How to Send Books and Magazines to an Inmate in North Dakota

INMATEAID EDITORIAL ARTICLE

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Internal links: North Dakota inmate search, send money, visitation, Staying Connected hub, North Dakota reentry resources

=> NEW ONLY. Used books explicitly rejected -> kills used-book donation route.

NOTE: Governing = ND DOCR Facility Handbook (Sept 2024), "PUBLICATIONS" section + Correspondence page (docr.nd.gov/correspondence). ID = resident name + number. PUBLICATIONS go to the PRISON facility address; PERSONAL MAIL (since 6/1/2021) goes to Securus Digital Mail Center, PO Box 21408, Tampa FL 33622 (scanned to tablet). Facility addresses: NDSP & MRCC => PO Box 5521, Bismarck ND 58506-5521; JRCC & JRMU => 2521 Circle Drive, Jamestown ND 58401; HRCC => 701 16th Ave SW, Mandan ND 58554. Living-quarters cap: 30 books or combo of books/mags/catalogs/pamphlets. Rejection: Notification of Denied Mail, 7-day appeal to warden, held 30 days (pickup or mail out at resident expense), disposed ~15 business days after final decision. Content bars: used, security threat, racial supremacy/violence, gang signs, contraband, CD/DVD supplements, weapon/drug/alcohol/escape instructions, sexually explicit. Library + ND State Library Inter-Library Loan (free) + chaplain religious library (free). Warden may approve exceptions.

How to Send Books and Magazines to an Inmate in North Dakota

A book is one of the best things you can put in the hands of someone you love inside a North Dakota prison. It fills the long hours, it keeps the mind sharp, and it is a piece of the outside world they get to hold onto. The rules for getting one there are not complicated once you know them, but there are a couple of details that trip people up, and getting them wrong means the book gets turned away at the door. Let me walk you through exactly how it works.

I am going to explain it the way someone who has done time would, plainly, so you get it right the first time and your money and effort actually reach the person you sent them for.

The Two Rules That Matter Most in North Dakota

Before you spend a dollar, understand the two rules that decide whether a book or magazine gets in.

First, it has to be new and sent directly from an approved publisher or vendor. North Dakota does not allow you to mail a book in yourself, and it does not allow used books. The publication has to come straight from the company that sells it, not from a private individual, and it has to be brand new. A paperback you already own, or a used copy, will not make it past the mailroom.

Second, books and magazines do not go to the same place as your letters. Personal mail in North Dakota is handled completely differently now, and publications follow their own path. Get the address right and you are most of the way there. Those two rules, new and direct from a seller, and shipped to the right place, are the whole game. Almost every rejected book fails one of them, so if you lock them in before you order, the rest is easy.

Where Letters Go Versus Where Books Go

This is the part that confuses families, so let me make it clear. Since June 1, 2021, North Dakota does not accept personal mail at the prison at all. Letters, cards, and photos go to a Securus Digital Mail Center in Florida, where they are scanned and delivered to your person's tablet. The address for that is the Securus center in Tampa, not the prison.

Books and magazines are different. They do not go to the Securus center. They go directly to the prison facility where your person is housed, sent by the publisher or vendor. So you have two different addresses depending on what you are sending: letters and photos to the Securus mail center, publications to the prison. Mixing these up is the most common mistake, so keep them straight. If you accidentally send a book to the Securus scanning center, it is not set up to forward publications to the facility, so the smart move is to confirm the prison address before you place the order and use it only for the book or magazine.

How to Send a Book the Right Way

Here is the clean version of the process that works.

Confirm where your person is housed and get the correct facility address. Use the North Dakota inmate search to verify the facility, and address the package with your person's full name and ID number. The facility addresses are: for North Dakota State Penitentiary and Missouri River Correctional Center, P.O. Box 5521, Bismarck ND 58506-5521; for James River Correctional Center and the James River Minimum Unit, 2521 Circle Drive, Jamestown ND 58401; and for Heart River Correctional Center, 701 16th Avenue Southwest, Mandan ND 58554.

Order the book new, and have it shipped directly from the seller to that facility address. The book cannot be mailed by you personally. It has to come from the publisher or an approved vendor, so the order needs to ship straight from the company to the prison. For most paperbacks, ordering through a major bookseller that ships new copies directly is the way families do this. Double check that your person's name and ID number are on the shipping address exactly as they appear on the inmate search, because a package that does not clearly identify the resident can be delayed or refused. If your person has transferred recently, verify the current facility before you order, since the four facilities use different addresses and a book sent to the wrong one will not simply be forwarded.

A few practical habits make this go smoothly. Build in some patience, since a book shipped to a prison can take a couple of weeks to clear the mailroom and reach your person. Keep your order confirmation and any tracking number, so if something stalls your person can ask staff about it and you know exactly what was sent and when. And talk with your person ahead of time about what they actually want to read, since a title they are excited about does far more good than a guess, and it spares you from spending on something that sits unopened.

