Mat-Su Pretrial Facility

A pretrial detention facility in Palmer, Alaska — the booking facility for the Matanuska-Susitna region, holding men and women awaiting trial in the state's unified jail-and-prison system.

Overview

The Mat-Su Pretrial Facility is a state detention facility in Palmer, the borough seat of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, in south-central Alaska. It is operated by the Alaska Department of Corrections and serves as the booking facility for the Mat-Su region. The facility opened in 1985, holds men and women of all custody levels, and has a capacity of about 102.

Alaska runs a unified corrections system, meaning the state Department of Corrections operates both the jail (pretrial) function and the prison (sentenced) function; the state has no county jail system. Within that system, the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility is one of the few sites that holds only people awaiting trial. Once a person is sentenced, they are transferred to a sentenced facility elsewhere in the state.

What Makes the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility Different

The Mat-Su Pretrial Facility is a pretrial-only detention and booking facility. It holds people who have been arrested or are awaiting trial for the Matanuska-Susitna region, and it does not house people serving sentences — after sentencing, a person is moved to one of the state’s sentenced facilities. This is distinct from most Alaska correctional centers, which hold both unsentenced and sentenced people at the same site.

A separate facility, the Palmer Correctional Center, is also in the Palmer area, in nearby Sutton in the same borough, and the similar names are a common point of confusion. The Palmer Correctional Center is a prison for sentenced men, in a different location with a different address and phone number. Because a person can be at one facility and then transferred to another, families confirm which facility the person is currently in on VINELink before traveling or sending mail.

Visiting

The statewide AK DOC rules above — the approved visitor list, the dress code, ID, and item limits — apply at the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility. The facility’s own arrangements:

Getting There and Parking

The Mat-Su Pretrial Facility is at 339 E. Dogwood Avenue in Palmer, in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough northeast of Anchorage. Palmer is on the road system and is reached by way of the Glenn Highway. The facility is in the city of Palmer, and the nearest large commercial airport is in the Anchorage area to the southwest.

Visitors confirm current entry procedures, the visitor-processing location, and what may be brought onto the grounds with the facility before arriving, because electronic devices and personal items are generally not permitted inside.

Nearby Services

Palmer and the neighboring city of Wasilla have lodging, dining, fuel, and shopping, with a wider range of services throughout the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and in the Anchorage area to the southwest. Emergency and hospital medical care is available locally, with additional hospitals in the Anchorage area.

Mail

Alaska DOC does not use an off-site mail vendor. Incoming personal mail goes directly to the facility, where mail staff open and inspect it for contraband before delivery. Address personal mail with the person’s full name and prisoner number, the facility name, and the facility’s mailing address:

[Prisoner’s full name and number] Mat-Su Pretrial Facility 339 E. Dogwood Avenue Palmer, AK 99645

Use a plain white envelope and white paper, and write only in blue or black ink or pencil. Mail without a complete return address that includes the sender’s name is destroyed. Greeting cards must be commercially produced, single-fold, on standard card stock, and no larger than 6 by 8 inches. Photographs must be printed on plain white or photographic paper and unaltered. Stickers, labels, glitter, tape, and anything attached with adhesive are not allowed (postal-service labels are an exception), and sexually explicit material is prohibited.

Legal and other privileged mail (for example, mail with an attorney) goes to the facility marked “Privileged” and is handled separately. Books, magazines, newspapers, and other publications must be ordered from an approved vendor and shipped directly to the facility — a family member can place the order, but the person must have funds to pay for it in advance. Packages are accepted only from approved vendors through the commissary; friends and family cannot send gift packages. Contact the facility for its current approved-vendor list.

Learn More

• Visiting an Alaska prison — Approved visitor lists, the per-facility scheduling and appointment norms, dress code, ID, and what to expect.
• Sending mail in Alaska — How to address personal mail to the facility, the white-envelope rules, and how to order books, publications, and packages from approved vendors.
• Phone calls and video in Alaska — Setting up a Securus AdvanceConnect account, how calls are billed, free monthly calls, and the rules on three-way and forwarded calls.
• Sending money in Alaska — How to put money on an Offender Trust Account in person or by mail, who is allowed to deposit, accepted forms, and the monthly limit.
• Medical care in Alaska prisons — How health, dental, and mental-health care work in DOC facilities, co-pay amounts, and how to request care.
• Intake, classification, and transfers in Alaska — The booking process, the four custody levels, and how people are housed in Alaska’s unified jail-and-prison system.