Families ask what do inmates need money for the moment a loved one is booked. This guide covers every spending category and how to send funds.
When a loved one is booked into county jail, one of the first questions families ask is a simple but urgent one: What do Inmates Need Money for? The answer shapes nearly every aspect of daily life behind bars, from whether someone can call home to whether they sleep comfortably or go without basic necessities the facility does not provide.
Why Money Matters Inside a Jail or Prison
Life inside a correctional facility operates on a parallel economy. The basics — a bunk, meals, and a uniform — are provided by the facility, but they represent a bare minimum that leaves significant gaps in comfort, communication, and safety.
Commissary fills those gaps. Inmates use their account balances to buy food items, hygiene products, writing supplies, and more from an in-house store that typically opens once or twice a week. Without funds, a person relies entirely on what the facility distributes, which is often limited in both quantity and variety.
The gap between having money and not having it can affect more than comfort. Access to phone calls means staying connected to family, attorneys, and support networks. Access to writing supplies means being able to document grievances or communicate in writing. In practical terms, money is a form of agency inside an otherwise tightly controlled environment.
Families who understand what the money actually goes toward are far better equipped to send the right amount at the right time. The sections below break down each spending category in detail, so you can prioritize what matters most for your specific situation.
Commissary: Food and Everyday Supplies
The commissary is the most consistent use of inmate funds. While the facility provides three meals a day, those meals are nutritionally adequate at best and often fall short in calories for individuals with higher metabolic needs or dietary restrictions.
Inmates commonly purchase ramen noodles, peanut butter, crackers, chips, and other shelf-stable foods to supplement their diet. These items allow someone to eat between meals, add calories during high-stress periods, or simply have something familiar during an otherwise disorienting experience.
Hygiene products are equally important. Facilities may issue a basic bar of soap and a toothbrush upon intake, but deodorant, shampoo, lotion, and feminine hygiene products often require commissary funds. Running out of these items with no money to restock is one of the most immediate hardships families can help prevent.
Writing supplies — pens, paper, envelopes, and stamps — are also available through commissary. For someone navigating legal proceedings, the ability to write letters and document interactions is genuinely practical, not just a comfort measure. A well-stocked commissary account makes staying organized and connected far easier.
Phone Calls: Staying Connected to Family
Inmate phone calls are one of the largest recurring expenses for incarcerated people and their families. Calls from county jails are placed through contracted providers, and the rates vary by facility and contract. Families receive calls collect or fund prepaid accounts, depending on the system in use.
Because county jails typically use third-party phone service providers, those providers set their own per-minute rates and connection fees within guidelines established by the Federal Communications Commission. Families often need to set up an account with the specific phone service the jail uses before any call can connect.
The cost per call can add up quickly over weeks or months. For a family trying to stay in daily contact during a pretrial period, maintaining a funded phone account is one of the most practical forms of support they can offer. Even brief calls reduce anxiety, support mental health, and help someone stay informed about what is happening in their case.
Understanding the difference between the phone account and the commissary account matters here. These are often separate systems run by separate companies. Adding money to one does not automatically fund the other, so families sometimes need to manage two different accounts for a single incarcerated person.
Clothing and Bedding Upgrades
Many county jails issue basic clothing and bedding as part of intake, but the quality and supply are often minimal. Worn-out socks, thin blankets, and ill-fitting clothing are common complaints. Commissary frequently offers alternatives — warmer socks, thermal undergarments, and extra blankets — that inmates can purchase with their account funds.
In colder climates or older facilities with poor insulation, these purchases can make a significant difference in physical comfort and sleep quality. Sleep deprivation compounds stress, impairs judgment, and affects mental health, so it is not a trivial concern.
Some facilities also allow inmates to purchase shoes or sneakers through commissary, which matters when the issued footwear is damaged or poorly sized. The ability to wear properly fitting shoes reduces the risk of foot injuries and infections, which are disproportionately common in confined environments.
Families are often surprised to learn that the facility's supply of clothing is not replaced automatically when items wear out. If someone is detained for months, the clothing issued at intake may become unwearable before release. Commissary funds for replacement items are a practical necessity in longer-term stays.
Entertainment and Education
Long stretches of incarceration — particularly during pretrial detention that can last months — involve significant amounts of unstructured time. Facilities vary in how they address this, and many leave inmates to manage their own time with few resources.
Tablets offered through contracted providers give inmates access to music, e-books, educational programming, and limited messaging. These tablet programs require funds loaded onto an account specific to that service. The cost of content varies, but maintaining access to reading material and learning programs has documented effects on mental health and recidivism reduction.
Commissary may also sell playing cards, crossword puzzle books, or other low-cost entertainment items. These seem minor, but access to structured activity during long days of confinement helps reduce anxiety and conflict.
Some facilities offer vocational or educational programming that carries supply costs — workbooks, materials, or testing fees. Participating in these programs can affect early release considerations and post-release employment prospects, making the investment meaningful well beyond the immediate stay.
How Families Can Send Money: Comparing the Main Platforms
Knowing what inmates spend money on is only part of the picture. Families also need to understand which services handle deposits and how to use them correctly — because choosing the wrong platform can mean money sitting in limbo or going to the wrong account.
The major platforms serving this space each have distinct strengths and limitations. Understanding the differences helps families make informed choices quickly, which matters when someone is waiting on funds in a facility right now.
