Mail and Packages

Pictures and videograms must comply with the requirements for printed matter. Incarcerated individuals receiving pictures or videograms shall be informed that the picture’s or videogram’s content is subject to the same rules and procedure as outlined in policy 02-01-103 Offender Correspondence.

Write an Incarcerated Individual

To write to an incarcerated individual, you need the incarcerated individual's name and DOC number and the name and address of the correctional facility where they are housed. You can look up an offender's DOC number and location on the IDOC website using the Locate an Incarcerated Individual app and you can find the specific IDOC correctional facility address on each facilities detail page.

Address both the letter and envelope as follows:

Incarcerated Individual's Name, DOC#
Facility name
Street Address or PO Box
City, IN ZIP code

Mail & Packages

IMPORTANT NOTICE: In order to impede the introduction of contraband and prohibited property into its facilities, the Department is requiring all facilities to copy general correspondence (i.e., not Legal Mail or Privileged Correspondence).  All general correspondence, including educational and religious mail shall be copied in black & white by the facilities’ mail rooms.  incarcerated individuals shall not receive originals of these documents.

For more information about offender mail/packages and restrictions, read policies 02-01-101 Offender Personal Property and 02-01-103 Offender Correspondence on our policy page.

Restricted Correspondence

An incarcerated individual must obtain prior approval from the Department to receive or send correspondence to another person if the other person is:

• Held in a correctional facility (Federal, State, or local)
• On parole
• Sentenced to a community corrections program
• Held in a county jail
• Released from a Department correctional facility to county probation supervision
• Participating in a Community Transition Program (CTP); or,
• Participating in a work release program

The facility or program indicated in A-G may be operated by, or provided through contractual services to, a county, state, province, or federal unit of government.

The burden of obtaining permission for such correspondence is with the incarcerated individual. The incarcerated individual must establish that the exchange of correspondence is in the best interests of both the confined persons and the facilities involved. This request shall be made on State Form 11985, “Request to Correspond with Another Confined Person,” and shall be directed to the Warden or designee for approval or denial.

Any incarcerated individual placed on a restrictive status for disciplinary or investigative reasons shall not be allowed to correspond with other incarcerated individuals during the restrictive status period, regardless of any prior approvals. Upon release from restrictive status, any prior approval normally will be reinstated; however, the Warden or designee may rescind the prior approval if it is felt that continued correspondence would be detrimental to the safety and security of the public, facility, staff, or the incarcerated population.

Denials of correspondence with other incarcerated individuals shall not be used as a disciplinary measure unless the denial is based upon a demonstrated abuse of this privilege by the incarcerated individual.

An incarcerated individual who is denied authorization to correspond with a person identified in A – G above, may challenge the decision in accordance with the "Offender Grievance Process." (Policy and Administrative Procedure 00-02-301 [adult] or 03-02-105 [youth]) If the request involves an agency outside the jurisdiction of the Department and the request is denied by the Warden of the outside agency, the decision of the Warden shall be final.

Privileged Correspondence

An incarcerated individual shall be permitted to mail privileged correspondence to government officials. Only correspondence sent to or received from the government officials in their official capacities as designated in these procedures shall be considered privileged correspondence. Privileged correspondence does not include correspondence mailed to the courts, attorneys, and legal organizations as this correspondence is considered legal mail. Incarcerated individuals shall be required to designate on the envelope that the correspondence is “privileged.”

Legal Mail

Incarcerated individuals shall be allowed unrestricted access to legal representatives and courts through the mail. Only that mail to or from an incarcerated individual which is clearly identified as legal mail shall be treated as such. It is the responsibility of the sender to indicate that the correspondence is legal mail. Mail from a court, an attorney, or legal organization (such as LSO, ACLU, ICLU, etc.) shall be treated as legal mail. Also, mail identified as a Tort Claim sent to the Commissioner shall be treated as legal mail.

Incarcerated individuals who are foreign nationals shall be permitted to correspond with the embassy or consulate of their home nation. This mail shall be considered legal correspondence and shall be subject to the same requirements as other correspondence designated as legal mail. Staff shall not interfere with a foreign national attempting to correspond with their embassy or consulate.

Opening of Correspondence

An incarcerated individual may choose to mail original photographs, noncommercially published photobooks, or art back to the sender, at their own cost, instead of having the facility destroy the originals.

Incarcerated individuals shall not receive damaged or altered publications. Used books shall be inspected for modifications or alterations prior to the incarcerated individual receiving the item. If a used publication contains writing, pictures, or is otherwise altered or annotated, the item shall be rejected and returned to sender.

Incarcerated individuals may not receive packages from a third party fulfillment services. Any item received by the mailroom with a return label belonging to a third party fulfillment service shall be rejected and returned to sender.

Facility mail room staff shall adhere to the following guidelines for general correspondence:

• The Department shall be required to adhere to the forty-eight (48) hour time limit (twenty-four [24] hour time limit for DYS facilities), excluding weekends, holidays, and facility emergencies, to distribute copied general correspondence to incarcerated individuals.
• Incoming general correspondence shall be physically maintained on-site for a minimum of fourteen (14) days. The fourteen (14) day count begins on the day the general correspondence is distributed to the incarcerated individual. The fourteen (14) days allows an incarcerated individual to properly access the grievance process (Policy and Administrative Procedure 00-02-301 [adult] or 03-02-105 [youth]) if they wish to challenge the destruction of the general correspondence.
• If general correspondence is suspected of contamination, mail room staff shall complete State Form 11984, “Notice and Report of Action Taken on Correspondence,” or a written notice of destruction that the general correspondence has been destroyed and forward a copy to the incarcerated individual within two (2) business days, unless the general correspondence is part of an on-going investigation.
• The Department shall not destroy mail that is the subject of a grievance. The incarcerated individual retains the right to challenge the adequacy of the copy.
• The timeline for a grievance begins on the day the incarcerated individual receives their copied mail.
• The timeline for a grievance on a non-delivered piece of mail begins on the day the notice is given to the incarcerated individual. If a grievance is filed, the Department shall not destroy the correspondence until the grievance has been resolved.