Sending Mail to Inmates in Florida
Offenders who are incarcerated in Florida are allowed to receive letters sent through the United States Postal Service. All mail is opened, inspected and examined to ensure the safety and security of the facility. Legal mail must be opened in the presence of the inmate and will not be read. There is currently no limit on the number of pages an inmate can receive, however the language must be either Spanish or English unless approved by the warden. Enclosures such as newspaper clippings, magazine clippings etc are also allowed but may not exceed 8 1/2 inches by 14 inches and can be no more than 15 pages. No glue, tape, or staples are allowed, so if you are sending a clipping of some sort, do not glue it to a piece of paper. Legal, medical and other important documents that exceed 15 pages are allowed but will require the warden to approve.
Inmates can also receive cards that are no larger than 8x10 inches. Cards sent to an inmate may not have electronics or be constructed in a layered way that could enable someone to hide something within it (such as a popup card).
You can also send your inmate photos, but they will count towards the 15 page limitation. The photos may not be larger than 8"x10" and may not contain nudity, or sexually suggestive material. Polaroid or instant photos are also prohibited from being sent to an inmate as they pose a security risk.
Inmates can also receive up to 20 self addressed and stamped envelopes. If you send these to an inmate they will not count toward the fifteen page limitation on inmate mail. You can also send up to ten pieces of blank paper (must be white, off-white, or yellow lined), blank greeting cards, or envelopes.
All mail should be addressed in the following manner:
Inmate Last name, First name, ID Number
Facility Name
PO Box or Street address
City, State, zip code
If the inmate is transferred or released the mail will be forwarded for up to one month. After one month the mail will be rejected and returned to sender.
How to Send Books and Magazines to Florida Inmates
Offenders can receive new paperback books, magazines and newspapers that are ordered directly from Amazon.com. The number of publications an inmate is allowed to have in their possession will depend on their security level. Inmates are usually limited to having four books in their possession at any given time, close management inmates are only allowed three books. Newspapers and magazine subscriptions are allowed, but the number the inmate is allowed to have in their possession will depend on the frequency of delivery. For instance, if delivery is a weekly (or less often) newspaper or magazine the inmate may have up to eight of them at a time, if it is a daily periodical, or a periodical that is delivered on a basis more than once a week then the inmate is limited to having only two in his or her possession. The inmate must also be able to keep all of their materials neatly in their living space, if they cannot they will be required to discard the items. If you want to learn more about sending books, magazines and newspapers to an inmate read about it here.
Sending Money to Inmates in Florida
Inmates can receive funds to their commissary account in a variety of ways. Each of the following methods has a fee associated with it and may take a different amount of time to be processed and credited to an inmate's account. For security reasons, the department of correction will not disclose any information about deposits or about the balances of an inmate's account.
You can send funds to an inmate by:
- Walk In
- Internet
- Phone
To send funds through any of the above highlighted methods you will first need to know:
- The Inmates Name
- The Inmates Identification Number
- The current location of the inmate
Deposit by Walk In
Friends and family members can deposit money by visiting any MoneyGram location, this includes any CVS or Walmart. You will need to use the receive code 5188. The deposit may be made for a fee and can be paid with cash or debit card.
Deposit by Internet
Money can be deposited online using a debit or credit card through Jpay. This tends to be the fastest way inmates can receive funds and has one of the lower fee's associated with sending funds.
Deposit Funds Over the Phone
Deposit funds to a Florida inmate's account over the phone by calling JPAY at 1-800-574-5729, they accept credit and debit cards and again will charge a fee for processing the transaction.
Deposit Funds Through the Mail
The method to send funds to your inmate with the lowest associated fee is by United States Postal Money Order. The money order must be made payable to "JPAY". Include the inmate's name and ID number in the memo field and be sure you fill out a money order deposit slip, found here (Spanish deposit slip found here). A fee of .50 is assessed by the DOC for processing.
You must send the completed deposit slip and money order to:
JPAY
P.O. Box 260010
Hollywood, FL 33026
Florida Inmate Phone Calls
Inmates in Florida are allowed to make outgoing calls to approved numbers only, under no circumstances can you initiate a call with an inmate. If there is a family emergency such as a death, you should contact the facilities chaplain who will in turn notify the inmate, depending on the circumstances the inmate may be allowed to make a one time special telephone call.
Inmates must submit a telephone list that can have up to ten telephone numbers on it. The list may be updated once every six months (sometimes sooner for certain circumstances). Cell phone numbers are now allowed to be on the list, however you may be asked to present a copy of the cell phone contract in order for the number to be approved.
All calls (with the exception of legal calls) can be recorded and monitored, so keep this in mind while you are talking to your inmate.
The pre-paid phone service provider for inmate calls in Florida is Securus Correctional Billing Services, they can be reached at 1-800-844-6591 or online at securustech.net.
Securus will charge a fee for each call, plus a rate per minute. You may be able to drastically reduce your inmate phone bill by setting up your account with a number local to the facility. Learn more about how you can save money on your inmate phone calls.