Inmate mail rules come down to a few consistent principles across federal and state facilities: address the envelope with the person’s full legal name and register number, use plain materials with nothing decorative or scented, keep money and stamps out of the envelope entirely, and assume staff will open and read whatever you send unless it qualifies as legal mail. Federal regulations under 28 C.F.R. Part 540 give staff authority to open and inspect all incoming general correspondence, and state systems add their own restrictions on top.1eCFR. 28 CFR Part 540 – Contact with Persons in the Community Get any of the basics wrong and your letter comes back, or in some cases gets discarded without notice.
Addressing the Envelope Correctly
Every piece of inmate mail needs the recipient’s full legal name together with their register number. Facilities use different labels for that number depending on the system (Department of Corrections number, Bureau of Prisons number), but the function is the same: it’s how the mailroom matches your envelope to a specific person. Without it, many facilities reject the letter outright.
For federal inmates, the Bureau of Prisons runs a free online locator at bop.gov that returns the register number, current facility, and expected release date.2Federal Bureau of Prisons. Inmate Locator Most state corrections departments offer a similar search on their websites.
Put the inmate’s full name and register number on the first line, then the facility’s complete mailing address, including any housing unit the facility uses. Some institutions route mail internally by housing unit, so leaving that off can add days.
Your return address matters just as much. Federal regulations require inmates to include a complete return address on outgoing mail, and the same expectation runs in reverse: a legible return address with your full legal name and current home address must appear on the envelope.3eCFR. 28 CFR 540.12 – Controls and Procedures Envelopes without a clear return address are routinely discarded unopened. Skip nicknames, initials, and business aliases for both sender and recipient. If you’re sending a money order, the inmate’s full committed name and register number need to appear on the instrument itself; mismatches get returned.4Federal Bureau of Prisons. Program Statement 5265.14 – Correspondence
What You Can Put in the Envelope
Most of the physical restrictions on inmate mail trace back to a single concern: drug-soaked paper. That worry drives nearly every material rule you’ll run into. Many facilities require plain white paper no larger than 8.5 by 11 inches and limit writing to standard blue or black ballpoint pens. Gel pens, felt-tip markers, and highlighters are frequently banned because the ink can absorb and mask chemical substances.
Decorative elements are almost always off-limits. Stickers, tape, glitter, glue, and anything scented (perfume, cologne) will get a letter rejected. These materials can conceal contraband and interfere with drug-detection equipment. Even greeting cards face growing restrictions. Some large state systems have banned them after finding items like SIM cards for contraband phones hidden inside the card stock.
Photographs
Photographs are allowed at most facilities, but size caps and quantity limits vary. Some systems cap photos at 4 by 6 inches, others accept up to 8 by 10. Polaroid and instant photos are frequently prohibited because the layered backing can hide substances between the image and the base. Stick to standard prints from a drugstore or online printing service. Content limits apply as well: sexually explicit images, photos showing gang symbols or criminal activity, and images of other incarcerated people are commonly rejected.
Stamps and Money Stay Out
Do not put postage stamps inside a letter. Federal regulations prohibit inmates from receiving stamps or stamped items through the mail, and any enclosed stamps go back to the sender.5eCFR. 28 CFR 540.21 – Payment of Postage Cash, personal checks, and money orders tucked into regular correspondence are also rejected. In the federal system, funds found inside inmate mail are pulled and processed for return within 24 hours.6Federal Bureau of Prisons. Program Statement 5800.16 – Mail Management Manual Sending money takes a separate channel, covered below.
What You Can’t Write About
Beyond physical contraband, facilities screen the content of your correspondence. A warden can reject any piece of mail considered harmful to institutional security or likely to encourage criminal activity. Under federal regulations, the categories that justify rejection include:
- Descriptions of how to construct or use weapons, ammunition, or incendiary devices.
- Methods of escape, or blueprints and drawings of correctional facilities.
- Instructions for manufacturing drugs or brewing alcohol.
- Correspondence written in any form of code.
- Material encouraging physical violence or gang activity.
- Content that instructs in or encourages the commission of crimes.
- Sexually explicit material that poses a security threat or facilitates criminal activity.
A warden cannot reject mail simply because the ideas are religious, political, or socially unpopular.7eCFR. 28 CFR Part 540 Subpart F – Correspondence Any rejection has to be tied to a concrete security concern rather than distaste for the viewpoint. Federal prisons are also barred from using appropriated funds to distribute commercially published material that is sexually explicit or features nudity, which in practice means those items never clear the mailroom.
Writing in a language other than English can cause real delays. Some state systems limit mail to English and one or two additional languages, and anything outside those options requires translation before clearing. If the facility has no staff who can translate, the letter may be forwarded to another institution or a central office, and processing time doesn’t start until translation is finished.
