Colorado DOC Inmate Guide: Visits, Mail, Money & CorrectPay
The Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) operates the state's prisons and supervises people on parole across Colorado. For families, 2026 has brought two significant changes worth understanding up front: a full transition of inmate deposits to CorrectPay and a temporary suspension of in-person visits. Layered on top of Colorado's longstanding rule that a share of every deposit is withheld for restitution and other obligations, that means the practical experience of supporting someone in CDOC custody today looks different than it did even a year ago. This guide brings the essentials together so you can stay connected without learning every rule the hard way.
About the Colorado prison system
Colorado operates state prisons across the state at every custody level, from minimum-security work camps to maximum-security institutions, along with community-corrections facilities. The headquarters in the Colorado Springs area is an administrative office where policy questions go, while mail and money are handled through the department's central systems and the specific facility. Every incarcerated person is assigned a DOC number that identifies them throughout the system and is required for mail and deposits, so noting it early saves time on every later step.
Because people are moved between facilities as their classification changes, confirming exactly where your person is held before acting is the habit that saves the most frustration. If you are not sure which facility holds them, our guide on how to find someone in jail or prison explains how to trace an incarcerated person through official records, and you can search their name directly on AllRecentArrests.us to see their facility and status. Treat the DOC number rather than the current address as the constant you build everything around, particularly during the current period when visiting is suspended.
Visitation status and process
Visitation is the most notable current change for Colorado families: due to evolving operational needs, in-person visitation at all CDOC facilities was temporarily suspended effective June 7, 2026, and the department has been publishing updates as conditions change. That means for the time being, phone calls and mail are the primary ways to reach an incarcerated person in Colorado, and setting those channels up well is more important than ever. Check the CDOC website for current visitation status, and confirm with the specific facility before making plans.
When visits resume, the standard Colorado process involves getting on the incarcerated person's approved visiting list and following the facility's scheduling procedures. Our complete prison visitation guide covers approval, dress codes, and what to expect at the checkpoint, and if a facility offers video visitation as an alternative during or after the suspension, our walkthrough on setting up a video visit with an inmate explains how to register and connect. Because policies can change, always confirm current rules before you rely on any particular arrangement.
Sending money through CorrectPay
Colorado completed a full transition of its inmate deposit services on May 10, 2026: JPay, Western Union, and GTL/ConnectNetwork are no longer supported, and CorrectPay is now the exclusive provider. You deposit online with a credit or debit card at correctpay.com or through the CorrectPay mobile app available on Apple and Google Play, and live agents are available 24/7 at 855-836-3364 for card deposits. Money sent before 4:00 p.m. Mountain Time is generally available to the inmate the following day, which makes the cutoff worth knowing when a deposit is urgent.
The one detail every Colorado family should plan around is that CDOC is statutorily required to withhold a minimum of 20 percent of any deposit for court-ordered fines, fees, restitution, or child support. That means if you send $100, only $80 reaches your loved one's spendable account, so budget your deposits accordingly — and if restitution is a factor in the case, more of each deposit may go toward that obligation. Our overview of how to send money to an inmate compares deposit systems generally, and understanding Colorado's withholding rule is the single most important thing to know when planning how much to send.
Mail, care packages, and phone calls
Colorado inmates receive letters subject to inspection for contraband, and the address for personal mail is the specific facility holding your loved one along with the inmate's full committed name and DOC number. Keep letters plain, avoid anything that could be treated as contraband, and include a return address. Our breakdown of how to send mail to an inmate covers the general address format and common rejection triggers. Legal or privileged mail from an attorney or a court is handled separately and more protectively, so mark it clearly and keep it distinct from personal correspondence.
You cannot mail packages directly to a Colorado inmate; the accepted substitute is to fund the CorrectPay account so the person can buy from canteen. Our explainer on how prison commissary works shows what a funded account buys inside. Phone service lets the incarcerated person place calls to numbers on their approved list, so the practical first step is to set up and fund a prepaid account tied to your number; under the 2026 FCC rate caps, per-minute rates have dropped sharply, and our guide to calling an inmate explains account setup and cost control. During the current visitation suspension, phone contact is especially important, so getting the account set up promptly is worthwhile.
Health, safety, records, and preparing for release
If you are worried about a loved one's medical care, mental health, or safety inside a Colorado facility, contact the institution's staff directly rather than assuming word will reach the right person informally, explain the situation clearly, and keep a written record of who you spoke with and when. Be cautious about paid third-party sites — the CDOC offender search and CorrectPay are the authoritative channels, so paying an unfamiliar site is a common way families lose money for something the state provides directly. Keeping the DOC number, current facility, and every CorrectPay receipt organized carries families through Colorado's system with the least friction, especially during periods when visiting rules are changing.
Whatever the current visitation status, consistency in contact matters most, and steady support is one of the most valuable things a family can offer through a Colorado sentence. As a release date approaches, preparation pays off — lining up identification, housing, and income before the day arrives makes the first weeks home far less chaotic. Our reentry guide for life after prison covers those first steps, and if you are supporting a household through an incarceration, our overview of financial help for families of incarcerated people lists benefits and nonprofits that can ease the strain while your person is away.
Understanding the CorrectPay transition
The 2026 move to CorrectPay as the exclusive deposit provider consolidated what used to be a menu of vendors into a single system, and knowing how that system behaves matters as much as knowing where to send money. Deposits made before the 4:00 p.m. Mountain Time cutoff are generally available the next day, so an urgent transfer for phone time or hygiene should go in before that window closes. Card fees apply per transaction, so combining several small planned deposits into one larger transfer usually saves money over time.
