Schema: Article + FAQPage
Internal links: Mississippi inmate search, send money, visitation, Staying Connected hub, Mississippi reentry resources
NOTE: Official source = mdoc.ms.gov "Sending Mail to an Inmate": publications must be PRE-PAID SOFT COVER books, ORDER LIMIT OF 3; subscriptions/newspapers from publisher/distributor/vendor. Distinctive = personal mail scanned, originals shredded after 14 days, BUT publications (books/magazines/newspapers) processed separately and go to the facility. One competing-vendor site (Corrections Bookstore) claims Amazon rejected; discounted as conflicted vs two independent sources + official soft-cover-prepaid framing. MS uses state + regional + private facilities (confirm specific facility). ID = MDOC number.
How to Send Books and Magazines to an Inmate in Mississippi
A good book is one of the most valuable things you can put in the hands of someone you love inside a Mississippi 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. Mississippi keeps its book rules fairly workable, with a couple of specific limits you need to know before you order. Let me walk you through it.
I am going to explain it the way someone who has done time would, plainly and without the runaround.
The One Rule That Trips Up Every Family
Start here. In Mississippi you cannot buy a book yourself and put it in the mail. Books must be prepaid and shipped directly to the facility from a seller, not from your home, and they must be soft cover. A package that looks like it came from a person's house gets refused.
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. The good news is that Mississippi makes the book side workable once you know the limits.
Where to Order: Amazon Works in Mississippi
For most families, the simplest path is a major online bookseller that ships the book itself, and Mississippi accepts books from reputable sources including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books-A-Million. 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. On the listing, look for "Ships from Amazon" and "Sold by Amazon."
Address it to your person with their full name and MDOC number, their current housing unit, and the institution name and address, which you can confirm on Mississippi's inmate locator. Send the book by itself, with nothing tucked inside, and send your letters separately.
The Three-Book Limit and the Soft-Cover Rule
Here are the two specific rules Mississippi enforces, and they trip up families who do not know them. First, books must be soft cover and prepaid, so order new paperbacks, not hardcovers. Second, there is an order limit of three books, so a single order should contain no more than three. If your person wants more than three titles, space the orders out rather than trying to send a big stack at once, which can get the whole package refused. Plan around the limit and your books arrive.
Personal Mail Is Scanned and Shredded
Here is a Mississippi-specific process worth understanding so you do not worry when it happens. For ordinary personal mail, your letters, cards, and photos, the facility processes the incoming mail, keeps the original for fourteen calendar days, and then shreds the original. In other words, your person typically gets a copy, and the paper you sent is destroyed after two weeks. That is routine now and is meant to cut down on drugs soaked into mail.
The key thing for you is the exception: publications, meaning books, magazines, and newspapers, are processed separately and go to the facility under the publication rules, not into the scan-and-shred stream for personal letters. So a book you order from a bookseller still reaches your person as the actual book. Just do not tuck a personal note inside a book package, keep letters and books separate.
Confirm Which Facility Holds Your Person
Mississippi houses people across state institutions, regional facilities, and private prisons, and while the statewide mail rules apply broadly, a regional or private facility may layer its own procedures on top. Before you order, confirm exactly where your person is held on the inmate locator and use that facility's current mailing address. A book sent to the wrong facility, or an old address, will not reach them. When in doubt, the specific institution can confirm its book and mailing details.
Magazines and Newspapers
Magazines and newspapers follow their own rule: subscriptions and newspapers must be sent from the publisher, distributor, or vendor, which means a subscription in your person's name shipped directly to the facility. Magazines that contain profanity, weapons content, pornography, or other adult material will be confiscated, so stick to mainstream titles.
A subscription is one of the kindest things you can set up, arriving on its own schedule and giving your person something to look forward to.
What Mississippi Rejects
Before you spend money, know what gets turned away. Mississippi rejects books that contain images or content considered excessively violent, pornographic, or obscene, and any book that does not meet its standards is disposed of. Magazines with profanity, weapons content, pornography, or adult material are confiscated. If your person wants a specific title, a quick check against these content rules saves money.
Tablets and the Locator
Mississippi offers messaging and media services through its contracted providers, so your person may have access to electronic messaging and some media on a tablet. To find your person's facility, housing unit, and MDOC number for addressing a package, use the state's inmate locator. As elsewhere, tablet catalogs are limited and can carry charges, so treat the tablet as a supplement and keep sending the specific paperbacks your person actually wants.
Free Books and the Library
If money is tight, you still have options. Facilities have libraries your person can request from, though selection varies, and regional and private facilities may have less than the larger state institutions. 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, and remember the soft-cover and order rules still apply. We keep current pointers to programs that serve Mississippi on our Mississippi reentry resources page.
Get It Right the First Time
Here is the whole thing in a breath. Books must be prepaid, soft cover, and shipped directly to the facility from a seller, never from you, and Amazon works as long as the copy is sold and shipped by Amazon. Keep each order to three books or fewer, and order new paperbacks, no hardcover. Confirm your person's exact facility and current address first, since Mississippi uses state, regional, and private prisons. Expect personal letters to be copied and the originals shredded after two weeks, but books and magazines go through as publications. Use InmateAid for magazine subscriptions, and lean on the library and book programs to round it out.
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 Mississippi inmate myself?** No. Books must be prepaid and shipped directly to the facility from a seller, not from your home, and they must be soft cover. A book mailed from an individual is refused.
**Does Amazon work for sending books to a Mississippi prison?** Yes. Mississippi accepts books from reputable sources including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books-A-Million. Choose a copy sold and shipped by Amazon, not a third-party marketplace seller, in new soft cover.
**How many books can I send at once?** Mississippi sets an order limit of three books. If your person wants more, space the orders out rather than sending a large stack in one package, which can get the whole order refused.
**Does it have to be paperback?** Yes. Books must be soft cover and prepaid, so order new paperbacks. Hardcovers do not meet the rule.
**Is it true my letters get shredded?** For personal mail, yes. The facility processes incoming letters, keeps the original for fourteen days, then shreds it, so your person usually receives a copy. Books, magazines, and newspapers are handled separately as publications and go to the facility as the real item.
**How do I send a magazine?** Set up a subscription in your person's name shipped directly from the publisher, distributor, or vendor, which InmateAid can do for you. Magazines with profanity, weapons content, pornography, or adult material are confiscated, so stick to mainstream titles.
**Why does it matter which facility my person is in?** Mississippi uses state institutions, regional facilities, and private prisons, and a regional or private facility may add its own procedures. Confirm the exact facility and current mailing address on the inmate locator before ordering.
[Amazon affiliate disclosure: site-level footer]