Sending Money in Rhode Island (RIDOC)

Who Can Deposit

Rhode Island ties deposits to the visiting list, with two published wrinkles that matter:

• The 30-day grace period: for the first 30 days after someone is committed — the underlying policy frames it around awaiting-trial status — anyone may deposit while the visiting list is compiled, useful in exactly the chaotic stretch when it’s needed.
• The two extra names: beyond the nine authorized visitors, the incarcerated person can list two people for money purposes only — designed for out-of-state family who pass the background check but can’t realistically visit. Those two cannot enter the visiting room.

Photo ID — a driver’s license, state ID, or passport — is required for any deposit.

How Deposits Work

The contracted deposit service is Access Corrections (run by the Keefe Commissary Network, per RIDOC’s page). The published channels:

• Online at accesscorrections.com or the Access Corrections app — fee posted as “as low as $2.95”; MasterCard and Visa
• By phone at 1-866-345-1884 — “as low as $3.95,” staffed around the clock with bilingual representatives
• Cash walk-in at retail locations through CashPayToday (cashpaytoday.com, 844-340-2274)
• Lobby kiosk at the Intake Service Center
• In person at the Inmate Accounts Office, 51 West Road, Building 138, on the Cranston campus — weekdays 9:00-11:00 a.m. and 1:00-3:00 p.m.
• By mail — a check, bank draft, or money order payable to “RI Department of Corrections” with the person’s name and ID number on the memo line, sent to the Inmate Accounts Office address above. Mailing a self-addressed stamped envelope first gets you official deposit slips.

The “as low as” fee phrasing is RIDOC’s own, and its money page carries a 2022 update date — the exact fee shows during the transaction. Questions go to the Inmate Accounts Unit at (401) 462-2670.

What Gets Deducted

Three published rules shape what a deposit actually buys:

• Release savings: by statute, 25 percent of a person’s earnings are reserved in a frozen account — up to $2,000 for most people — and paid out at release.
• Medical debt recovers at half: if an account can’t cover a medical co-pay, the balance above $10 is taken, the rest is charged as debt, and half of every later deposit goes to that debt until it’s paid. A person with built-up medical debt will see half of what you send disappear before it reaches commissary.
• At Minimum Security and for people on work release without jobs, cash disbursements cap at $25 every two weeks.

RIDOC publishes no balance information to families — the incarcerated person checks the account on housing-unit kiosks and is the one who can confirm a deposit arrived. Your transaction receipt is your record.

Commissary

Commissary is run by a private contractor with weekly delivery to housing units: one standard order a week covering hygiene, stamps, snacks, and over-the-counter items, with a separate process for big-ticket property like TVs and radios. Spending limits are set administratively and not published. Substitutions aren’t allowed, and out-of-stock items are credited back.

For people without money, Rhode Island publishes real indigent provisions: anyone involuntarily unemployed with under $10 and no deposits of $10 or more in the previous two months can request a free hygiene kit every 30 days, plus free postage for up to three personal letters a week and all legal mail.

Verify Before Acting

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