All mail is opened and reviewed by facility staff before being given to the inmate. Write to the inmate with this expectation. The safest option would be to start with messages of encouragement to a general and/or religious nature.

Each facility can have different rules and you may want to check the facility for specifics. In general if you stick to the below guidelines:

• Cards and cardstock paper may or may not get through.
• Envelopes cannot be more than ¼ inch thick or weigh more than 1oz with a single stamp.
• Stickers, glitter, crayons, glue, musical or decorative cards are not allowed.
• Scent or lipstick on either the envelope or its contents is not allowed.
• Blank paper, self-addressed stamped envelopes, loose stamps are not allowed.
• Sexually explicit material is not allowed.
• Do not send more than 5 pages in one envelope.
• Do not use address stickers.
• No more than 5 photographs or images.

Mail may be rejected if it is "determined detrimental to the security, good order, or discipline of the institution, to the protection of the public, or if it might facilitate criminal activity" or includes "matter which depicts, describes, or encourages activities which may lead to the use of physical violence or group disruption".

If mail is rejected, you should be notified in most cases.

Individual cases of inmate restrictions will be noted on the inmates page if we know of them.

Be careful discussing ongoing investigations or trials.

Birthday, Christmas, and other holidays are an excellent way to let inmates know they are not forgotten. Cards cannot include scents, pop-ups, or electronics.

If you wish to purchase a book, or a magazine or newspaper subscription, follow these guidelines, and please inform the Justice Initiative to avoid duplicate copies for the inmate. If you include a subscription, tell us when the subscription expires.

Hand-written letters are best.

Please keep in mind that if you send mail from your personal residence, the inmate will have that information. Unfortunately, there is little privacy for inmates, your personal information can be stolen or shared with other inmates. To circumvent this problem we offer the Email a Prisoner proxy service for prisoners on this directory only.