Format and Content Rules

North Dakota keeps the content rules straightforward, but they matter. Only new publications are accepted, so nothing used. The book or magazine cannot threaten the safety or security of the facility, advocate racial supremacy or violence against a group, display gang signs or symbols, or contain anything that reads as contraband. It cannot include a CD, DVD, or anything that needs a separate player. And it cannot depict or describe how to make weapons, drugs, or alcohol, how to escape, or sexually explicit material as the policy defines it. Stick to mainstream books and magazines and you will not run into these limits.

Keep the volume reasonable, too. Your person is allowed up to 30 books, or a combination of books, magazines, catalogs, and pamphlets, in their living quarters at a time. They cannot stockpile beyond that, so think in terms of a few good titles rather than a large pile. If your person is close to the limit, a magazine subscription or a library habit can keep new reading coming in without crowding their space, and they can send older items home or pass them along to stay under the cap. The warden can approve exceptions in some cases, so if there is a specific title that matters, it is worth your person asking rather than assuming the answer is no.

Magazines and Newspapers

Magazines work well in North Dakota, and a subscription is one of the best values going. Periodicals fall under the same publication rule, so a magazine subscription sent directly from the publisher is allowed, shipped to the prison facility address just like a book. Once it is set up, it arrives on its own each month and gives your person something to look forward to without anyone having to do anything more.

What Happens If Something Gets Rejected

It helps to know the process in case a publication gets turned down. If an item is rejected, your person and the sender both get a written Notification of Denied Mail. Your person has seven days to appeal the rejection to the warden. The facility holds the item for up to 30 days after the final decision, during which someone your person designates can pick it up, or your person can have it mailed back out at their own expense. After about fifteen business days past the final decision with no action, the facility disposes of it. Knowing this means a rejection is not the end of the world, but it is easier to avoid one by following the rules up front.

Lean on the Prison Library

Here is something families overlook. Every North Dakota DOCR facility has a library staffed by a librarian, and using it is free. On top of that, residents can request books from other libraries across the state through the Inter-Library Loan program, ordering titles their own facility does not carry. There is also a chaplain's library with religious texts, papers, and magazines available by request at no cost.

For a family watching every dollar, the library is the most powerful tool your person has. Encourage them to use it heavily, to ask the librarian for specific titles, and to put in Inter-Library Loan requests for books they want that are not on the shelf. Between the library and a few directly shipped books or a magazine subscription for the titles they really want to keep, your person can read widely without large costs. Inter-Library Loan is the quiet workhorse here: it costs nothing, it reaches well beyond what any single facility shelf holds, and a request through the librarian often puts a book in your person's hands faster than a shipped order would. For many families, the smartest plan is to let the library and Inter-Library Loan carry most of the reading and to spend only on the handful of books or the subscription your person truly wants to own.

Tablets and Staying Connected

Because personal mail is scanned now, the tablet is the hub for staying in touch. Your person's scanned letters and photos show up there, and you can exchange electronic messages, photos, and videograms through Securus. It is worth setting up a Securus account so you can stay in regular contact, since paper letters you send go to the Tampa scanning center rather than arriving in their original form. Think of the tablet for staying connected and directly shipped publications and the library for reading. Setting up that account early also means that on the days a shipped book is still working its way through the mailroom, your person is not cut off, and you have a reliable way to tell them a book is on the way.

Get It Right the First Time

Here is the whole thing in a breath. In North Dakota, books and magazines must be new and shipped directly from an approved publisher or vendor, never mailed by you personally and never used. They go to the prison facility address, not the Securus mail center that handles letters. Confirm your person's facility and ID number on the inmate search, order new, and ship straight to the prison. Magazines work the same way through a publisher-direct subscription. If you want to try Amazon, confirm the facility accepts it first and order a brand-new paperback shipped by Amazon directly. Keep within the 30-item limit, stick to mainstream content, and lean hard on the free prison library and Inter-Library Loan.

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 North Dakota inmate myself?** No. Books cannot be mailed in by a private individual. They have to be new and shipped directly from an approved publisher or vendor to the prison facility. Order the book and have the seller ship it straight to your person.

**Can I send a used book?** No. North Dakota accepts only new publications. A used or previously owned book will be rejected, which also rules out the used-book route that some donation programs use in other states.

**Where do I send a book, and is that the same place I send letters?** No, and this trips people up. Letters and photos go to the Securus Digital Mail Center in Tampa, Florida, where they are scanned to your person's tablet. Books and magazines go directly to the prison facility address. Use the facility address that matches where your person is housed.

**Can I order from Amazon?** Maybe. North Dakota requires publications to come from an approved publisher or vendor and does not publish a list confirming Amazon qualifies. Confirm with the facility first. If they accept it, order a brand-new paperback sold and shipped by Amazon, not a marketplace seller and not used. If they will not confirm, order from the publisher or an established book vendor instead.

**How do magazines work in North Dakota?** A magazine subscription sent directly from the publisher is allowed and is a great value. Have it shipped to your person at the prison facility address with their name and ID number. It then arrives each month on its own.

**How many books can my person keep?** Up to 30 books, or a combination of books, magazines, catalogs, and pamphlets, in their living quarters at a time. Keep the volume within that limit.

**What if a book gets rejected?** Your person and the sender receive a written Notification of Denied Mail. Your person has seven days to appeal to the warden, and the facility holds the item up to 30 days so it can be picked up or mailed back out at your person's expense before disposal.