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
Some facilities have changed their mail policies to accept postcards only, eliminating standard letters entirely. Hillsborough County Jail in Tampa is one facility that has made this switch. The reason is typically security related. Postcards are easier and faster to inspect for contraband than sealed envelopes, and facilities looking to streamline mail room operations have increasingly moved in this direction.
If letters you sent are not reaching your inmate, a policy change at the facility is one of the first things...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Every word. Mail is one of the most anticipated parts of an inmate's day, and a letter from someone on the outside gets read carefully and often more than once.
Boredom and isolation are two of the hardest parts of incarceration. A letter breaks through both. It is a tangible connection to the world outside, and most inmates will tell you that receiving mail is one of the few things that genuinely lifts the day. Do not worry about writing too...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
The cost is $1.59 for the first photo - additional photos are $1.39. In almost all cases, there is no limit to the number of photos allowed (federal and state no limit). If you want to check with us before sending if they are in a county jail, we will let you know if that particular facility has a limit.
Subject: Send inmate mail
Photos are printed as 4x6 prints. If the image you uploaded has different proportions than 4x6, the system automatically applies a fit adjustment to make sure the entire image appears on the print without any part of it being cut off.
What that means in practice is that the actual image may print slightly smaller than the full 4x6 surface, appearing more like a 4x4 or 4x5 centered on the photo paper with a small border around it. The full image...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
The InmateAid photos are printed on 4x6 high gloss photo paper - approved for all jails and prisons. These are NOT a printed postcard, they are delivered safely in an envelope directly into the facility. Make sure that you have the inmate's ID (if applicable) and allow 1-3 business days for delivery.
Subject: Send inmate mail
Inmates do not receive mail on weekends. Mail call at correctional facilities runs Monday through Friday only.
InmateAid does process and send letters on Saturdays, so an order placed on Saturday goes into the mail that day. However, the postal system does not deliver to facilities on weekends, and facility mail rooms do not distribute incoming mail on Saturdays or Sundays. A letter mailed on Saturday will arrive at the facility on Monday at the earliest and reach your inmate at...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Yes, your inmate can absolutely send you letters and photos even without internet access, and there is a faster way for you to receive them.
With InmateAid’s Response Service, your inmate simply:
Writes a normal letter
Includes any photos he wants to send
Mails everything to the InmateAid address
From there:
The letter and photos are received and scanned
They are uploaded to your account
You get a notification and can read them online right away
This is ideal for international situations like yours in Germany, where regular mail can take 7...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Every letter sent through InmateAid goes out with InmateAid's return address printed on the envelope. Your friend does not need to know the website or look anything up. The return address is right there on the letter they receive, and they simply write back to that address the same way they would reply to any piece of mail.
When that reply arrives at InmateAid, we scan it and post it directly to your account. You receive an email notification and can...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Books must be sent by the publisher. We partner with Amazon. You may access their site from here and search for the titles that interest your inmate the most.
Subject: Send inmate mail
Inmate location information on third-party sites, including InmateAid, does not update in real time. When a facility moves an inmate to a different unit or housing assignment within the same prison complex, that change may not be reflected immediately in outside databases. The Arizona Department of Corrections inmate locator is always the most current source for placement information, and checking there directly is the right move when you suspect something has changed.
The good news in this situation is that a...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Not reliably. If your inmate was transferred before the letter arrived at the facility, there is a good chance it comes back to us rather than following them to the new location. Facilities do not forward inmate mail the way the postal service forwards residential mail.
If the letter is returned, InmateAid will notify you immediately, research the new address, and resend it to the correct location. You will not lose the letter and you will not be charged again for...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Letters and photos sent through InmateAid typically take one to three business days to reach a facility. After that, delivery depends on how quickly the mail room inspects and processes incoming mail before distributing it at mail call. That part is outside anyone's control and can add a day or two depending on the facility's volume and staffing.
Being placed in isolation, the SHU, or segregation does not stop incoming mail in most facilities. Your husband should still be receiving the...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Only federal inmates have access to an email account. The program is called CorrLinks and it is a closed environment. Inmates in state or county facilities generally do not have the ability to receive or send email messages. NO inmate has access to the Internet.
Subject: Send inmate mail
The line is nudity. Anything that crosses into exposed private areas will be rejected by the mail room. Everything short of that is generally acceptable.
Bikini photos, lingerie, and suggestive poses are fine as long as nothing is explicitly exposed. Facilities inspect all incoming mail and photos, and images containing nudity will be confiscated before they ever reach your boyfriend. In some cases a facility may flag the sender's account for future scrutiny if explicit content is found, so it is...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
No to all three parts of that question, and here is why.
Letters do not reach an inmate the same day they are sent, regardless of how they are delivered. All incoming mail goes through the facility mail room first, where staff inspect each piece for contraband before it gets to mail call. That process adds at least a day, and often more depending on mail volume and the facility's schedule.
Writing back the same day is not possible either, for the...
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