Commissary and Care Packages in Georgia

If you have someone locked up in Georgia, 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 Georgia Department of Corrections 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 or when a package window has passed. Treat that as your baseline and the rest as extra.

Georgia state prisons (GDC)

In a GDC facility there is no cash. Money goes onto the inmate's account, and they spend it at the store, which is what Georgia calls the commissary.

To put money on the books, GDC gives you a few options: send it electronically through JPay, send cash through MoneyGram at places like CVS and Walmart, or mail a money order. Whatever method you use, you will need the inmate's name and GDC ID number, and a money order has to have that information on it or it gets returned. The commissary carries food and snacks, hygiene products, stamps and stationery, and similar basics. People verified as indigent receive basic hygiene items and writing materials at no cost.

Packages for GDC inmates

This is where Georgia stands out, because the state runs a real package program with more structure than most. Family and friends order through the state's contracted package vendor, currently Union Supply Group, which handles both food packages and property packages for people in state prisons, integrated treatment facilities, and probation detention centers. You order from a pre-approved catalog on the Georgia inmate package website, and the vendor ships directly to the facility.

The frequency is set by category, and it is worth knowing the limits before you order: an inmate can receive one food package per quarter, one property package per month, and one snack or hygiene kit per week. A property package is hygiene items, writing supplies, and similar goods rather than food. One exception to flag: the privately run Riverbend prison in Georgia uses a different vendor, Access Securepak, rather than Union Supply.

That leads to the one warning that applies to every package. Order only from the current state-approved vendor and only within the posted limits, because the contracted vendor changes from time to time, and a package that does not match the current program gets refused.

Georgia county jails

County jails are their own world. Each county runs its own deposit and package contracts, so what is true in one county is wrong in the next.

A few real examples to show the spread. Fulton County, the largest jail in the state, runs commissary and packages through Access Securepak and takes deposits through Access Corrections, with a cap of $200 per week, a $5 minimum, and a limit of five card transactions per inmate. Gwinnett County also uses the Access Securepak program. The Augusta area, at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center in Richmond County, uses iCare, run by Aramark. City lockups often have no package program and allow commissary only.

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 the package policy before you send anything.

Federal facilities in Georgia

Georgia has a notable federal presence. The Bureau of Prisons runs the Atlanta federal facility, the historic prison that opened in 1902 and was long known as USP Atlanta. After years of problems it now operates as FCI Atlanta, a low-security institution with detention units and a minimum-security camp. The main destination for sentenced men in the state is the FCI Jesup complex in southeast Georgia, which holds a medium-security facility, a low-security satellite, and a minimum-security camp, and runs the residential drug treatment program. There is also a privately operated facility, D. Ray James in Folkston, run by a private company under contract rather than directly by the Bureau. Use the inmate locator to confirm exactly where your person is.

The standard facilities 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 in Des Moines, Iowa, not to the prison itself, 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 an account is how someone buys what they need day to day, packages are tightly controlled and tied to approved vendors and limits, 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 who has used up their package window for the month, which makes it the most reliable way to show up for your person while you sort out the rest.