Send Inmate Mail — Ask the Inmate
A letter from home arriving at mail call is one of the most powerful moments in an incarcerated person's day. It is proof that someone on the outside is thinking about them, that life is continuing, and that there is something worth coming home to. But sending mail to a correctional facility involves rules that vary by institution and mistakes can mean your letter never arrives. This section covers how to address mail correctly for federal and state facilities, what the mailroom screening process looks like and how long it adds to delivery time, what content is and is not permitted in letters, how to send photos and why sending them through InmateAid's service is more reliable than printing and mailing them yourself, how to send mail from outside the United States, and what the InmateAid return letter service does for inmates who want to write back. The guidance here makes sure every letter you send reaches its destination. See also our sections on Inmate Care Packages, Send Books and Magazines, and Inmate Phone Calls.
Related InmateAid Services
Yes. InmateAid can deliver letters and photos to any prison or jail in the United States from anywhere in the world including Iran. You do not need to be located in the United States to use the service. Everything is handled online from your phone or computer regardless of where you are sending from. Your inmate can also write back to you through InmateAid's return letter service. They write a physical letter and send it to InmateAid's processing address.
Read moreThere are several reasons mail does not reach an inmate and not all of them are benign. Here is an honest breakdown of what can happen between the moment you send a letter and the moment it should arrive at mail call. Content issues Every piece of incoming mail is opened and inspected by mailroom staff for contraband. If something in the letter violates facility rules the mail is typically marked returned to sender and sent back to
Read moreYou can usually send blank paper to an inmate without any problems. Standard white printer paper is widely accepted and a good option if he wants to draw or write. A sketchbook is different. Many facilities treat bound items more strictly, so it may require prior approval before it is allowed in. Some prisons only accept books from approved vendors and may limit the type of binding, size, or content. If you send one without checking, there is a chance it could be
Read moreLetters sent through InmateAid are dispatched the same day you create and submit them. From there USPS delivers to the facility within 2 to 3 business days in most cases. Arrival at the facility and arrival in your inmate's hands are two different things. Once mail reaches the facility mailroom it goes through a screening process before being distributed to housing units. Mailroom staff open every piece of incoming mail to check for contraband. This is standard procedure at
Read moreIf you cannot find your inmate yet, it usually means one of two things: either they have not been entered into the system yet, or their profile has not been created on InmateAid. After someone is booked, it can take a few hours to a few days for their information and inmate number to appear in official databases, depending on the facility. If you still cannot locate them, you can: Try searching with different name variations Check the
Read moreWhat you are doing, writing every single day, sending supplies, being the sole source of support, is exactly right and it matters more than you know right now even if it does not feel that way. Before you write her off please consider what those first 18 days actually look like from her side of the wall. The first days are the hardest Unless you have experienced incarceration yourself it is genuinely difficult to understand what the
Read moreBooks sent from third-party sellers on Amazon are usually accepted, as long as they are new and shipped directly from the seller and clearly appear to come from a commercial source. In many cases, even when the seller is a third party like JVC Books, the packaging still shows Amazon branding or a commercial return address, which helps it meet prison mailroom requirements. Most facilities consider these sellers acceptable as “approved vendors,” but policies can vary slightly by location. Here is what
Read moreInmateAid has a service where the inmate can respond to your letter. We receive many letters to our members who have kept their address private. We scan the inmate letter and upload it into your account. We charge $1.49 to retrieve the letter. It has created a "pen pal"-like community - you can write somewhat anonymously and the inmate has a way to stay in touch, however you control the situation with InmateAid being in-between.
Read moreYou will only know that your inmate has received your letter when they tell you by telephone or by return letter. There is no verification process. Prisons consider mail a sacred item that represents a connection to the outside world. Prisons are sensitive to an inmate’s rehabilitation and as such feel strongly that correspondence is critical to that end. We have a strict policy, in the event that a letter gets returned to us, we effort to locate that inmate's
Read moreBefore you can send anything, you need to confirm exactly where your inmate is housed. Facilities transfer inmates more often than most families expect, and sending mail to the wrong address means it comes back or gets lost. InmateAid maintains a directory of every jail, prison, and detention center in the United States. You can search it to find the correct facility name and mailing address. Once you have the facility confirmed, you will also need your inmate's full
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