Sending Books and Magazines
Books and magazines generally need to ship directly from the publisher, a book club, or a bookstore, not from your home. Federal policy requires this for hardcover publications and newspapers at every Bureau of Prisons facility. For softcover books and magazines, the vendor-only rule applies at medium-security, high-security, and administrative institutions. Only minimum- and low-security federal facilities allow softcover publications from any source.8Federal Bureau of Prisons. Program Statement P5266.11 – Incoming Publications
Hardcover books are not outright banned in the federal system, but the vendor-only requirement effectively limits who can send them. State rules vary more widely, and some prohibit hardcovers altogether on the reasoning that rigid bindings create space for smuggling. If you’re uncertain, order a paperback.
Possession is also capped. The federal limit for books authorized to transfer between institutions is five.9Federal Bureau of Prisons. Program Statement 5580.08 – Inmate Personal Property Sending a sixth book when someone is already at the limit means rejection. Newspaper and magazine subscriptions have to come from the publisher’s distribution center, not get forwarded by a friend or family member.
Legal Mail and the Markings That Protect It
Correspondence between an inmate and their attorney gets special handling, but only if the envelope is labeled correctly. In the federal system, the front of the envelope must include the phrase “Special Mail — Open only in the presence of the inmate,” and the sender has to be clearly identified as a legal professional. Equivalent markings like “Legal Mail — Open only in the presence of the inmate” or “Attorney-Client — Open only in the presence of the inmate” also qualify.4Federal Bureau of Prisons. Program Statement 5265.14 – Correspondence The return address should carry the attorney’s name and firm on letterhead so staff can verify the source.
When legal mail is properly marked, staff must open it in the inmate’s presence. They can inspect it for physical contraband but cannot read or copy the contents.10eCFR. 28 CFR 540.18 – Special Mail The Supreme Court established this protection in Wolff v. McDonnell, holding that prison officials may open attorney mail in front of the inmate to check for contraband but may not intrude on the substance.11Justia. Wolff v McDonnell, 418 US 539 (1974)
Without the correct labeling, the mailroom treats legal correspondence as general mail. Staff can open, read, and copy it without the inmate present.10eCFR. 28 CFR 540.18 – Special Mail An otherwise privileged letter in a plain envelope loses that protection the moment it hits the mail cart.
How to Send Money
Money cannot travel inside a letter. Any cash, check, or money order enclosed in regular correspondence gets pulled out and rejected. In the federal system, funds have to move through channels that bypass the mailroom entirely.
- Electronic transfer through MoneyGram or Western Union. Transfers sent between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Eastern post to the inmate’s commissary account within two to four hours. MoneyGram uses receive code 7932 and caps individual transfers at $300.
- Mail to the Bureau of Prisons’ centralized lockbox using a money order, U.S. government check, or cashier’s check. Personal checks are not accepted. Foreign instruments payable in U.S. dollars are held for 45 days before posting.
Cash sent to the lockbox is not processed.12Federal Bureau of Prisons. Community Ties State systems each have their own deposit methods, often through contracted vendors that charge transaction fees. Check the facility’s website before sending anything.
Electronic Messaging as an Alternative
Most correctional facilities now offer electronic messaging alongside physical mail. In the federal system, the service is called TRULINCS (Trust Fund Limited Inmate Computer System), which inmates access through CorrLinks. The process starts with the inmate adding a contact to their approved list. Once staff approves the request, the system sends an automated email invitation to the outside contact, and that invitation expires after 10 days. Miss it and the inmate has to resubmit.13Federal Bureau of Prisons. TRULINCS Topics
Outside contacts who want to stop communicating can block the inmate through CorrLinks. If someone blocks by accident, the inmate has to submit a written request to the facility’s Trust Fund Office with the contact’s name, address, email, and phone number to lift the block.
State prison systems contract with private vendors that charge per message, with costs ranging from free in some states to around 50 cents in others. Character limits vary dramatically, from as few as 500 characters in some systems to 20,000 in others. Some vendors also charge inmates a per-minute fee to read or respond on top of the sender’s per-message cost. Like physical mail, electronic messages are subject to monitoring and content screening.
If Your Mail Gets Rejected
When the facility rejects a piece of correspondence, the warden must notify the sender in writing, explain the reason, and inform the sender of the right to appeal. Rejected mail goes back to the sender, with two exceptions: material containing evidence of a crime is forwarded to law enforcement, and contraband items are not returned.14eCFR. 28 CFR 540.13 – Notification of Rejections
If a book or magazine is rejected, the publisher or sender has 20 days from the date of the rejection letter to request an independent review by writing to the Regional Director. The facility has to hold the publication during any appeal rather than returning it. If the rejection is upheld after all appeals and any legal proceedings are complete, the material goes back to the sender.15eCFR. 28 CFR 540.71 – Procedures The inmate also has the right to review rejected material in order to file their own appeal, unless the warden determines the content itself poses a security threat.
Outside senders do not have access to the Bureau of Prisons’ internal grievance system, which is reserved for inmates. Your route is the direct appeal to the Regional Director described above, or a call to the facility’s mailroom supervisor to clarify why your letter came back.