The 20 percent withholding is the other detail that surprises families the most. If restitution is a factor in your loved one's case — and it often is for property or violent offenses — more than 20 percent of every deposit may go toward the obligation, sometimes substantially more. That does not mean deposits are wasted; the money still supports rehabilitation by paying down what the court ordered while leaving your loved one funds for canteen. But it does mean planning your total giving with the withholding in mind is more realistic than assuming every dollar sent lands in the spendable account.
Staying steady during visitation changes
With visits temporarily suspended, the practical playbook shifts to phone calls, letters, and any electronic messaging the facility offers. Setting up your phone account, writing regular letters, and checking the CDOC website weekly for visitation updates keeps you ready to book a visit the moment they resume. Above all, consistency in whatever channels are open matters most for someone inside during a stretch when in-person contact is unavailable.
Above all, keeping the DOC number, current facility, CorrectPay receipts, and any court or restitution details organized carries families through Colorado's system with the least added stress. Steady, informed advocacy through a period of changing rules is one of the most valuable things you can offer someone inside, and it protects both your budget and your loved one's ability to get through each week as the visitation and deposit landscape continues to evolve. When guidance you read online conflicts with what CDOC posts directly, treat the department's own updates as the authoritative source and adjust your routines accordingly.
Who appears in the Colorado DOC locator — and who does not
The Colorado Department of Corrections is the state prison system. It has no involvement in the operation of Colorado county jails, federal prisons, or community corrections facilities — and people held in those places do not appear in its online inmate locator. This is the single most common reason a search here comes back empty: the person is in custody, just not in this agency's custody.
The services provided here are state prisons, parole supervision and re-entry services. That is a clinical remit rather than a custodial one — people are here because of a medical or behavioural health need, not because this is where they are held.
What records still exist for the Colorado Department of Corrections
Closing a prison does not erase its statistical record. The department continues to publish pre-closure reports for this institution, including an Annual Statistical Report, with an archive of past years, inmate population profiles broken down by fiscal year, PREA annual reports and audits covering sexual-safety compliance, a departmental performance plan and other legislative reports required of the department.
These are worth knowing about if you are reconstructing a timeline — confirming when someone was held here, what the conditions and population were at the time, or supporting a claim that depends on how the institution was operating. They are statistical rather than individual, so they will not contain a named person's file; for that you need a records request to the department rather than a published report.
What makes the Colorado Department of Corrections different
the Colorado Department of Corrections does not operate as an ordinary general-population prison. Its designated role is contracted private prison beds, and that changes what you should expect from it.
Colorado contracts beds in privately operated prisons because its inmate population exceeds the bed space available in state-run facilities. That is the reason two of the 21 facilities are private, and it has a practical consequence: placement in one is driven by where a bed exists rather than by anything about the individual, so a transfer can be sudden and can move someone a long way from family.
If your family member is here for a medical or mental-health reason rather than a custody one, ask specifically which unit they are on. That single answer determines their visiting schedule, their phone access, and who you need to speak to about their care.
Who runs the Colorado Department of Corrections
The institution's main line is 719-579-9580. Use it for anything urgent — a medical emergency, a safety concern, confirming whether visiting is running — and ask for the watch commander or the shift supervisor rather than leaving a message with whoever answers.
What this department operates
The department lists 21 adult institutions. This record is the department itself rather than any one prison, so it has no beds, no visiting room and no warden of its own — which is why the practical details you need always belong to a specific institution, not to headquarters.
Of those, 19 are state-run facilities and two are privately operated under contract — which matters if your family member is moved to one, because the company runs daily operations while the department remains responsible for them.
That distinction matters when you are chasing an answer. Department policy sets the framework — visiting eligibility, approved vendors, grievance procedure — but the schedule, the phone number, and the person who can actually help are all at the institution holding your family member. Start by confirming which prison that is, then work with that facility directly.
How to find someone in this department's custody
The department's official search tool is the Colorado DOC online inmate locator, at cdoc.colorado.gov. If the person you are looking for was arrested but not yet sentenced to state prison, check the county sheriff's roster for the county of arrest instead — that is where pretrial detainees are held in Colorado.
Before you travel or send anything
Whatever a directory tells you — including this one — confirm the detail that matters to you with the operating agency before acting on it. Facility names, operators, designations and even addresses change, sometimes years before public records catch up, and the cost of acting on a stale entry is a wasted journey, a returned parcel or a deposit sent to the wrong account. A single phone call the morning you travel is worth more than any amount of research the week before.
If a search for someone returns nothing at all, work through the possibilities in order before assuming the worst. They may be held by a different authority than the one you are searching — a county sheriff rather than a state department, or the reverse. They may be in transit between facilities and temporarily unlisted. The name on the record may differ from the one you use, particularly where a middle name, a suffix or a hyphenated surname is involved. Or the record may simply not have updated yet, which is common in the first day or two after an arrest or a move. An empty result is far more often a search problem than a sign that something has gone wrong.
Your first steps
If someone you love has just entered the Colorado system, focus first on the essentials: confirm which facility holds them and write down their DOC number, set up your CorrectPay account for deposits (planning around the 20 percent withholding), and get a phone account funded so contact is possible during the current visitation suspension. Check the CDOC website for the latest visiting status before making any travel plans. When guidance you read online conflicts with what CDOC or the specific facility tells you directly, trust the department, and confirm anything important by calling before you rely on it.
Keep every CorrectPay confirmation in a shared file so anyone in the family can verify what was sent, when, and whether it posted, because that small habit prevents almost every dispute or delay that Colorado's newer deposit system might otherwise produce.
