Address:
1580 Highway 55
Hastings, MN 55033
Phone:
651-438-4700
NOTE: Dakota County Jail may only allow online deposits for local commissary purchasing.
For best results use google chrome as your browser for accessing Inmate Canteen.
Instructions on purchasing commissary items for an inmate:
Whatever cash the inmate has on their person when booked into the facility will automatically deposited and credited to their commissary account. When released any money left in the account will be returned to them in the form of a check from the Sheriff's Department or the Dakota County Jail Trust Account. There may be circumstances where the inmate can give permission to have his money released to a family member or friend.
Option 1 - Dropping Commissary Money at the Jail
Bring money to the jail in person.
You will use a self-serve kiosk in the lobbies that accepts cash, debit or credit cards.
Option 2 - Mail the Inmate Commissary Deposit to the Jail
Mailing a deposit takes more time to process than the other methods but can be done if you live too far away to bring it in person.
Never send cash. Always send a Money Order from the US Post Office.
Make the Money Order out to the inmate and put their Inmate ID# in memo section of the Money Order.
Mail to:
(Inmate Name)
Dakota County Law Enforcement Center
P.O. Box 247J
Hastings, MN 55033
Failure to do this properly will delay your inmate getting his commissary account credited and may require you to have to resubmit a second money order.
Call 651-438-4700 to ask any questions about this.
Commissary, also known as Canteen, is the ‘store’ within a jail or prison where inmates can purchase items that they want or need to make their stay in jail or prison less of a burden.
Snacks and comfort foods, branded hygiene products they are used to, sneakers and t-shirts, prayer blankets, radios, headphones, television sets, tablets, stationary products and art supplies; depending on the facility, there are thousands of products to choose from.
Some jail and prison systems run their own commissary store, others contract out to companies that serve dozens or hundreds of jails, where inmates and/or their friends and families can purchase products through a website from home, or a kiosk or tablet within their facility.
Food
• Cookies
• Pastries
• Candy
• Tuna and mackerel
• Coffee and Tea
• Soft drinks
• Energy drinks
• Pizza
• Hamburgers
• Chicken fingers
• Spices
Hygiene
• Shampoo
• Soap
• Shaving supplies
• Lotions
• Deodorant
• Oral care
• Toilet paper
• Nail care
Clothing
• Sweats
• Sneakers
• Shorts
• Underwear and bras
• Socks
• Jackets
• Hats
Electronics
• Televisions
• Radios
• Headphones
• Tablets
• Watches
Miscellaneous
• Playing cards
• Games
• Bibles
• Books
• Art supplies
• Stationery supplies
• Vaping products (only some states)
• Greeting cards
Generally, the maximum spend in jail is about $300 per month. Prisons allow a bit more as it is more of a permanent home, whereby jail is temporary. To find out how much an inmate in the Dakota County Jail can spend each month, call 651-438-4700.
Some jails it's twice a week, others once a week or every other week. A lot of the online stores care pack companies are once a month. To find out the exact schedule for Dakota County Jail, call 651-438-4700.
Dakota County Jail has its own methods for receiving money for inmates, and that information can be found above or by calling 651-438-4700 and asking, however all jails and prisons all receive money for an inmate’s trust and commissary account, as well as an account used for communications, pretty much the same way.
1. Mailing an inmate a money order or cashier’s check from a trusted source such as the Post Office, a local bank, or Western Union. The Money order should be be made out to either the inmate or the facility, with the inmate’s name and ID# on the memo line of the check.
When mailing a money order or cashier’s check, send it an envelope by itself. Never send it with a letter or photos for your inmate.
Never send personal checks or cash either.
2. Deposit cash or use a debit or credit card to send an inmate money using an ATM machine that is usually located in the lobby or visitation area of the facility.
3. Some jails have a reception desk or booth that is open during certain hours that they will list on their website. They will accept cash, money orders or cashier checks. Other facilities that don’t have a human manning the desk will have mail drop where you can leave a money order or check. No cash can be left in these boxes.
4. There are multiple companies that jails and prisons contract with which accept inmate deposits online, by mail or over the phone, or even in ATM machines you can find in check cashing stores and retail outlets across the country.
If one of these companies (listed in the next question) works with Dakota County Jail, this information will be outlined above.
There are many companies competing for the accounts of jail and prison inmates. Their intention is to alleviate the staffing and financial responsibility of handling inmate’s accounts. They usually charge a fee equal to 3-5% of the total deposit.
The companies, in alphabetical order, are:
Access Corrections
AllPaid (aka GovPayNet)
Care A Cell
Cash Bond Online
CIDNET
City Tele Coin
CommissaryDeposit.com
Correct Solutions Group
Correctpay
Ctel
Edevo
Express Account
gettingout
GTL
Inmate Canteen
InmateSales
JailATM
Jail Pack Store (McDaniel Supply)
Jailpayments.com
Jpay
NCIC
JailCanteen (Oasis)
Paytel
Pigeonly
Prodigy Sales
Reliance
Securus
Smart Communications
Tennessee Business Enterprise
Tiger
Touchpay
To send an inmate money by mail you first have to have the money converted to a money order, preferably from the US Post Office, or a Cashier’s Check. Never send cash, and never send a personal check.
To find the address for sending money to an inmate, call the jail at 651-438-4700.
Almost every facility contracts with a company that helps friends and families of inmates send them money. The list can be found above.
To find out who Dakota County Jail contracts with for inmate deposits, call them at 651-438-4700.
Items on commissary are no more expensive than they would be at a local Walmart store.
