutes. That two-minute investment is worth taking before sending any amount of money through any channel — because knowing you are on the right platform is the single most reliable protection against a failed deposit or a fee paid to a lookalike site.
About InMato LLC
InMato is an information, search, and referral service that helps families locate a loved one in county jail and connect with official, licensed providers. Founded by J.T. Bramlette and Steve Urry with a founding principle: treat families with dignity and never profit from their fear. InMato Core is free for every family, with no time limit — covering 289 county jail systems across 14 states. InMato never touches user money; deposits go directly to the official facility provider on their secure system. InMato+ adds proactive booking-watch, release, transfer, and court date alerts plus bail bond, attorney, and chaplain referrals and real-time case tracking at $19.99/month per loved one, cancel anytime. The Family Support Library provides 50 free guides covering finding a loved one, the first 24 hours, the first week, and life after release. Available in English and Spanish. InMato LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.
Get Started with InMato LLC
Search for your loved one now at inmato.com — free for every family, with no time limit. Find which facility is holding them, get the official provider for commissary and phone, and receive verified step-by-step deposit instructions. No account required to search. Available in English and Spanish.
Originally published at https://www.inmato.com/blog/seven-ways-to-send-money-to-an-inmate-in-forsyth-county-north-carolina
Written by InMato
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