Sending Money in Montana (MT DOC)

Two separate accounts

Money in Montana’s prison system splits into two accounts that are funded in different ways and through different addresses:

• The phone and tablet account pays for calls, tablet messaging, photos, and video. It is funded through ICSolutions.
• The trust account (also called the commissary or spending account) pays for commissary purchases and personal items. It is funded by sending money to the facility.

The two are not interchangeable. Money added to the phone and tablet account does not pay for commissary, and money sent to the facility for the trust account does not pay for calls.

Funding the phone and tablet account (ICSolutions)

Phone calls, tablet messaging, and video run through ICSolutions (ICS Corrections, Inc.), with tablet features delivered on the GettingOut platform. The account that pays for them is funded through ICSolutions in three ways:

• Online, through the ICSolutions site.

• By phone, on the ICSolutions line at 888-506-8407.

• By mailed certified check or money order, payable to ICSolutions and sent to:

  ICS Corrections, Inc. (ICSolutions)
  Attn: Prepaid Collect Account
  2200 Danbury Street
  San Antonio, TX 78217

This San Antonio address is for the phone and tablet account only. It is not the address for commissary or trust money. For how calls, messaging, and video work, see Phone & Video Calls.

Sending trust (commissary) money

Money for commissary and personal spending goes into the person’s trust account. In Montana, this money is sent by check or money order to the facility that holds the person — not to ICSolutions and not to the off-site mail-scanning vendor in Maryland.

Two rules apply to trust deposits sent by mail:

• No personal letter is enclosed with a check or money order. Montana DOC returns mailed payments that include a letter.
• The address is the facility’s, and it differs by facility. Montana DOC states that checks and money orders require a separate address by facility. There is no single statewide trust-deposit address.

Because the address differs by facility, confirm the correct mailing address with the specific facility before sending trust money.

Contract prisons may differ

Not every facility that holds Montana inmates uses the same systems. The contract prisons — Crossroads Correctional Center (Shelby) and Dawson County Correctional Facility (Glendive) — may use their own deposit systems for both phone and trust money. Confirm the deposit methods and addresses with the facility that holds the person.

Don’t hand money over at a visit

Money is added only through the methods above. It is not accepted in person during a visit. Incoming personal mail at Montana’s state prisons is sent to an off-site scanning vendor, so cash or a money order enclosed with a letter does not reach the facility (see Mail & Packages). A check or money order intended for the trust account goes to the facility, not to the ICSolutions address and not to the mail-scanning address.

Verify Before Acting

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