Sending Money to Bedford Hills Correctional Facility

The Slip That Ties Money to a Person

Before anything else, get a JPay deposit slip. DOCCS publishes them in English and Spanish.

A money order arriving on its own is a payment with nothing attached to say whose it is. The slip is what connects it to a DIN, and the DIN is what connects it to a person. A name alone will not do it, since two people can share one.

So: get the DIN from the lookup, get the slip, then send the money.

Your Options, and What They Cost

Route	Where	Cost	Limit
Money order or cheque by post	JPay lockbox, PO Box 531190, Miami, FL 33153	Free	$999.99 per transaction
Lobby lockbox	Visitor deposit lockbox, inside the prison	Free	$50 cash per person per day
Online	JPay, through the DOCCS account deposits page	Fee applies	$999.99 per transaction
Phone	JPay, 1-800-574-5729	Fee applies	$999.99 per transaction

The free routes are slower, the paid routes post faster, and that is the whole decision.

Cash in the Lobby

At most New York prisons the lobby lockbox is an afterthought, because visiting happens once or twice a week and the journey is long.

Bedford Hills is different. Visiting runs every day including holidays, and there is a Metro-North station in the village on the Harlem line out of Grand Central. So the free route that requires being there in person is actually within reach.

The lockbox takes cash up to $50 per person per day, and money orders and cheques as well, with no fee. Note that DOCCS forwards what goes in it to JPay rather than processing it at the prison, so the timing follows the same path as everything else.

The One Route That Does Not Work

Do not put money in a letter.

Incoming mail is opened and inspected specifically for cash, cheques and money orders. Enclosing money does not get it there faster. It gets it intercepted, and it holds up the letter as well.

Letters go to 247 Harris Road. Money goes to a lockbox in Miami, or to the lobby. Two systems, two addresses, and no overlap.

What a Balance Covers

The account pays for commissary, which is food, coffee, hygiene items, stationery, stamps and over-the-counter basics.

It also covers secure messaging stamps through the JPay kiosk service, which is how electronic messages get paid for.

It no longer needs to cover phone calls. New York made those free to families in August 2025, so nobody has to keep a balance topped up just to hear from someone.

Vendor Packages Are Separate

A different system and a different budget.

Packages come directly from an approved vendor, shipped by USPS, FedEx or UPS. Families cannot post or carry one in. The allowance is two non-food packages a year and three food packages a month up to a combined 40 pounds, with the detail in Directive #4911.

If She Transfers

New York moves people between prisons, and a transfer changes none of this. JPay holds the account against the DIN and not against the building, so the money follows her.

What does change is the address for letters. Check the lookup before you post anything to Harris Road.

More Than a Balance

Money keeps the commissary stocked. It does not do the other thing. Pigeonly sends letters and photos to 247 Harris Road from your phone, which is the part of staying in touch that a deposit cannot cover.