Sending Mail to Inmates in Maryland Prisons
Anyone incarcerated in a Maryland prison is allowed to send and receive correspondence. Inmates must pay their own postage unless they are deemed indigent, in which case they are provided postage and writing materials for sending up to seven letters every week. To qualify as indigent the inmate must have had less than $4.00 in their account for over 30 days. All incoming mail can be opened and inspected for contraband. You may not send cash, stamps, or any other items with your correspondence. Mail will be read if it is believed to contain escape plans, describes the use or construction of weapons, bodily harm, procedures for manufacturing drugs or alcoholic beverages, is written in code, or poses a direct threat to the safety and security of the facility.
You can also send inmates 4"x6" photos. The photos cannot be Polaroid or instant photos as these could be used to introduce contraband to the facility. You should send no more than five photographs at a time. The photos must not contain nudity or depict any illegal activities. Refrain from sending pictures that contain hand gestures and tattoos as these can be misconstrued as gang symbols.
Whenever you send mail to an inmate you should always address it as follows:
Inmate Name, ID Number
Facility Name
PO Box or Street address
City, State, Zip code
How to Send Books and Magazines to Inmates in Maryland
You may also send inmates in Maryland publications including books, magazines and newspapers, but they must come directly from an approved vendor like Amazon.com. All books must be new and may only be paperback. Third party/resellers through Amazon are not allowed. No publications (books,magazines) can contain nudity, maps, or have any content that could potentially put the safety or security of the facility at risk. For instance, a book that describes how to make weapons, brew alcohol, or manufacture drugs is strictly prohibited. If you want to learn more about sending publications to an inmate read about it here.
Sending Money to Inmates in Maryland
Inmates incarcerated in Maryland have two types of accounts, a reserve account and an active account. The reserve account contains funds the inmate is not allowed to spend, the active account contains money the inmate can use to purchase items from the commissary.
- To send funds to an inmate you will need to get a United States Postal Money Order made payable to the inmate. You should also include the inmate's full name and institution SID number on the money order. Money orders over $250 are held for 30 days, otherwise it will take up to five business days for the money order to be processed. Where you send funds will depend on which institution the inmate is located in. If your inmate is in one of the following institutions you will need to send the money order to the Lockbox:
- Patuxent Institution
Baltimore City Correctional Center
Baltimore Pre-Release Unit
Central Maryland Correctional Facility
Metropolitan Transition Center
Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center
Chesapeake Detention Facility
Dorsey Run Correctional Facility
Eastern Pre-Release Unit
Brockbridge Correctional Facility
Southern Maryland Pre-release Unit
Maryland Correctional Institution for Women
Maryland Correctional Institution-Jessup
Jessup Correctional Institution - The Lockbox address is:
P.O. Box 17111
Baltimore, MD 21297-1111
- Patuxent Institution
- If the inmate is located in any other Maryland facility not listed above you will send the Money Order directly to the institution the inmate is located at using the inmate mailing address listed on that facilities page.
For more information on sending funds to an inmate, read our guide here.
Maryland Inmate Phone Calls
All inmates are allowed to make outgoing collect calls and pre-paid calls through a third party provider called Global Tel* Link. All calls can be recorded and monitored. Three way calling, call forwarding and call waiting may cause the phone call to terminate. .
The phone service provider for Maryland is Global Tel* Link, GTL for short. You can setup your account over the phone by calling 1-800-483-8314 or by visiting their website at ConnectNetwork.com.
GTL 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.