Sending Mail to an inmate incarcerated in Alaska
Inmates incarcerated in a prison or jail in Alaska can receive photos, letters, and cards that do not contain electronics. Inmate's can also receive new paperback books, magazines, and newspapers, see the section below for more information.
Photos that you send to an inmate may not be instant (Polaroid) or any larger than 4"x6".
Any photos containing nudity or sexually explicit/suggestive content will be rejected.
All mail is handled by the mail room staff and is opened read and inspected for contraband unless it is privileged mail, such as from an attorney in which case it will not be read but may still be opened and inspected.
All mail should be addressed in the following manner:
Inmate Name, ID number
Institutions Name
Facilities Address
If you mark the letters or envelopes, use crayon, glitter, glue, lipstick, marker or any other decoration you mail may be rejected. Do not spray perfume on your letter, sometimes they are allowed but the majority of them are returned, plus the mail staff really does not like to be bombarded with scents when inspecting the mail. Mail will also be returned if it appears to be coded or have a hidden message in it. Maps and other documents that could aid in an inmate's escape attempt are also prohibited.
Inmates can purchase stamps through the commissary to send outgoing mail. Inmates who are found to be indigent (fancy word for broke) are provided up to 5 stamps per week to send outgoing mail.
If the facility goes on lockdown, or if the inmate is on disciplinary action they may be unable to receive or send mail until the conditions are lifted.
Mail Books and Magazines to an inmate in Alaska
Inmates are allowed to receive books, magazines and newspapers from approved vendors. The largest approved vendor you can send these items through is Amazon.com. The items must come new and must be paperback. Any book that is hardcover or spiral bound will be rejected for obvious security reasons. Magazines, books, and newspapers must not contain any nudity or have hate speech, or depict illegal activities within them. For example an inmate cannot receive Playboy, or High Times magazines, and newspapers/newsletters that incite hate or violence may not be received either.
You can read more about sending an inmate books, magazines and packages here.
Sending Money to an inmate incarcerated in Alaska
Inmates in Alaska may receive United States Postal Money orders from friends and family members. The money order must be made payable to the inmate and include the ID number of the inmate.
Funds should be sent to the inmate at the institutions mailing address listed on the facilities page.
Inmates can also disburse money from their accounts to someone who is not incarcerated by filling out a "request for disbursement of funds" form.
Inmates may receive no more than $500 of deposits in a single month. The commissary is the only place an inmate can purchase electronic items such as a television or radio.
Inmates will be designated a day they can shop at the institutions commissary. The commissary holds a variety of hygienic items that include but are not limited to:
- toothbrush and toothpaste
- denture bath, brush and cream
- makeup remover
- blush
- eyeliner/eyebrow pencil
- lipstick and mascara
- shampoo and conditioner
- combs
- shaving cream and razors
- soaps and body wash
- lotions, baby powders, and deodorants
The commissary also has certain stationary products such as envelopes, pens, colored pencils, erasers, hi liters, pocket dictionary, notebooks, sketch pads, assorted greeting cards and typing paper.
The following are some of the food products available in commissary:
- chips, crackers, cookies, jerkies
- ramen noodles, refried beans and rice, instant oatmeal
- peanuts, cashews, mixed nuts
- ketchup, mayo, mustard, relish
- granola bars, pastries, brownies
- peanut butter
- microwave popcorn
- instant coffee, tea, spiced cider, lemonade, hot chocolate mix, sugar, non-dairy creamer
- candy bars, jolly ranchers, licorice, life savers, starburst etc.
Inmates can also get a deck of cards, magic cards, yahtzee, chess/checkers, dominoes, and uno from the regular commissary. The special commissary contains many more items, but not every inmate is allowed privileges to shop there. Some of the items include, shirts, shorts, sweats, thermals, denim, bras and underwear, socks, shoes, towels, sheets, and light bulbs. Some of the more fun items the inmate can get from special commissary are softball mitts, monopoly, risk, scrabble, mp3 player, sony radio with headphones, calculator, a watch, curling iron, hair dryer, desk lamps, table fan, and a 13 inch tv, the remote can also be purchased separately.
For more information read our guide about sending money to an inmate.
Phone Calls to an Alaskan Inmate
When an inmate is first arrested and booked in Alaska they will be allowed to make a collect phone call to someone.
Once the inmate is incarcerated in one of the correctional facilities they will only be allowed to make outgoing collect calls or prepaid calls through a third party provider (Evercom, Securus, Global Tel Link, ICSolutions etc.) Phones at the facility are turned on around the time the morning count is completed and are usually on until about 10pm.
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.