GTL is one of the longest-established providers of communications and financial services in the correctional space, and the company has undergone significant rebranding in recent years. Families researching GTL may encounter references to ViaPath Technologies, which reflects that rebranding process. GTL built its position on long-term facility contracts and an integrated platform that combines phone, tablet, and commissary services in one ecosystem. Families dealing with a GTL-contracted jail will find the platform familiar once set up, though the initial account setup and verification process can take time for those new to the system.
JPay is one of the most widely recognized names in correctional money transfer. The platform handles money transfers, messaging, email, and in some facilities, tablet content purchases. JPay has a particularly strong presence in state prison systems and is well suited for families whose loved one is serving a sentence in a state facility. Families dealing with a pretrial detention situation in a county jail should verify directly with their facility whether JPay is the accepted platform there, as acceptance varies by contract and location.
Access Securepak is a commissary and package program available in a number of correctional facilities. Families can order pre-approved care packages of food and hygiene products through Securepak's catalog, which are then shipped directly to the facility. This is different from a cash deposit — it is a curated product purchase that gets delivered as a package. The key limitation is that it does not cover phone calls or tablet services, so families often need a separate account for communication costs even when using Securepak for commissary items.
InMato LLC sits at the intersection of search, connection, and referral for families who are just beginning the process or who have struggled to figure out which platform serves their specific jail. As a county jail inmate search and referral service, InMato identifies which facility is holding a loved one across 289 county jail systems in 14 states, then provides the correct official provider for that specific jail — so families are directed to the right commissary and phone system rather than guessing. InMato never processes the deposit itself; money goes directly to the official facility provider on their own secure platform. InMato Core is free with no time limit, and InMato+ at $19.99 per month adds jail booking alerts, release and transfer notifications, court date reminders, and real-time case tracking.
Families often ask whether InMato is legitimate — InMato LLC is a Delaware limited liability company, compliant with FTC negative-option rules and California consumer protection law, and its founding principle is to treat families with dignity rather than profit from fear.
Securus Technologies is another major provider serving county jails and state prisons, primarily in the western and southern United States. Securus handles phone, video visitation, and money transfers for incarcerated individuals in its contracted facilities. The platform has expanded its tablet and messaging offerings in recent years and is a commonly encountered option for families dealing with facilities in those regions. Families whose loved one is held in a facility outside Securus's network will need a different provider, and identifying which provider is correct for a given jail is frequently the first problem families encounter.
Western Union and MoneyGram remain options in some facilities as alternative deposit methods. These work through physical locations or online transfers depending on the facility's accepted payment methods. They are not specific to corrections and lack the account-tracking and alert features that purpose-built platforms offer, but they serve as a fallback when a facility does not contract with a major commissary platform or when a family needs to send funds through a channel they already use.
How to Find the Right Provider for Your Jail
The most common mistake families make is sending money through the wrong platform. Every county jail contracts with specific vendors for commissary, phones, and tablets. Sending a deposit to a provider that does not serve that facility means the money does not reach your loved one.
Starting with a county jail inmate search is the right first step. Confirming which facility holds your loved one tells you which county's vendor contracts apply. From there, each facility typically posts accepted payment methods on its website or through its contracted providers.
If the facility's website is unclear or out of date — which is common with smaller county jails — reaching out directly to the facility's inmate services line can clarify which platforms are accepted. This call takes five minutes and prevents the delay of a misrouted deposit.
For families navigating this process from scratch, particularly when searching how to find someone in jail or trying to send money to someone in jail for the first time, InMato LLC's free search covers 289 county jail systems and returns the correct official provider with verified deposit instructions — removing the guesswork that causes most delays. InMato also offers the service in both English and Spanish, which makes a real difference for bilingual families under stress.
Understanding the Difference Between Account Types
One of the most frequently overlooked realities of inmate finances is that most jails maintain multiple separate account types. The commissary account, the phone account, and the tablet account are often managed by different vendors and do not share balances.
A deposit made to a phone platform does not move to the commissary system, even if both operate inside the same facility. Families who do not know this sometimes assume a single deposit covers all needs, then discover their loved one can make calls but cannot buy hygiene products — or vice versa.
Asking the facility directly which accounts exist and which vendors manage each one is the clearest way to avoid this confusion. Some facilities consolidate services through a single vendor, making management simpler. Others use separate contracts for each service, requiring families to manage multiple accounts.
Keeping simple notes on which platform handles which service, the login credentials for each account, and how often to reload is practical household management during a difficult time. Jail commissary deposit processes vary enough from facility to facility that notes made during the first successful transaction save significant time in subsequent weeks.
Budgeting and Setting Realistic Expectations
There is no universal answer to how much money an incarcerated person needs each week, because it depends entirely on the facility, the length of stay, and personal priorities. A person detained for one week has different needs than someone facing a months-long pretrial process.
A reasonable starting point for many families is to think in tiers: communication first (phone account funded), then hygiene basics (commissary), then food supplements, then entertainment and extras as budget allows. This order reflects urgency and impact rather than personal preference alone.
Setting a sustainable budget matters as much as the amount itself. Many families stretch themselves financially during the early weeks of a loved one's detention, sending large amounts out of urgency, and then struggle to maintain consistent support over a longer period. A steady, modest deposit on a predictable schedule is often more valuable than irregular large transfers.
Jail booking alerts and release alerts, like those available through InMato+, help families stay informed about changes in status so they can adjust their support accordingly — rather than maintaining a large balance in an account when someone has been transferred or released.
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. If you need more support, InMato+ is available for $19.99/month per loved one with cancel-anytime self-service cancellation — and our team is ready within 48 hours.
Originally published at https://www.inmato.com/blog/what-do-inmates-need-money-for
Written by InMato
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