Sending Mail to Inmates in Idaho
Maintaining communication with your inmate is an integral part of the inmate's rehabilitation process. Keeping in contact with friends and family members helps inmates to hear ideas, stories, concepts and information that they have no other way to experience being inside the institution.
Inmates can receive letters and up to twenty 4"x6" photographs. The photos may not be instant or Polaroid photos as these present a security and safety issue. No photos sent to an inmate can contain nudity or sexually suggestive content. You should also refrain from sending images of tattoos and hand gestures as these can be interpreted as gang related and may be rejected.
Offenders in Idaho can also receive greeting cards that are no larger than 8"x10". The cards may not be padded, laminated, contain electronics, or be multi layered. Basically it must be a plain run of the mill card, nothing too fancy.
When sending mail to a correctional institution in Idaho, it is important to format the address on the envelope as follows:
Facility Name
Inmate Name, ID Number
Inmate's Housing Number (if known)
PO Box or Street address
City, State, Zip Code
All mail sent to an inmate is opened and inspected for contraband (with the exception of legal or privileged mail which can still be scanned for contraband but may not be read). It is important that you do not mark the envelope or the letter in any way, this includes putting stickers, crayon art, lipstick, perfume, glitter, glue or any decorations on it. If you have children that color pictures for a family member who is incarcerated it may be necessary to photocopy the images and then send them. At no time should you ever send a package or any other items to an inmate. Stamps, envelopes, pencils, pens etc. must all be purchased from the commissary using funds the inmate has in their inmate account.
Another important thing to remember, at no time should you be sending your inmate information about staff, or other inmates, including the crimes they may have committed. If an offender is transferred to a different housing unit or facility mail is forwarded for 60 days. If mail is received to an inmate's prior location after the 60 day period is up, the mail will be returned to sender.
How to Send Books and Magazines to Idaho Inmates
Inmates can also receive books, magazines and newspapers. You cannot send these items yourself, they must instead come from a reputable vendor such as Amazon.com. You can place and pay for the order and have it shipped to the inmate's mailing address, but you must remember a few key things:
- Books must always be new and paperback
- You must include the inmates name, ID number, and housing unit in the address
- Books, magazines and newspapers must not contain maps, be violent, incite hate, contain nudity, explain how to construct bombs or weapons, or contain anything that may jeopardize the safety and security of the institution.
- All mail must be send through the United States Postal Service
- Book clubs are not allowed
If you want to learn more about sending these items to an inmate read about it here.
Sending Money to Inmates in Idaho
Friends and family members of inmates can send funds to their loved ones by mail. You will need to first obtain a money order or cashier's check. Generally, United States Postal Money Orders seem to work the best and have a minimal fee attached to the purchase.
- Make the cashier's check or money order payable to the inmate's name and ID number.
- Include the facility, and housing unit somewhere on the check, usually the memo field.
- Include your name and address on the money order.
If the inmate is housed at any of the following locations you will send the completed money order/cashier's check directly to the inmate:
- Correctional Alternative Placement Program
- Idaho State Correctional Center
- Idaho Correctional Institution Orofino
- North Idaho Correctional Institution Cottonwood
- St. Anthony Work Camp
- Idaho Maximum Security Institution
- Idaho State Correctional Institution
- South Idaho Correctional Institution
- Kit Carson Correctional Center
If the inmate is housed at any of these other locations:
- Pocatello Women's Correctional Center
- South Boise Women's Correctional Center
- East Boise Community Work Center
- Idaho Galls Community Work Center
- Nampa Community Work Center
- South Idaho Correctional Institution Community Work Center
You will need to send the funds to:
Offender Accounts
IDOC-Central Office Fiscal
1299 N. Orchard, Suite 110
Boise, ID 83706
There is no limit on the amount of funds you can send to an inmate. If the inmate owes outstanding balances for child support, court fee's, restitution, or other fines a percentage of the deposit may be removed and allocated towards paying down the outstanding balance. Current balance information cannot be given out to anyone except for the inmate, and a power of attorney. Individual deposits can be verified if you identify yourself as the depositor and it matches the name of the depositor on the money order. Funds are usually credited within 24 hours of receipt. For more information on sending funds to an inmate, read our guide here.
Idaho Inmate Phone Calls
Inmates have access to telephones and can make outgoing collect and pre-paid calls only. At no time can an offender receive an incoming call. Do not ask the staff to deliver a message or take a message for an inmate, they most likely will just get annoyed and the answer is always no. The only exception to this is when their is a death in an offenders immediate family, at which time you should contact the watch commander or chaplains office and they will usually be willing to relay the message to the inmate.
Friends and family members can now deposit funds into a pre-paid telephone account. The benefits to using a pre-paid phone account are inmates are able to make international calls, and can also make calls to a cell phone. All calls are a maximum of 30 minutes in duration and may be recorded or monitored for security reasons.
The phone service provider for pre-paid inmate calls in Idaho is ICSolutions. You can setup your account over the phone by calling 1-888-506-8407 or by visiting their website at ICSolutions.com.
ICSolutions will charge you 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.