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
Subject: Send inmate mail
Thousands of people use InmateAid for their pen pal connections. There are hundreds of thousands of inmate profiles that are reviewable. Folks are writing famous inmates, too - and getting responses!
Subject: Send inmate mail
One of the most practical features of using InmateAid to send letters is that your personal address never enters the picture. The return address printed on every outgoing envelope is InmateAid's mailing address, not yours. Your inmate sees that address and uses it to write back, but they never have access to where you actually live.
When your inmate wants to respond, they write their letter the traditional way, address the envelope to InmateAid's address with your name on it, and...
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If they write you through our mailing address, we accept the letter on your behalf. We scan it into your account and email you to let you knowthat you have a "Letter from Inmate". There is a small fee ($1.49) for the retrieval of the letter.
Subject: Send inmate mail
Some do, like federal has a system called CorrLinks which is a closed system which allows you to email an inmate on a two-hour delay. More and more state prison systems are getting similar services.
Subject: Send inmate mail
All correspondence sent to the inmates has the InmateAid corporate address on it. We do not share your information whatsoever. Inmates do write back to our members via the Letters from Inmates service. The letters are received here and we scan them into your My Account area and then notify you by email that you have inmate mail. The cost to retrieve the letter is $1.49. If you include your address in the letter then the inmate would probably correspond...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Yes, and you should write every letter as if they do.
Mail room staff are expected to read incoming letters in their entirety. That is the protocol, and it exists for legitimate security reasons. In practice, the volume of mail at larger facilities means some officers scan rather than read thoroughly, but there is no way to know which approach any particular staff member is taking on any given day. Assuming your letter will be read word for word is the...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Letters purchased before 5pm Eastern time go out the same day. If your order came in after that cutoff, it processes and ships the following business day.
If your letter is showing as pending and you are past that window, it is worth logging into your account to check the status or reaching out to InmateAid's support team directly. Pending status that lingers beyond the expected processing window is something they can look into and resolve quickly.
Once the letter leaves InmateAid's...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
There is no automated delivery confirmation on individual letters, and that is true of the postal system generally rather than anything specific to InmateAid. Once a letter enters the facility's mailroom, the staff processing and distributing mail does not send delivery receipts back to senders.
The most reliable signal that your letter arrived is hearing from your inmate directly. When they receive your letter they will typically mention it on the next call or write back. That response is your confirmation.
On...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Absolutely, and you are doing exactly the right thing.
There are very few things a person on the outside can do that make a direct and immediate difference in an inmate's daily life. Consistent mail is one of them. A letter or postcard arriving in the mailroom is something physical your inmate can hold, read more than once, and keep. In an environment where personal property is minimal and days blur together, that connection to the outside world carries real weight.
Magazines...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Yes, the inmates may write you through our Letters from Inmates service. We are essentially being your postal address, the inmates writes back to you with our address, we scan it into your account and you can access it through your My Account portal. Inmates have no Internet access. People like the privacy this affords, some do not want their own address used.
We estimate it takes 2-3 business days for the mail to reach the facility. Once there, the staff actually opens...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Your inmate can write back through InmateAid even without your personal address. The return address printed on every postcard and letter sent through InmateAid is the company's Florida address, not yours. That address is right there on the envelope your inmate receives, and it is all they need to send a reply.
When your inmate writes back to that address, InmateAid receives the letter, scans it into your account, and notifies you that a reply is waiting. You log in and...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
If your inmate sends you a letter to our address, we scan it into your account and notify you by email that it is there. You access the letter in a PDF, it can be read online or downloaded and printed.
Subject: Send inmate mail
We estimate a couple business days for normal mail to make it into the facility. Once it is there, they inspect all parcels and then hand them out to the inmates. There might be a short delay inside the mail room.
Subject: Send inmate mail
Yes they can. Inmates do not have access to the Internet. They send you the letter through our service - we receive them, scan them and place them in your My Account area for retrieval. This service is beneficial for people who want their home address private.
Subject: Send inmate mail
Inmates that have money on their inmate trust accounts can purchase stamps and envelopes at the weekly commissary. If they do not have money on their books, the prison will provide indigent inmates with all the materials necessary to send out mail to their loved ones.
If your inmate writes to you directly, using your address, the cost of the mailing is a 49 cent stamp. Many of our members use the Inmate Response Mail service through InmateAid. Your inmate would...
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