A commissary deposit is the money that a person on the outside deposits in an inmate’s trust account, so they can have money to spend on commissary and communication services.
The limit that an inmate can have in their commissary account is usually about $300.00. To find out what the limit is for Dakota County Jail, call 651-438-4700.
Many jails contract with companies that send food, hygiene products and/or clothing to inmates. These can be purchased and sent by friends and family on a weekly or monthly basis.
You can only send items from the one that your jail has a contract with.
An inmate carepack is a pack of snacks and/or hygiene products that friends or family members of an inmate can purchase online and have shipped to an inmate. The carepack company needs to have a contract with the facility before it can be shipped to the inmate.
Check this page, the Money Page or the Commissary Page for further information, or call the jail at 651-438-4700 to see which one that the Dakota County Jail works with.
Here are the commissary package companies, in alphabetical order, that provide this service to jails in the United States:
Access Securepak
Care A Cell
Commissary order
Correct Pay
Express Account
icare
Inmate Canteen
Jail ATM
Jail Pack Store (McDaniel Supply)
My Care Pack
Oasis (jailcanteen)
Prodigy Solutions
Tiger
Union Supply Direct
Not really. Other than the basic supplies mentioned above there are no gifts other than greeting cards that they can fill out and mail to a friend, family or loved one.
Postcards
The Dakota County Jail allows inmates to receive pre-metered postcards like the type purchased from the post office. They may also allow certain photo postcards as long as they have not been tampered with or contain images that may be considered to be obscene or violent in nature.
Envelopes
The Dakota County Jail also allows envelopes to be mailed to inmates.
Postcards and envelopes MUST be mailed to the following address:
(Inmate Name)
Dakota County Law Enforcement Center
P.O. Box 247J
Hastings, MN 55033
Legal Mail
Send all legal Mail to this Address:
(Inmate Name)
Dakota County Law Enforcement Center
P.O. Box 247J
Hastings, MN 55033
Newspapers
Local or national newspapers may also be mailed to the inmate as long as they are mailed directly from the newspaper publisher.
Magazines
News, special interest or sports magazines may also be mailed to an inmate as long as they are shipped directly from the publisher. Any magazines that contain profanity, weapons, pornography or other content that is adult in nature will be confiscated by the jail staff and will NOT be delivered to the inmate.
Books
The Dakota County Jail allows books to be mailed directly to the jail from a reputable source such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million. You can order them directly from your computer and have them shipped to the inmate at the address below.
Books must NOT contain images or content that are considered excessively violent, pornographic or obscene. Any book that does not meet the Dakota County Jail standards will be disposed of. No more than three books may be shipped at any one time.
Hard cover books will not be accepted by the jail due to their potential to be used as a weapon.
All newspapers, magazines and books are to be shipped to:
(Inmate Name)
Dakota County Law Enforcement Center
P.O. Box 247J
Hastings, MN 55033
To set up a phone account so that your inmate can call you from Dakota County do the following:
1. Enroll in an account with Securus Technologies.
2. Choose one of three account types, Securus Debit, Advance Connect or Direct Bill.
3. Choose [facility_name_1}, then connect with your inmate.
4. If you have any questions, call Securus: 972-734-1111 or 800-844-6591.
To find out fees, how to's, calling times, limits on phone calls and other systems Securus has do that you can communicate with your Dakota County inmate, check out our Inmate Phone Page.
NOTE: All of your inmate's phone calls are recorded and stored. It is advised not to discuss their pending case.
To register and sign up for a remote visitation account with Inmate Canteen to communicate with your Dakota County Jail inmate, follow the instructions below:
For all the information you need to know, including instructions, policies, tips and solutions to possible issues regarding visiting with an inmate (both at the facility and remotely) in Dakota County, visit our full page guide.
NOTE: All video visits are recorded and stored. Whatever you talk about, can and will be used against your inmate in court. Never discuss their pending criminal case!
Also, be warned that some video visits providers are collecting voice prints for a database which law enforcement agencies are building.
To register and sign up for a remote visitation account with Inmate Canteen to communicate with your Dakota County Jail inmate, follow the instructions below:
Instructions for Inmate Video Visitation:
- Register or Log in to your account
- Select Dakota County Jail and the inmate you wish to visit.
- Select the "Video Visit an Inmate" option
- Follow the prompts on screen to schedule the visit.
For all the information you need to know, including instructions, policies, tips and solutions to possible issues regarding visiting with an inmate (both at the jail and remotely) in Dakota County, visit our full page guide.
NOTE: All video visits are recorded and stored. Whatever you talk about, can and will be used against your inmate in court. Never discuss their pending criminal case!
Also, be warned that some video visits providers are collecting voice prints for a database which law enforcement agencies are building.
To send a secure email message to an inmate in Dakota County Jail follow these steps:
For all information on how to Text/Email an Inmate in Dakota County Jail, the costs, rules, policies and more check out our Secure Messaging Guide for Dakota County.
To send a commissary carepack (food, snacks and goods) directly to an inmate in Dakota County Jail follow these steps:
For all information, tips and to see the hundreds of available items for shipping Commissary packages to an inmate in Dakota County Jail, or to see how deposit money so that your inmate can purchase their own commissary, check out our Commissary Instructions Page for Dakota County.
For all information, tips and to see the hundreds of available items for shipping Commissary packages to an inmate in Dakota County Jail, or to see how deposit money so that your inmate can purchase their own commissary, check out our Commissary Instructions Page for Dakota County.
