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
You can send "sexy" pictures, in your bikini or lingerie as long as the material is not transparent or that there are no private parts showing.
Subject: Send inmate mail
Once a letter is received, scanned, and uploaded to the InmateAid system so it can be delivered to the recipient, the original physical letter is kept on file for two weeks and then destroyed.
The two week window exists as a buffer to handle any issues that might arise with the digital delivery, such as a recipient reporting they did not receive the letter or a question about the contents. Having the original available during that period allows any disputes or...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Yes. Many members use InmateAid as a virtual return address for privacy. Your inmate writes back to the same InmateAid address in Florida every time. Letters are received, scanned, uploaded to your account, and you are notified by email. Your home address is never exposed.
If you send even one letter through InmateAid, the return address on the envelope will be InmateAid's corporate address in Florida. That address is fixed and consistent. It does not change from letter to letter. Your...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
The staff absolutely opens and reads each piece of incoming mail. All inmates are prohibited from communicating with people associated with their case, with prosecution or judicial personnel (related to their trial), with other inmates from different institutions and with some felons (depending on the inmate's crime).
Subject: Send inmate mail
Inmate Name and ID number Douglas County Jail - Minden PO Box 418 Minden, NV 89423
Subject: Send inmate mail
Yes, federal inmates can receive letters sent through InmateAid and the inmate does not need an account of their own for it to work.
Here is how it actually functions. InmateAid is a service used by people on the outside, not by inmates directly. Inmates in federal prison do not have internet access and cannot log into any online platform. The inmate profiles on the site are created by members and users, not by the inmates themselves, and InmateAid does not...
Read moreSubject: 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...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Absolutely! We have many international members that use the letter and photo service to communicate with their inmate. The service is faster, more reliable, convenient and a lot less money than international mail. What's more, your inmate can write you back through the InmateAid Response Mail service - your inmates writes you through our address, we scan their letter into your account and notify you that it's there for your review.
Subject: Send inmate mail
Yes. Maximum security designation refers to the custody level of the facility or the inmate's classification within it, not a restriction on mail access. Inmates in maximum security facilities retain the right to send and receive mail, and that right is protected under the First Amendment regardless of the severity of the crime they were convicted of or are being held for.
What changes at maximum security is the scrutiny applied to incoming mail rather than access to it. Every piece...
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Inmate mail is delivered Monday through Friday only
Subject: Send inmate mail
Rikers Island operates as a complex of multiple facilities on the same island rather than a single building, which makes this question more nuanced than a transfer between two separate institutions in different locations.
When an inmate moves from one facility to another within the Rikers complex, such as from AMKC to EMTC, the mail handling outcome depends largely on how efficiently the mailroom at the original facility processes forwarding. Because all of the facilities share the same island and the...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Yes, photos are one of the most meaningful things you can send to someone who is incarcerated. Having a picture of family, a partner, or someone they love to keep in their locker or on their wall makes a genuine difference in daily life inside.
Most facilities allow photos but the rules around what is acceptable vary. Generally speaking, photos need to be printed on standard photo paper, cannot contain nudity or sexually suggestive content, cannot depict weapons, drugs, or gang-related...
Read moreSubject: 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...
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