Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility

Mat-Su Pretrial is committed to protecting the community by incarcerating and supervising male and female, sentenced and un-sentenced, adult felons and misdemeanants while awaiting trial or transfer to a sentenced correctional institution.

This minimum to maximum security/custody institution is the sole remand facility for the entire Mat-Su Borough - along with additional outlying areas - and provides a variety of educational, life skills, and rehabilitative programs.

Prison Insights

Visiting Hours and Rules

Prisoner visiting is encouraged because family and community ties increase the likelihood of success after release. Limitations, exclusions, or denial of visits will occur as necessary to protect persons and to maintain order and security.

Possessing, passing and or receiving of contraband within a Correctional Facility is a felony offense. Visitors and prisoners who introduce or receive contraband will be referred to Law Enforcement for possible charges.

Visiting Hours are 7 days a week, including holidays:

• 9:00 AM
• 10:00 AM
• 1:00 PM
• 2:00 PM
• 3:00 PM
• 7:00 PM
• 8:00 PM
• 9:00 PM

All visits are secured (non-contact) and 1 hour in length.

• Visitors should arrive for sign up at least 20 minutes prior to the scheduled time they wish to visit, in order to start all visits on schedule.
• Visiting is on a first come, first served basis. Time slots cannot be reserved prior to your arrival at the institution. Visiting rooms are limited in number.
• Visits will be limited to one per inmate per day.
• There is a maximum of 3 (including children) at any one time due to space limitations.
• All visitors MUST present a valid picture ID in order to visit.
• Persons wishing to visit must be at least 18 year of age. Minors under the age of 18 who are immediate family must be accompanied by an adult who is either an immediate family member or is approved by the Superintendent. A minor visitor who is not a family member of the prisoner must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. A birth certificate or guardianship paperwork must be verified at visitation check-in.
• Visitors who are on probation or parole will NOT be allowed to visit without WRITTEN permission from their Probation/Parole Officer AND the facility Superintendent.
• Cellular phones are not allowed into any visiting room.
• Visitors may not possess or use a camera, tape recorder, or other sound or visual recorder without the prior approval of the Superintendent.
• Visitors are subject to search by use of a metal or scan detector prior to entry into the visiting area.

Dress Code

Visitation may be denied for security reasons if visitors dress inappropriately or their clothing (or lack of clothing) violates the following criteria:

• A shirt and trousers for men;
• A shirt and skirt, shirt and slacks, or dress for women;
• Visitors may not wear: cutoffs, shorts, beach-type clothing, and provocative or revealing clothing such as mini-skirts, low-cut blouses, tube tops, low-cut pants, see-through blouses, or hats.

Prisoners may correspond with anyone unless it jeopardizes the safety of a person, a prisoner’s rehabilitation, or the security of the institution. So, prisoners may not correspond with their victims, persons they are court ordered not to contact, and people under the age of 16 to whom they are not related.

Prisoners may receive through the mail:

• Correspondence
• Photos
• Money orders, cashier’s checks, and certified checks for $500 or less

Only approved visitors may send funds to be deposited on a prisoners account. Cash may only be accepted from approved visitors in person, not through the mail.

If family and friends send in items other than those listed above, the prisoner is required to return to sender or forward the mail to another address, at their own expense. If the prisoner does not have enough money to accomplish this, then the items will be destroyed within 30 days.

Prohibited mail is any mail that:

• Contains plans or threats of physical harm or other criminal activity;
• Contains contraband, plans for sending contraband into or out of the institution;
• Is written in a code that the reader cannot understand;
• Shows frontal nudity. Frontal nudity includes either the exposed female breast(s) and/or the genitalia of either gender;
• Solicits gifts, money, credit, or contractual purchases without the approval of the Superintendent or designee;
• Contains information that, if communicated, would create a risk of mental or physical harm to a person;
• Contains material that could reasonably be expected to aid an escape, or incite or encourage any form of violence;
• Contains audio or video tapes;
• Is in violation of a court order; or
• Has been banned for good reason following an individualized determination by the Department, (e.g., the intended recipient is a victim who has requested no contact with the prisoner or is a minor whose guardian has requested no contact with the prisoner).

How to Call an Inmate

Calling an inmate directly isn’t possible because they are not allowed to have cellphones and they can't receive inbound calls to the facility.

