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
Yes, you can set it up so that your inmate’s reply comes back to you online, but it is not a traditional “prepay” like paying for their postage.
What you are doing is using the InmateAid Response Mail service.
Here is how it works:
When you send your letter, the return address is set to InmateAid, not your home
Your inmate writes back like normal using regular mail
The letter is sent to InmateAid’s address
InmateAid scans the letter into your account
You get notified and can...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
The letter order flows through
our Admin area to the Processing Department. Letters are processed immediately
upon entry unless it is after 6pm on Saturday, then the letters do not go
through the process until Monday morning. You may check in your My Account area
to see the status of your letter order.
We estimate
that it takes 2-3 business days to make it to the jail. Once there, the staff
opens and reads each piece of mail and inspects
it for contraband. Any delay that occurs at...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
The BOP will not post his incarceration location until he is transported there for security reasons. If he is being held in Leavenworth, there are three separate locations, one is county, one is private (CCA) and the other is federal. If you know the jurisdiction, the information is likely to be found by calling the Clerk of the US District Court and see if there is a sentencing date.
Subject: Send inmate mail
Most inmates do not have access to the Internet or email, they receive letters through the US Mail. We estimate that it takes 2-3 business days to make it to the jail. Once there, the staff opens and reads each piece of mail and inspects it for contraband. Any delay that occurs at the facility is out of our control. We make no guarantees as to how long it will take as there are thousands of facilities and none of...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Our experience is that this question about inmate mail making it inside with the wrong inmate ID depends solely on the mail room clerks at the time of receipt. The rules are steadfast and the mail is supposed to be "Returned to Sender". Some staff members will bend this rule and go ahead and deliver it to the inmate. Of course others will play it by the book. In your case, none of these letters have been returned to our...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Most inmates do not have access to the Internet or email,
they receive letters through the US Mail. Mail call is done Monday through
Friday only. 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...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Inmates do not have access to the the Internet. Most inmates do not have access to email unless they are in the federal system. The federal system or BOP (Bureau of Prisons) have a closed system called Corrlinks. It is a good system that works on a long delay between emails and is expensive.
There are some state prison systems that are beginning to follow the lead of the feds, you will have to check on a case-by-case basis to...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
If your inmate writes to you directly, using
your address, the cost of their mailing is a 49 cent stamp. Many of our members
use the Inmate Response Mail service through InmateAid. Your inmate would write
you back to the return address on the letters which are to the InmateAid
corporate offices in Florida. We receive the letters on your behalf, scan them
into your My Account section and notify you by email that they are waiting for
your review. There is a charge of $1.49...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Of course it works! We have been around for years benefiting nearly a million visitors per month. What service are you looking to use? We will be happy to give you a full description of that service so that you have the reasonable expectations and results.
Subject: Send inmate mail
First, congratulations on the release. That is the best possible reason for a letter not to arrive.
When an inmate is released before a letter reaches them, InmateAid cannot issue a cash refund, but we will resend the letter and photos to any address you provide at no additional charge. That means the letter your fiancé never received while inside can still reach them at home. Just contact us at aid@inmateaid.com with the new address and we will take care of...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Most inmates do not have access to the Internet or email, they receive letters through the US Mail. Mail call is done Monday through Friday only. 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...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
There is a chance he could still receive it, but it is not guaranteed.
Mailrooms rely heavily on the inmate’s name and ID number to make sure the letter goes to the right person. If the ID number is incorrect, the usual procedure is to return the mail to the sender. That said, some mailroom staff will still deliver it if the name is correct and they can clearly identify who it belongs to.
So realistically, it depends on the facility and...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
We estimate that it takes 2-3
business days to make it to the jail. Once there, the staff opens and reads
each piece of mail and
inspects it for contraband. Any delay that occurs at the facility is out of our
control. We make no guarantees as to how long it will take as there are
thousands of facilities and none of them do things the same way.Please be patient, if the ID number and facility are correct
we are 100% reliable. Mail call is Monday...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Many of our members use the Inmate Response Mail service through InmateAid. Your inmate would write you back to the return address on the letters which are to the InmateAid corporate offices in Florida. We receive the letters on your behalf, scan them into your My Account section and notify you by email that they are waiting for your review. There is a charge of $1.49 for this service. The people that use this service like the security and privacy...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Happy Holidays Teri! Your letter had to have a corresponding inmate for the services (letter or phone) to work. Just having their name and facility is enough for the whole system to sync together. There is no definite way to know if the letter is received. We do not have a verification system in place but we do know if it gets returned to us. In that event, we investigate the reason and notify you of your options going forward.
...
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