How money works in prison? Do you have your own bank account?

Question

How money works in prison? Do you have your own bank account?

In: 10

Answer 1

In the US:

Each person in prison gets a “prison account” that holds money that they can spend on items from the “prison store” called the commissary. Phone calls, tablet use (they get tablets but no networking) etc. are paid for using funds out of these accounts. Friends and family members can make cash deposits into those accounts.

EDIT: If you have a job in prison, your pay is directly deposited into these accounts. I’m not sure if there’s a way to send money to family FROM prison, but at least in the US, that would probably never happen because pay in US prisons is so much lower than even the US minimum wage (can be lower than $1/hour in many states).

There is no “legitimate currency” traded in prison. All legitimate transactions are handled through “inmate accounts.”

Now, there generally tend to be “black markets” and everyday food items (or cigarettes if you’re in a prison where they still allow smoking) are used as currency. In the early 2000s, honey buns and packets of instant coffee were used as “currency” in exchanges in Pennsylvania prisons.

I cannot speak for countries other than the United States, and I’m guessing the federal prison system works the same way. (In the US, there are at least 51 criminal justice systems — the federal CJS, and each state has it’s own CJS. I say “at least” because Tribal lands and US Protectorates also have their own CJS).

EDIT: See also u/SpoonFed_1 ‘s comment – they state they served in a Texas (US) prison.