sending mail to an inmate jailed in arizona
Arizona inmates may receive letters, non-electronic cards, and photographs.
Photos must be no larger than 4″x6″ and may not contain nudity, sexually suggestive material, hand gestures (may be mistaken for gang symbols), and may not show tattoos.
You can send up to five photos at a time in an envelope with a stamp.
To maintain the 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 full return address and the inmate’s full address should be the only thing on the envelope.
There may be no crayon or marker drawings, glitter, glue, lipstick, perfume, or stickers on the mail you send because some people surreptitiously smuggle drugs into the facility through these means.
all mail you send to an inmate should be in the following format: inmate name, unit ID number (if known) institution name facility address
Inmates who are indigent and unable to pay for stamps and envelopes will receive 5 stamped envelopes per month, and more if 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 that mail will only be forwarded for 30 days after an inmate is released.
Sending the following items directly from you (in some cases from anywhere) to an inmate by mail is prohibited:
- maps, books and publications containing maps
- pens, pencils, crayons, art supplies
- calendars
- postcards and greeting cards unused
- postage stamps
- stickers, labels, markers
- lottery tickets and tax forms
- photos of other inmates
- polaroid photos
inmates in arizona can also receive vacation/quarter packages from family and friends through a company called access securpak. For more information and a link to this company, please read our page on sending quarterly and vacation packages to an inmate.
send 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 that you can order books, magazines, and newspapers from a company like Amazon.com. books must be new and can only be paperback. spiral bound and hardcover books are restricted for security reasons. For more information on shipping these items to an inmate, please read our guide on shipping books, magazines, and packages here.
send money to an inmate jailed in arizona
arizona now only accepts money for inmate accounts through electronic services. Money orders and checks are no longer accepted. Inmate friends and family members 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 for each transaction, and the fee will vary depending on the amount you send, via the company you use and the method (phone, in person or online).
one of the main benefits of arizona only accepting funds this way is that funds are processed much faster and with less chance of human error. The cheapest of these three companies appears to be Global Tel Link, but only if you send funds over the phone or online. If you are funding an inmate’s account in person, the cheapest method is JPay. For a breakdown of the fees associated with sending funds, you’ll want to read this.
Inmates 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, to more useful items like stamps, envelopes, paper, snacks, and food. To learn more, read our guide on how to send money to an inmate.
phone calls and his arizona prisoner
In order to speak to your inmate by phone, you must be an approved visitor or have completed the Visiting Application by selecting the phone only option. When completing the Arizona Visit Application, you may select to have telephone privileges only. You won’t have to pay the regular $25 fee if you apply for phone privileges only. Once you are an approved visitor, or have submitted the visiting application with the completed telephone section, the inmate will have privileges to speak with you by telephone. under no circumstances are staff to take or transmit a message for you to the inmate, and there is no way for you to call the inmate, they should always be the ones to contact you. You can learn more about how to call an inmate by reading our inmate phone call guide. You can also save money on your calls. To learn more about saving money on inmate calls, read this.