Sending Mail to an inmate incarcerated in Arizona
Arizona inmates are able to receive letters, cards that have no electronics in them, and photos.
The photos must not be larger than 4"x6" and cannot contain nudity, sexually suggestive material, hand gestures (can be confused as gang symbols), and should not show tattoos.
You can mail up to five photos at a time in an envelope with a one stamp.
To maintain the safety and security of the facility all incoming and outgoing mail is opened and inspected. Do not send personal items to an inmate through the mail. Your complete return address and the inmates complete address should be the only thing that appears on the envelope.
No crayon or marker drawings, glitter, glue, lipstick, perfume or stickers may be present in the mail you send because of some people smuggling drugs into the facility surreptitiously through these means.
All mail you send to an inmate should be formatted as follows:
Inmate Name, ID number
Unit (if known)
Institutions Name
Facilities address
Inmates who are found to be indigent and cannot afford stamps and envelopes will receive 5 stamped envelopes per month, and will be given more if the outgoing mail is legal in nature.
If an inmate receives mail but he or she has been transferred or released the mail will be forwarded. Please note mail will only be forwarded for 30 days after an inmate is released.
The following items are prohibited from being sent directly from you (in some instances from anywhere) to an inmate in the mail:
- Maps, books and publications that contain maps
- Pens, pencils, crayons, art supplies
- Calendars
- Unused postcards and greeting cards
- Postage stamps
- Sticker, labels, bookmarks
- Lottery tickets and tax forms
- Photos of other inmates
- Polaroid photos
Inmates in Arizona can also receive holiday/quarterly packages from family and friends through a company called Access Securpak. For more information and a link to this company read our page on sending holiday and quarterly packages to an inmate.
Mail Books and Magazines to an inmate in Arizona
Inmates incarcerated in an Arizona prison can receive books, magazines and newspapers directly from the publisher. What this means is you can order books, magazines, and newspapers from a company like Amazon.com. The books must be new and can only be paperback. Spiral bound and hardcover books are restricted for security reasons. For more information on sending these items to an inmate read our guide about sending books, magazines and packages here.
Sending Money to an inmate incarcerated in Arizona
Arizona now only accepts money for inmate accounts through electronic services. Money orders and checks are no longer accepted. Friends and family members of inmates can send funds to an inmate's account online, over the phone and in the lobby of any facility using the kiosk. The three companies that process inmate funds in Arizona are:
- JPAY
- Keefe
- GTL or Global Tel Link
Sending funds online is the easiest and most convenient method, but users should be aware that each of these companies charges a fee per each transaction, and the fee will vary with how much you are sending, through which company you use, and the method (telephone, in person, or internet).
One of the primary benefits of Arizona only accepting funds this way is the funds are processed much faster and with less chance of human error. The cheapest of these three companies seems to be Global Tel Link but only if you are sending the funds over the phone or through the internet. If you are placing funds on an inmate's account in person the cheapest method is JPAY. For a breakdown of the fee's associated with sending funds you will want to read this.
Inmate's can use the funds you send them to buy things from a store in the correctional institution called a commissary. The commissary has a variety of products from hygiene items, to electronics like televisions, and more useful items like stamps, envelopes, paper, snacks and foods. For more information read our guide about sending money to an inmate.
Phone Calls and your Arizona Inmate
In order to talk to your inmate over the telephone you must be an approved visitor or have filled out the visiting application selecting the phone only option. When filling out the Arizona visiting application, you can select to have phone privileges only. You will not have to pay the normal $25 fee if you are applying for phone privileges only. Once you are an approved visitor, or have submitted the visiting application with the phone section completed, the inmate will have privileges to talk to you over the phone.
Inmates can make outgoing collect calls and prepaid calls through approved third party vendors only. Under no circumstances can staff take or relay a message for you to the inmate, and their is no way for you to call the inmate, they must always be the ones who contact you.
You can learn more about calling an inmate by reading our inmate telephone calls guide.
You may also be able to save money on your calls. To learn more about saving money on inmate calls read this.