William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility is an Alabama Department of Corrections prison in Bessemer, AL. It opened in October 1982, holds 1,429 men, and houses repeat and violent offenders with lengthy sentences, running the state's largest segregation unit and a death row unit for the Birmingham judicial area. This guide covers how to find someone with the ADOC inmate locator, visitation, sending money through Access Corrections, ICSolutions phone calls, and Alabama's digital mail system, verified from doc.alabama.gov.
City
Bessemer
County
Jefferson County
State
AL
Facility Type
State Prison
Gender
Male
Capacity
1,429 beds
Custody Levels
Maximum / Close Custody
Operator
Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC)
Address
100 Warrior Lane, Bessemer, AL 35023-7299
Phone
(205) 436-3681
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Search by AIS number or name to confirm someone is at Donaldson. The AIS number is needed for money deposits and mail.
View ArticleADOC doesn't publish specific visiting hours for Donaldson. Call (205) 436-3681 to confirm the schedule before you travel.
View ArticleADOC's statewide vendor for deposits. Send money online, by phone, in cash, or by mailed money order.
View ArticleICSolutions handles calls and tablets. Check icsonline.icsolutions.com or call the facility for current rates.
View ArticlePersonal mail now goes to a centralized processing center in San Antonio, TX. Packages and legal mail still go to Donaldson directly.
View ArticleUse the ADOC inmate locator at doc.alabama.gov/inmatesearch.aspx to find anyone in custody at Donaldson. Search by AIS number for an exact match or by first and last name for an open-ended search returning up to 50 results. Inmates sentenced under the Youthful Offender Act are excluded from results.
See the full breakdownADOC's website does not list Donaldson's specific visiting days or hours. The facility's own page tells families to contact the facility directly for visitation information. Call (205) 436-3681 to confirm the current schedule, ID requirements, and screening procedures before you travel.
See the full breakdownAccess Corrections is ADOC's statewide, endorsed vendor for deposits. Deposit online, by phone, in cash at a CashPayToday retail location, or by mailed money order. Fees vary by amount and method and are shown before you confirm. You need the inmate's full name and AIS number.
See the full breakdownICSolutions handles phone calls and tablets for Donaldson, linked directly from the facility's official ADOC page. Specific per-minute rates were not confirmed in this research. Check icsonline.icsolutions.com or call the facility for current pricing and account setup.
See the full breakdownEffective November 10, 2025, ADOC moved to digital-only personal mail statewide. Letters, photos, drawings, and cards go to ALDOC Inmate Mail Processing, PO Box 17339, San Antonio, TX 78217, where they're scanned to the inmate's tablet. Packages and legal mail still go to Donaldson's own address at 100 Warrior Lane, Bessemer, AL 35023-7299.
See the full breakdown6 of 10 questions
Use the ADOC inmate locator at doc.alabama.gov/inmatesearch.aspx. Search by AIS number for an exact match, or by first and last name. The tool only shows people currently in ADOC custody and excludes inmates sentenced under the Youthful Offender Act.
Inmate SearchADOC does not publish specific visiting days or hours for Donaldson on its website. The facility's own page tells families to contact the facility directly for visitation information. Call (205) 436-3681 before you plan a trip.
VisitationUse Access Corrections, ADOC's statewide deposit vendor. Deposit online at accesscorrections.com, by phone at (866) 345-1884, in cash at a CashPayToday location, or mail a money order with a deposit coupon to Secure Deposits, Alabama DOC, PO Box 12486, St. Louis, MO 63132.
Send MoneyADOC publishes a statewide Public Male Inmate Handbook, revised March 2026, which applies to Donaldson as an all-male facility. No handbook or visitor-application form specific to Donaldson alone was found. Families should call (205) 436-3681 to ask about the current visitor approval process.
GeneralADOC's facility directory classifies Donaldson as Maximum security. The facility's own descriptive page separately calls it a close custody facility. ADOC's own sources use these two terms slightly differently without further explanation, so both are listed here instead of picking one.
GeneralDonaldson specializes in housing repeat and multiple violent offenders with lengthy sentences who are difficult to manage behaviorally, including several hundred inmates sentenced to life without parole. It also operates the largest segregation unit in the State of Alabama, with a stated capacity of 300 inmates.
GeneralYes. ADOC's facility page states Donaldson has a death row unit with a stated capacity of 24, housing people from the Birmingham judicial area who are under a sentence of death. This is basic facility information published by ADOC.
GeneralDonaldson offers vocational, educational, and rehabilitative program services to eligible inmates. Ingram State Technical College runs Carpentry, Electrical, Barbering, and HVAC vocational programs at the facility.
GeneralDonaldson is an Alabama Department of Corrections prison at 100 Warrior Lane in Bessemer, AL, in Jefferson County. It opened in October 1982 as the West Jefferson Correctional Facility and was later renamed and expanded. It houses men only.
GeneralDonaldson has a bed occupancy of 1,429, according to ADOC's facility directory.
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All information on this page comes directly from official government and facility sources. How we verify information › Last verified July 21, 2026.