Iowa State Penitentiary

Visiting Hours at Iowa State Penitentiary are on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. If a state holiday falls on a non-visiting day, there will be visiting hours on the holiday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. You must arrive by 3:30 to visit with your inmate.

Visit Procedures

Before you can visit an inmate at Iowa State Penitentiary, you must get on their approved visiting list. In order to be on an offender’s visiting list, the visitor’s application must be completed and mailed to the Central Visiting Authority.  If you have questions, please call Centralized Visiting at 319-385-9511. You can access the IDOC Visitation Application by clicking here. 

All visitors are required to have current photo identification to get into the facility, and everyone is subject to search. 

Searches may include, but are not limited to: a pat down, metal detectors, electronic ion scanners, other electronic devices, or visual searches. They will deny your visit if you are not willing to submit to a required search. 

Visitors may use a Debitek Card to purchase canteen items for their inmate during visits. The Iowa State Penitentiary has the written guidelines posted in the visiting room.

Dress Code

Visitors must follow the dress code to enter the visiting room. The dress code at Iowa State Penitentiary is as follows:

• All visitors must wear shoes
• Visitors wearing miniskirts, shorts (that are above the knee), muscle shirts, see-through clothing or halter tops will not be allowed
• Institutional procedure will address the wearing of shorts by children under 12 
• Visitors wearing clothing with slogans, pictures, or words intended to deprecate race, sex, or cultural values shall not be allowed entry
• Visitors may be required to remove for the duration of the visit outerwear such as, but not limited to, coats, hats, gloves, or sunglasses 
• A medical need for sunglasses must be verified by a prescription

Visitor Property

Items not allowed in the visiting room include:  

• Weapons of any type (including pocket knives) 
• Cell phones 
• Any personal device with independent Internet connection capabilities (i.e., Kindle, Nook, Iphone, smart phone, smart watch with SIM card, etc.) 
• Medications (unless necessary, i.e. nitro, etc.) 
• Tools 
• Cameras 
• Tobacco/tobacco items (lighters) 

Baby items allowed for visitors with infants:

• Two diapers
• Clear baby bottle (non-glass) with milk or formula only 
• Clear sippy cup (empty) 
• One baby blanket 
• One burp cloth 
• One factory-sealed, clear, plastic container baby food 

You can’t call an inmate at the Iowa State Penitentiary, but they do have access to a phone during assigned times, and they can call you. For complete details on how to call an inmate in Iowa, please click here.

Inmate Banking

The Iowa Department of Corrections has centralized offender banking operations. All incoming money for offender spending/commissary accounts is received and handled by a central location.

All incoming money for an inmate’s account must be sent to the following address:

IDOC Offender Fiduciary Account
1550 L Street, Suite B
Fort Dodge, IA 50501

All deposits must be in the form of a cashier’s check or money order. All cashier’s checks and money orders must be made payable to: IDOC Offender Fiduciary Account. 

The cashier’s check or money order must include the following: offender name, offender number, sender’s name, and sender’s complete address. All writing should be legible. If the deposit does not follow these guidelines, it will be returned to the sender by mail. 

Access Corrections

Access Corrections deposit services provides friends and family an easy, reliable and inexpensive way to send money to an incarcerated loved one in the Iowa Department of Corrections system.

• Online: visit www.accesscorrections.com for deposit rates starting at $3.49. Access Corrections accepts Visa and MasterCard credit or debit cards.
• Online: Make deposits directly from your CorrLinks account, the website used to send O-Mail messages (www.Corrlinks.com) and get the same low rates starting at $3.49. Just click on the “Send Money” button to get started.
• Toll Free Telephone Number: Call 1(866)345-1884 to make a credit or debit card payment over the phone for as low as $4.49.
• Walk-In:
• CashPayToday for a flat fee of $6.95.
  
  • Visit www.cashpaytoday.com or call 1(844)344-CASH (2274) to register and find a location near you. You will need to provide the following information: Inmate ID #, your name, address, and other important information.
  • Dollar General, Family Dollar, and Kum & Go stores are part of the CashPayToday program.
  • ACE Cash Express* (www.acecashexpress.com) location for a flat fee of $5.95 

JPay

JPay services are available for anyone wishing to send money to an offender in the Iowa Department of Corrections system.

• Online: The website www.JPay.com will accept payments made with a Visa or MasterCard-branded debit or credit card. Fees range from $3.95 to $10.95 based upon the deposit amount.
• Telephone: Credit or debit card payments can also be made over the phone at (1-800-574-5729). Fees range from $4.95 to $11.95 based upon the deposit amount.
• WalkーIn Location: Cash payments can be made at any MoneyGram Agent location. There are 30,000 MoneyGram location in the United State, including Wal-Mart, CVS, 7-11, and Albertsons. A fee of $8.95 will apply for each transaction. 

WESTERN UNION

The Iowa Department of Corrections accepts wire transfers from Western Union for Offender Accounts. This does NOT include telephone accounts. Money may be sent in any of the following three ways:

• Via the internet at www.westernunion.com/corrections
• By phone at 1-800-634-3422
• By walk-in cash payments at any Western Union site

The process used is “Quick Collect.” Senders must use the “Pay to” as the Iowa Dept of   Corrections. The “Code City” is IOWADOC and the “State” is IA. The “Sender’s account #” is the offender ID number and offenders last name. For example, 1234567Jones. 

If the offender number and last name do not match, the IDOC records the payment will be rejected. Fees for this service vary by amount sent.