Commissary and Care Packages in California

If you have someone locked up in California, two questions come up fast: what can they buy, and what can you send. The answer depends on where they are held. A state prison run by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation works one way, a county jail works another, and a federal facility plays by its own rulebook. Here is how all three actually work, so you are not guessing or wasting money.

One thing worth saying up front. The most dependable way to stay in touch with anyone inside is the mail. A letter and a few printed photos get through when an account is short, when a package program is restricted, or when someone is not eligible for packages. Treat that as your baseline and the rest as extra.

California state prisons (CDCR)

In a CDCR facility there is no cash. Money goes onto the incarcerated person's trust account, and they spend it at the canteen, which is what California calls the commissary.

To put money on the books, CDCR uses electronic deposits through JPay, Access Corrections, and GTL/ConnectNetwork. You can also mail a money order or cashier's check to the person's lockbox with a trust account deposit slip. Online deposits generally post within a few business days. You will need the person's CDCR number and name.

Here is the California detail that surprises families most. If the incarcerated person owes restitution or court-ordered fines, the institution can take up to 50 percent of any deposit you send and apply it to that debt before they ever see the rest. So if you send $100 and your person has a restitution balance, they may only get $50 of it on their books. Plan around that.

The canteen itself is stocked and managed through the state prison industry program, and revenue from it funds inmate welfare programs rather than general prison operations. Spending limits and the item list vary by institution and privilege group. People verified as indigent receive basic hygiene items and writing materials at no cost.

Quarterly packages for CDCR inmates

California does not let you mail a package from home. Since 2003, packages, known as quarterly packages, come only through CDCR-approved vendors such as Access Securepak, Union Supply Direct, and Walkenhorst's. A package can include food, hygiene, clothing, and shoes, and the approved vendor packs and ships it. Eligible people can receive roughly one package per quarter.

There is an important eligibility rule, and it changed recently. Quarterly package access is tied to the incarcerated person's privilege group. As of May 4, 2026, people in Privilege Group D are no longer eligible to order quarterly packages at all, though they can still make certain special purchases. So before you order, confirm your person's privilege group and current eligibility, because the package route depends entirely on their status.

That leads to the one warning that applies to every package. Verify eligibility and vendor approval with the facility before ordering, because programs, privilege rules, and approved vendors change, and an order that does not match the current rules gets refused.

California county jails

County jails are their own world. California has 58 counties, and each sheriff runs its own deposit and commissary contracts, so what is true in one county is wrong in the next.

A few real examples to show the spread:

Los Angeles County, which runs the largest jail system in the country, moved its online deposits to Access Corrections in 2025, and handles commissary ordering through a separate outside vendor. You can also mail a money order or cashier's check made out to the inmate or the Sheriff.

San Diego County runs deposits and gift packs through the Sheriff's own commissary portal rather than a third party.

Other counties vary: many use Keefe, Aramark, or Trinity for commissary, and a number of California county jails also participate in the quarterly package program through Access Securepak.

The takeaway is simple: never assume a county jail uses the same vendor or rules as the state. Pull up that specific jail's page and confirm the deposit vendor, the spending cap, the cutoff, and whether packages are allowed before you send anything.

Federal facilities in California

California has one of the largest federal footprints in the country, and it has changed recently, so confirm where your person actually is. The major complexes are FCC Lompoc on the Central Coast, FCC Victorville in San Bernardino County, and USP Atwater in Merced County, each holding multiple institutions and a camp. Beyond those, the Bureau of Prisons runs FCI Mendota near Fresno, FCI Herlong in the northeast, FCI Terminal Island at the Port of Los Angeles, and two detention centers for people awaiting trial, MDC Los Angeles and MCC San Diego. One note worth knowing: FCI Dublin, long the main federal women's prison in California, closed in 2024, so older references to it are out of date.

These all run on Bureau of Prisons rules, which are the same nationwide.

Funding works through the federal Trust Fund. You can send money online or by app through JPay, mail a money order or cashier's check made payable to the Federal Bureau of Prisons with the inmate's full name and register number on it to the national lockbox, or use Western Union. No cash, no personal checks.

The commissary is the only store in the federal system, and the inmate shops it in person on an assigned day each week, usually tied to their register number. You fund the account; they pick from what is in stock. The shelves cover food and drink mixes, hygiene, a limited clothing selection, stationery and stamps, some over-the-counter medicine, and at some facilities approved electronics.

On the money, general population inmates can spend up to $360 per month, and that limit resets monthly. Stamps, phone credits, and over-the-counter medicine generally fall outside the cap. In November and December the limit typically rises to $410 for holiday shopping. An inmate who refuses the Inmate Financial Responsibility Program gets knocked down to roughly $25 per month.

Federal care packages are not allowed. The Bureau prohibits outside food, clothing, or hygiene packages from family or friends. The narrow exceptions are publications shipped directly from a publisher or approved retailer, religious items cleared through the chaplain, and legal materials from an attorney or court.

For messaging, the federal system uses an email tool families reach through the CorrLinks portal, reviewed by staff and not confidential. To find someone in federal custody, use the Bureau of Prisons inmate locator, which searches by name or register number.

Staying connected

Across all three systems the pattern is the same. Funding a trust or commissary account is how someone buys what they need day to day, packages are restricted and tied to eligibility, and the rules shift by facility and by contract. The one thing that does not change is the mail. A letter and photos reach almost anyone inside, including someone whose commissary or package access is restricted, which makes it the most reliable way to show up for your person while you sort out the rest.