Sending Money in Louisiana (DPS&C)

Depositing to a Spending Account

Money for someone in a Louisiana state prison goes into their spending (trust) account through JPay, the system’s vendor. There are five ways to deposit:

• Online at jpay.com, with a Visa or MasterCard
• At a JPay kiosk in any state prison’s visiting area (cash or card)
• By phone at (800) 574-5729
• By mail, sending a money order to JPay (see below)
• In cash at MoneyGram, at Walmart and CVS locations, using receive code 8714

This is separate from funding the person’s phone account, which is its own transaction through the Securus/JPay phone side — covered in Phone & Video Calls.

Fees

JPay charges a fee that rises with the amount. The published online schedule runs from about $2.50 for a small deposit up to about $12.50 at the $200–$300 range; phone deposits cost a little more, and a kiosk deposit carries a flat fee of about $4. A mailed money order has no fee. Because vendor fees change, confirm the current charge in JPay before depositing.

By Mail

A mailed deposit follows specific rules:

• The money order is made payable to JPay — not to the incarcerated person and not to DPS&C
• It goes to JPay, P.O. Box 531370, Miami Shores, FL 33153, with a completed deposit slip that lists the person’s name and DOC number, the state (“LA”) and institution, and the sender’s name, mailing address, email, and date of birth — a money order without a valid email and address is not processed
• Do not enclose any letter or note — anything enclosed is discarded
• The maximum by money order is $999.99, and it posts within about ten business days

Limits and What Comes Out

A few account rules to know. Deposits of $500 or more are reviewed by DPS&C and may be delayed in posting. Money cannot be sent from one incarcerated person (or their family) to another without the warden’s approval. And DPS&C states that Cash App and similar apps are not a legitimate way to send money to an incarcerated person.

DPS&C does not publish a fixed percentage skimmed from family deposits. The published deductions apply mainly to prison wages — at least half of which go to a savings account until a required balance is reached, after which the person decides where their pay goes — and to court-ordered restitution, which can be paid from the account. Medical co-pays are also charged against the account as a debt — see Medical & Mental Health.

Commissary and Packages

The in-prison canteen is run by Prison Enterprises, a DPS&C division. Separately, families can order care packages of food, hygiene, and personal items through the state’s package program at louisianapackages.com or by phone at 1-800-546-6283 — with a published limit of $20 minimum and $200 maximum per person, per institution and housing unit, in defined ordering windows.

Confirming a Deposit

DPS&C publishes no balance-lookup tool for families, so the practical confirmation is the JPay posting window (about two days online, ten business days for a mailed money order) and the person seeing the funds on their account. The locator line (225) 383-4580 confirms a person’s location and status but not their balance.

Parish Jails Use Different Systems

Everything above is the state prison system. Most Louisiana state-sentenced people are in parish jails, and each sheriff picks that jail’s money vendor — often a different company (such as Access Corrections), with its own fees and rules. A family with someone in a parish jail confirms the deposit method with that sheriff’s office, since a JPay deposit will not reach a person held in a jail that uses another vendor.

Verify Before Acting

For the general, nationwide overview of this topic, see the national guide: Sending Money.