Sending Money to Albion Correctional Facility

The DIN Comes Before the Money

Every deposit is matched to a Department Identification Number, never to a name and never to a facility.

Two people can share a name. Nobody shares a DIN. Run the lookup, write the number down, then send.

At Albion that ordering has a bonus. The village holds two prisons and the addresses differ by four ZIP digits, and none of it matters to a deposit, because the money never comes to Orleans County.

Every Way In

Route	Where	Cost	Limit
Money order or check by post	JPay, PO Box 531190, Miami, FL 33153	Free	$999.99 per money order or check
Visitor lockbox	Inside Albion, on a visit day	Free	$50 cash a day in total, plus money orders and checks
Online	JPay website, with a credit or debit card	$1.75 to $4.75	$2 to $300
JPay mobile app	App Store or Google Play	$1.75 to $4.75	$2 to $300
Phone	JPay, 1-800-574-5729, with a credit card	$1.75 to $4.75	$2 to $300
MoneyGram	Any MoneyGram location, cash, Receive Code 1317	$4	Set by MoneyGram

Free is slower, paid is faster, and that is the whole decision. Commissary is bought on a schedule, so the post usually works.

The Deposit Slip

DOCCS publishes a JPay deposit slip in English and Spanish, and it goes in the envelope with the money order.

Without it, a payment arrives with nothing attached to say whose it is. The slip carries the DIN and the DIN is what the deposit is matched against. It costs nothing to include.

The Lockbox, and the Weekend Limit

Albion has a visitor deposit lockbox taking cash up to $50 a day in total, along with money orders and checks, with no fee.

Two things shape how useful that is here. Albion is on the free visitor bus route, so families without a car can still reach the lockbox. But visits run only at weekends and on weekday holidays, with one visit per scheduled day, so the lockbox is only open to you on those days.

That $50 is the total for the day, however many of you visit. Anything more goes by post.

The lockbox is not processed at the prison. DOCCS forwards what goes in it to JPay, so it takes the same path and timing as a posted money order.

Not in the Envelope

Money does not go in a letter to State School Road.

Incoming mail is opened and inspected specifically for cash, checks and money orders. Enclosing money does not speed anything up. It gets the money intercepted and delays the letter.

The letter goes to Albion. The money goes to Miami.

What the Balance Buys

The account covers commissary: food, coffee, hygiene items, stationery, stamps and over-the-counter basics.

It also covers secure messaging stamps through JPay’s kiosk service at the terminals and tablets.

What it no longer covers is the telephone. New York made calls from state prisons free to families on 1 August 2025, so an empty balance does not mean silence.

Packages Are a Separate Budget

Packages come directly from an approved vendor and ship by USPS, FedEx or UPS, and families cannot post or carry one in.

The allowance is two non-food packages a year and three food packages a month, capped at a combined 40 pounds. Funding commissary does not use up a package allowance, and ordering a package does not draw on the balance.

Transfers Do Not Break It

New York moves people between prisons and the account follows, because JPay holds it against the DIN and not the building.

The letter address does change, and at Albion that matters more than most because the address has no box number to fall back on. Check the lookup before you post.

Step by Step: Sending Money to Albion

Here is the free route laid out like a recipe: what to gather, then what to do.

Your list

• Her DIN from the state inmate lookup, and her full name with the last name first
• Albion Correctional Facility, written out in full
• The JPay Money Order/Check Deposit Slip from NYSDOCCS, printed. It comes in English and Spanish.
• One money order or check, up to $999.99, payable to JPay. JPay advises a U.S. Postal money order.
• Your name and address for the slip
• A stamped envelope

How to do it

1. Start with the lookup. Copy her DIN and her name exactly as they appear.
2. Complete the bottom of the slip in blue or black ink: amount, DIN, her name (last, first), NY as the state, and your details.
3. In the facility box, write Albion Correctional Facility. Orleans Correctional Facility is two miles away in the same village, so do not shorten it.
4. Make the payment out to JPay. Her name and DIN can go on the memo line as well.
5. Put in the money order and slip only. Letters and notes sent with money are thrown out.
6. Mail the envelope to JPay, PO Box 531190, Miami, FL 33153.

Cost: free. Timing: up to 10 business days once JPay has it, and a personal check is held 10 days before it is deposited.

Paid options that move faster

• JPay online or the JPay app, paying by credit or debit card: fees from $1.75 to $4.75, for $2 up to $300.
• JPay by phone at 1-800-574-5729, paying by credit card: the same fees.
• MoneyGram, paying cash: Receive Code 1317, with a $4 fee.

At the prison on a visit day

1. Complete a deposit envelope (form 2703P) for the visitor registration officer, with her name and DIN.
2. Put the money inside. Cash is limited to $50 a day in total, however many visitors come with you. A money order or check also needs the JPay slip.
3. The registration officer checks the envelope and locks it in the deposit box in front of you. No fee.

One more thing: any unpaid court surcharges or fees come out of incoming money first. Staff do not give balances by phone, so ask her.

What Money Cannot Say

A funded account buys coffee and shampoo. It does not tell her anything.

Pigeonly sends letters and photos to Albion from your phone with State School Road, the ZIP+4 and the DIN already in place, which is the part of keeping in touch a deposit was never going to cover.