Sending money: online transfers, kiosks, mail deposits, and commissary rules

If your loved one is in a Missouri DOC prison, you can deposit funds electronically through JPay or mail a money order or cashier's check payable to the Missouri Department of Corrections. Mailed deposits must include a DOC deposit slip. Send all money transactions to: Offender Finance Office, Missouri Department of Corrections, P.O. Box 1609, Jefferson City, MO 65102. That P.O. Box is for money processing only. Don't send personal letters, cards, stamps, or photographs there.

Some Missouri county jails handle money through a lobby kiosk and online portal instead of taking cash or money orders at the counter. Buchanan County, for example, lets you add commissary funds at the lobby kiosk with cash or credit card, or deposit from home through its online system. The jail no longer accepts cash, checks, or money orders directly for commissary or bonding. Buchanan also lists cutoff times tied to commissary delivery: deposit by 8:00 a.m. Monday to receive Tuesday commissary orders, and by 8:00 a.m. Thursday to receive Friday commissary orders.

Commissary rules vary by jail. Platte County explains that money goes into an inmate's personal commissary account for purchasing approved items, but funds cannot be transferred to another inmate's account. In Monroe County, the sheriff's office notes that commissary orders can be placed online, and it references Tiger Commissary as a service that allows you to order commissary and have it shipped to an inmate.