Inmates can make outbound calls during approved hours, and they must call collect or pay for the call with the money that is on their personal account.

Phone calls are limited to 15 minutes, and may be monitored and recorded. For complete details on how to call an inmate in Alaska, please click here.

How to Send Money

You can easily send money to an inmate at Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility by mailing a Money Order, Cashier’s Check, or Certified Check payable to the inmate. Simply mail the money order or check directly to the inmate using the proper inmate mailing address, and remember to include the inmate’s name and ID number.

An inmate can receive a maximum of $500 each month.

Inmates are allowed to spend money on phone calls and commissary.  The commissary (or canteen) is the prison store, where inmates can buy a variety of items like food and beverages, OTC medications, stationary, stamps, hygiene items, clothing, and electronics.

​Programs For ​Inmates

Mat-Su Pretrial offers educational programming to include adult basic education, GED, and life skills in order for individuals to improve interpersonal and academic skills, to successfully function within the institution, and to enhance community integration and economic self-sufficiency.

Classes and programs are presented in lengths ranging from seminars of 1 1/2 to 3 hrs, 1 to 3 days in length, to longer meetings of 1 1/2 hours for 15 sessions over 5 - 6 weeks. Class offerings are posted weekly in inmate dorms and inmates are then given the opportunity to request participation in those classes. The library is also available to them daily for study, reading and educational videos.

Classes are taught by the education coordinator and outside and inside volunteers and contractors. GED testing is also available to inmates. The education coordinator is the Chief Examiner for Mat-Su Pretrial.

• Adult Basic Education (ABE)

Includes basic academic instruction in reading, writing, and computational skills below the ninth-grade level.

• GED

Secondary education in the form of instruction leading to a General Equivalency Diploma (GED).

• Parenting

Inside Out Dad is an evidence-based program for incarcerated fathers. Programs include Family Ties, Topics for non-custodial fathers, the Power of Spirituality in Fatherhood, Talking with Mom, and Mom as Gateway. Also offered is Parenting with Dignity from the Drew Bledsoe Foundation.

• Choosing Change I

Cognitive self-change, instruction on basic cognitive tools to be used for self-change. Offered once per week for those who have completed the CAP program.

• Choosing Change II

Continued work with cognitive self-change, expanded instruction on thinking errors, tactics to avoid change, barriers to change and practice using tools.

• Career Advantage

26 half-hour sessions focusing on three phases of career development: Self-knowledge and Exploration, Career and Educational Exploration, and Career Planning and Implementation.

• Criminal Attitudes Program (CAP)

This comprehensive cognitive-behavioral program, developed by David J. Simourd, Phd. focuses specifically on the attitudes, values, beliefs, and rationalizations that lead to criminal activity.

• Alaska Food Workers Card

A DVD series, training and manual test, that trains students in sanitary food preparation practices.

• Anger Management

The purpose of this course is to understand anger and recognize early warning signs of anger before it is out of control. This course provides intervention strategies that have been proven to be effective in the management of anger.

• CPR/First Aid Certification

CPR with Automated Electronic Defibrillator (AED) and basic first aid.

• Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experiences, strengths, and hope with each other so that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.

The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for AA membership; it is self supporting through its own contributions. AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization, or institution. It does not wish to engage in any controversy; it neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Its primary purpose is for its members to stay sober and to help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.

• Narcotics Anonymous

Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is a twelve-step program of recovery from drug addiction, modeled on Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). It describes itself as a nonprofit "fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem." The program is group-oriented, and is based on the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions, adapted from AA.

• Chaplaincy Core Programs

Worship services; Bible/religious studies; Devotional study/prayer times; Special music, drama, religious events; one-to-one mentoring; Pastoral care and counseling; Crisis intervention; Death notifications (to prisoners and their families); Hospital/medical visitation; Segregation visitation; Management of religious diversity issues; Management of volunteer screening, training, supervision; Religious literature distribution; and Critical Incident Stress Management.

Pictures of Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility

Careers at Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility

If you are interested in pursuing a career with the Alaska Department of Corrections, you can find available positions at Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility by visiting their website. Correction Officers in Alaska start at $21.34 per hour.

Benefits include health insurance, plus paid leave and holidays.