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
From the time you send the letter through InmateAid, expect it to reach the facility's mailroom within two to three business days via USPS. InmateAid processes and mails letters daily, so once your order is placed it goes out quickly from their end.
The Terre Haute Federal Correctional Complex, including the Satellite Prison Camp, is a well-established federal facility with a functioning mail operation. Once the letter arrives at the mailroom, staff inspect all incoming mail for contraband before distributing it,...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
No. Direct communication between inmates at different facilities, or between male and female inmates within the same system, is strictly prohibited. There are no official lists or programs that facilitate inmate-to-inmate contact of any kind. Facilities work hard to prevent exactly that kind of communication because of the security and safety concerns it creates.
What does exist is something different and entirely legitimate. There are pen pal services and platforms where an inmate can post a profile with their name and...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Yes, and it is more welcome than you might expect.
There is no rule requiring you to have a prior relationship with someone before sending them a letter, postcard, magazine, or commissary funds. Facilities process mail and deposits based on the inmate's name and ID number, not on the sender's relationship to them. You can send anonymously if you prefer, and many people who reach out to strangers inside choose to do exactly that.
The need is real. A significant number of...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Physical mail through the postal service has no restrictions on who can send it. Anyone can write to an inmate via USPS regardless of whether they are on an approved email list, a phone list, or any other facility-managed contact list. Those approval processes apply to electronic messaging systems like JPay or CorrLinks and to phone calls, not to incoming postal mail.
This is an important distinction that a lot of people do not realize. The approved contact list controls who...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Yes on both counts. InmateAid postcards are pre-stamped and go out through USPS in a format that is already approved for prison and jail mail delivery.
The pre-stamped requirement that some facilities enforce exists because loose stamps have become another method for introducing drugs into facilities. A stamp that has been soaked in a liquid substance and dried can look completely normal while carrying a controlled substance that activates on contact. Facilities that require pre-stamped mail are closing that particular vulnerability...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Yes, exactly. The letter service on InmateAid allows you to attach a 4x6 photo directly to your letter, and that includes a selfie taken on your phone or any photo you have saved on your device.
The process is straightforward. When you compose your letter through InmateAid, you have the option to attach a photo. You upload the image from your phone or computer, InmateAid prints it on glossy 4x6 photo stock, and it goes out with your letter through USPS...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Photos yes, standard Hallmark cards no, and understanding why the distinction exists helps you send something that actually arrives.
Family photos are accepted at most county jails when sent through an approved channel. InmateAid prints photos on glossy 4x6 stock and mails them through USPS in envelopes that mailroom staff recognize and trust. The photos go through the standard inspection process and get delivered at mail call. Sending a family photo is one of the most meaningful things you can do...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Most facilities do not have a limit. Our software knows the limits and will only allow you to send as many as they do.
Subject: Send inmate mail
The corrections officer calls their name at mail call
Subject: Send inmate mail
No special device required. All of the pictures are printed on high-quality picture paper, printed to the edge and with brilliant color and mailed into the facility. The incoming mail is inspected by the staff before it's handed out to the inmates.
Subject: Send inmate mail
Yes. InmateAid postcards are accepted at every facility in the country, including the Blount County Detention Facility in Tennessee.
Every jail and prison in the United States is required to accept mail delivered through the United States Postal Service, and that is exactly how InmateAid postcards are sent. They go out pre-stamped, printed on approved stock, and arrive through USPS just like any other piece of mail. Mailroom staff at facilities across the country recognize InmateAid envelopes and postcards, which makes...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Yes, inmates in the SHU are only eligible to get and send mail. The mail is delivered on a normal schedule. They are allowed ONE 15-minute phone call per week.
Subject: Send inmate mail
Facility mail policies change, and nudity in photos is one of the most inconsistently enforced areas across correctional systems. What gets through one month can get rejected the next based on new guidance from administration, a change in mailroom staff, or a facility-wide policy update that was never publicly announced.
Sheridan Correctional Center is an Illinois Department of Corrections facility, and IDOC has a general policy that restricts sexually explicit material including nudity. The fact that some photos got through previously...
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