Commissary and Care Packages in Michigan

If you have someone locked up in Michigan, 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 Michigan 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.

Michigan state prisons (MDOC)

In an MDOC facility there is no cash. Money goes onto an electronic trust account, and your person spends it at the prisoner store, which is what Michigan calls the commissary.

The official money vendor is JPay, which is the fastest option and usually posts right away. You can also send cash through MoneyGram, or use a lobby kiosk at the prisons that have one, which takes cash or card for a flat fee. The store carries food, personal care items, some clothing, and even electronics like TVs. One number to know: a prisoner can buy up to $125 worth of store items every two weeks, plus sales tax. If your person is indigent, the facility loans basic postage and writing supplies.

The Friends and Family package

Michigan runs a specific care-package program, and the rules are strict, so this is worth getting right. Each quarter, your person may receive one Friends and Family package, and only one, no matter how many people want to send something or how large the order is. The package is capped at $125, not counting tax and shipping, and you order it from the approved vendor at the state's package website. Only the first order placed in a quarter is processed, so coordinate with anyone else who might be sending, or the second order is wasted.

A couple of related rules changed recently. As of February 2026, Michigan no longer allows hardcover books from approved vendors, though softcover books still go through, and the state stopped accepting used book donations from libraries and religious organizations. As with anything you send, order only through the current approved vendor and within the posted limits and window, because a package or item that does not match the current rules gets refused.

Michigan county jails

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

A few real examples. Wayne County, the Detroit jail and the largest in the state, takes deposits through TouchPay and runs care packages through JailATM. Oakland County in Pontiac uses Smart Communications for trust deposits, or cash and money orders in person at the visitation area. Macomb County in Mount Clemens takes deposits through TouchPay, JPay, and a lobby kiosk, but does not accept money by mail. Ottawa County uses a lobby kiosk and a separate commissary vendor with its own order deadlines. 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 Michigan

Michigan's main Bureau of Prisons site is in Milan, southwest of Detroit. FCI Milan is a low-security prison for men, and right next to it is a Federal Detention Center that holds people awaiting trial or sentencing in the Eastern District of Michigan. There is also a privately operated prison in Baldwin, run under a separate company rather than directly by the Bureau, so if your person is there the rules may differ. Use the inmate locator to confirm exactly where they are. For anyone in a Bureau of Prisons facility, the federal rules apply, and they 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 an account is how someone buys what they need day to day, packages are tied to approved vendors and limits, and the rules shift by facility and by contract. In Michigan, remember the state program gives one package a quarter, so plan it with whoever else wants to chip in. The one thing that does not change is the mail. A letter and photos reach almost anyone inside, which makes it the most reliable way to show up for your person while you sort out the rest.