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.
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 write you back to the...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
No, the prisons do not report back to us when the mail is handed out to the inmate. We send thousands and thousands of letters and there is only an issue if you fail to include the inmate ID number, if the facility is wrong or the inmate is no longer there. Otherwise the mail will get to your inmate.
Subject: Send inmate mail
If you are organized, consistent, and actually follow through every time you think about writing, you do not need this service. Go buy stamps and mail your own letters. Nobody here is going to tell you otherwise.
The honest reason InmateAid exists is that most people are not that person. The intention to write is there. The follow-through is not. Life gets busy, the errand gets pushed back, and the inmate on the other end keeps waiting for a letter that...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
The letter and photo service from InmateAid is straightforward. You type up a letter and upload photos where applicable - proceed to the Pay Now page and complete the transaction. 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...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
The pictures are 4"x 6" which is a standard size that is allowed in all the prisons and jails.
Subject: Send inmate mail
Usually not, there are some rare cases where the state system will forward it, but neither federal and county will. It gets returned to sender.
Subject: 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. Once they decide
the mail is fit to be handed out at mail call, your inmate will receive it. 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...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Your name appears on the envelope above InmateAid's address. Your home address is never included. If you want the inmate to write you directly, add your address inside the letter. Otherwise they write back to InmateAid's address and the response is scanned into your account.
Subject: Send inmate mail
You will not be able to send anything with the letter but photographs on 4" x 6" glossy paper - no Polaroids. You can send the Word Search from the publisher - InmateAid has several to choose from in our magazine section. Let us know if you are interested in any of them, email us the title and we will send you a discount coupon for the purchase.
Subject: Send inmate mail
Correctional facilities do not operate like the postal service. When an inmate is transferred, the old facility does not forward incoming mail to the new location. Mail that arrives at the previous facility after the transfer has already occurred will typically be processed by the mailroom and returned to the sender marked as undeliverable or noting that the inmate is no longer in custody there.
This is one of the most common reasons a letter fails to reach its destination, and...
Read more