What to know before you send mail to someone at Alger Correctional Facility

Before you drop anything in the mailbox, confirm two things: the person's MDOC number and their current facility. MDOC's Offender Tracking Information System (OTIS) lets you look up prisoner numbers and find the address for their current location. This matters - mail goes to wherever they're housed right now. If they've transferred and you send it to the old address, your letter could bounce back or sit in limbo.

MDOC wants USPS letters addressed with three essentials: the facility’s address, the prisoner’s name, and the prisoner’s number. Don’t treat the number as optional - when names are similar or handwriting is hard to read, that number is what helps the mailroom match your letter to the right person and keep it moving.

• ✓ Prisoner’s full name
• ✓ Prisoner’s MDOC number (verify it on OTIS)
• ✓ Alger Correctional Facility (verify the current facility on OTIS)
• ✓ Facility mailing address (verify it on OTIS before sending)

Here's the rule that catches most people off guard: all incoming personal mail at Alger - including the envelope - gets photocopied in black and white. The prisoner receives the photocopy. The originals? Shredded. So that heartfelt handwritten letter you spent an hour on? They'll read it, but they'll be holding a black-and-white copy.

The main difference between USPS and JPay at Alger comes down to how your message arrives. Send a letter through USPS, and your loved one gets a black-and-white photocopy while the original is destroyed. If color matters - especially for photos - JPay is your only option. JPay works differently. You'll create an account and pay with "stamps" or a subscription to send electronic messages. Everything gets scanned for security before it's released, and content that violates policy can slow things down or get rejected entirely. On their end, prisoners access JPay messages through a kiosk in their housing unit. It's faster and more convenient than waiting for mail call, but it's also a monitored, screened system - not traditional mail.

• ✓ USPS letter: delivered as a black-and-white photocopy; originals are shredded
• ✓ USPS letter: good for traditional letter-writing, but don’t send anything you need kept in original form
• ✓ JPay message: requires a JPay account plus stamps or a subscription
• ✓ JPay message: electronically scanned; inappropriate content can be delayed or rejected
• ✓ JPay message: supports color (helpful for photos and anything where color matters)

Photos trip people up more than anything else. With JPay, MDOC limits you to one photo per page - no collages. For USPS mail, remember everything gets photocopied in black and white anyway, so even a perfectly fine photo won't arrive in color. And anything that looks like multiple images crammed onto one page can cause problems.

1. Use JPay when color matters - if you want photos or pages to stay in color, send them through JPay rather than USPS.
2. Stick to one photo per page - keep each page to a single image so it matches MDOC’s photo rule.
3. Skip collages - avoid layouts that combine multiple pictures into one page; collages are prohibited.

Writing Tips

• ✓ Save a copy of anything you send (since USPS originals are shredded)
• ✓ Put the prisoner’s MDOC number on the envelope and verify their current facility before mailing
• ✓ Don’t include irreplaceable originals expecting they’ll be delivered or returned
• ✓ Keep JPay messages clean and policy-safe; messages are scanned and can be delayed or rejected for inappropriate content
• ✓ Follow JPay rules closely - policy violations can result in the prisoner or the sender being blocked from messaging