How to Send Books and Magazines to an Inmate in Connecticut
A good book is one of the most valuable things you can put in the hands of someone you love inside a Connecticut prison. It fills the long, empty hours, it keeps the mind working, and it is a piece of the outside world they get to hold. Connecticut allows books from major booksellers, including Amazon, but the state has its own way of handling orders that is worth understanding before you spend a dime.
I am going to walk you through it the way someone who has done time would explain it to you, plainly and without the runaround.
The One Rule That Trips Up Every Family
Start here. In Connecticut you cannot buy a book yourself and put it in the mail. Under the Department of Correction's rules, books, magazines, newspapers, calendars, and other publications may only be received in new condition, and only when they are packaged and shipped directly by a publisher, book club, or book store. A package that looks like it came from a person's home gets refused and disposed of.
The reason is contraband. A mailroom cannot tell a clean book from one that has been tampered with, so the system only trusts shipments straight from a recognized seller. Connecticut makes that doable, with a twist on how the order is placed.
Two Ways to Order in Connecticut
This is the part that sets Connecticut apart, so know both routes before you order.
The first route is the one most families use: you, as a third party, order a new book directly from a bookstore or publisher and have it shipped straight to the facility. Connecticut explicitly allows this from reputable booksellers, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books-A-Million. If you use Amazon, choose a copy that is sold and shipped by Amazon, not by a third-party marketplace seller, since a marketplace order ships like a private package and gets rejected. Look for "Ships from Amazon" and "Sold by Amazon."
The second route is internal, and some Connecticut facilities require it: your person requests the publication through their counselor and pays for it from their inmate trust account. Under this process, the incarcerated person submits a request form, the funds are withdrawn from their account, and the order is placed through the facility. Because some facilities expect publications to come through this counselor route rather than as a direct third-party shipment, the smartest thing you can do is coordinate with your person first. Have them ask their counselor whether the facility accepts a book you order and ship directly, or whether it has to go through the counselor and be prepaid from their account. That one conversation saves the most common Connecticut rejection. If you want to fund the trust-account route, you can add money to your person's account and let them order what they want.
When you do ship directly, address it to your person with their full name and inmate number, then the facility, which you can confirm on Connecticut's inmate search, and send the book by itself with nothing tucked inside.
New, Paperback, and the Student Exception
Connecticut requires publications to be new. Paperback is the safe default, since hardcovers and unusual bindings draw extra scrutiny. There is one useful exception to the new-only rule: a person enrolled in an authorized education program, including college and PELL courses, may order or receive used educational publications if those books are required to complete the program. Used material gets inspected before it is handed over. So for a textbook tied to a class, used is on the table; for everything else, send new.
Magazines and Newspapers
Magazines and newspapers follow the same rule: new, and shipped directly from the publisher, which for periodicals means a subscription in your person's name to the facility. Each issue ships straight from the publisher and is reviewed on arrival, and publications are typically held for a couple of weeks for review before they reach your person, so do not panic if an issue takes a little time.
Stick to mainstream titles, since anything with nudity, profanity, or adult content will be confiscated, and remember a subscription may need to be requested through the counselor at some facilities, so check.
What Connecticut Rejects
Before you spend money, know what gets turned away. Connecticut refuses publications that contain nudity or pornography, profanity, maps, weapons content, or material that is excessively violent or obscene, along with anything that could threaten the safety or security of the facility. Questionable items are sent to the Department's publications review board, and incoming books and magazines are generally held about two weeks for that review. If a publication is rejected, it is returned to the publisher or sender unless your person files an appeal through the inmate grievance process. If your person wants a specific title, a quick check that it does not run into these content rules saves money.
One System, One Set of Rules
Here is something that works in your favor in Connecticut: it runs a unified system. The Department of Correction operates both the jails that hold people awaiting trial and the prisons that hold sentenced people, with no separate county jails. That means the same statewide publication rules generally apply wherever your person is held, so you do not have to relearn the rules every time they move. The one variable, as covered above, is whether a given facility wants direct shipments or counselor-routed orders, so confirm that piece.
Tablets and E-Books
Connecticut issues tablets to people in custody, and those tablets may carry some e-books and media. As elsewhere, tablet catalogs are limited and can carry charges, so treat the tablet as a supplement and keep getting your person the specific paperbacks they actually want through the order routes above.
Free Books: Libraries and Book Programs
If money is tight, you still have options. Every facility has a library your person can request from. There are also nonprofit book programs that mail free books to incarcerated people, shipping from a recognized organization rather than from an individual, usually after your person writes to them with a request. These run on donations, so allow time. We keep current pointers to programs that serve Connecticut on our Connecticut reentry resources page.
Get It Right the First Time
Here is the whole thing in a breath. Books and magazines must be new and ship directly from a publisher, book club, or bookstore, never from you. Connecticut allows Amazon and other major booksellers, so order a copy sold and shipped by Amazon if you go that way. But first, have your person check with their counselor whether the facility takes direct third-party shipments or requires the order to go through the counselor and be prepaid from their account, because that is the step that trips families up. Choose paperback, send nothing tucked inside, use InmateAid for magazine subscriptions, and lean on the library and book programs to keep the reading steady.
Get it right and you become the person who reliably gets good books to someone who needs them. On the inside, that means more than you can know from out here.
FAQ
**Can I mail a book to a Connecticut inmate myself?** No. Books and publications must be new and packaged and shipped directly by a publisher, book club, or bookstore. A book mailed by an individual will be refused and disposed of.
**Does Amazon work for sending books to a Connecticut prison?** Yes. Connecticut allows books from reputable booksellers including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books-A-Million. Choose a copy that is sold and shipped by Amazon, not a third-party marketplace seller, in paperback and new condition.
**What is the counselor route?** Some Connecticut facilities require publications to be requested through your person's counselor and paid from their inmate trust account, rather than shipped in directly by a family member. Have your person ask their counselor which method their facility uses before you order, and fund their account if they will order it themselves.
**Can I send a used book?** Generally no, publications must be new. The one exception is for a person enrolled in an authorized education program, including college or PELL courses, who may receive used books required for that program. Those are inspected before delivery.
**How do I send a magazine?** Set up a subscription in your person's name shipped directly from the publisher to the facility. InmateAid can set this up for you. Issues are held briefly for review, and titles with nudity, profanity, or adult content are confiscated, so stick to mainstream magazines.
**What gets a book rejected in Connecticut?** Nudity or pornography, profanity, maps, weapons content, excessively violent or obscene material, and anything that threatens facility security. Questionable items go to the publications review board, and incoming materials are held about two weeks for review.
**Do the rules change between jail and prison in Connecticut?** Not really. Connecticut runs a unified system, so the Department of Correction's statewide publication rules apply at both the jails and the prisons. The main thing that varies by facility is whether they accept direct shipments or require the counselor-order route.
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