What Happens to Your Letter After You Mail It to RSW Regional Jail
If you're expecting your loved one to receive the actual envelope and pages you mailed, RSW Regional Jail's mail process might catch you off guard. Most personal mail goes through a third-party processing center, gets scanned, and arrives on the inmate's tablet as a digital copy.
Most incoming mail at RSW Regional Jail doesn't go directly to the facility. Everything except legal mail and money orders must be sent to a third-party processing center at RSW Regional Jail VA P.O. Box 18247, Greensboro, NC 27419. The center scans your letter and sends it electronically to RSW Regional Jail for review. Once approved, your message shows up on your loved one's tablet - not as the original paper you wrote on.
- Mail arrives at the third‑party P.O. Box - For regular letters (anything that isn’t legal mail or a money order), you send it to the Greensboro P.O. Box used by the processing center.
- The processing center scans your letter - Your pages are digitized so they can be sent electronically.
- Scans are forwarded to RSW Regional Jail for review - The scanned copy is electronically sent to the facility for final review.
- RSW screens the scanned mail - The jail reviews the electronic copy before it’s released to the inmate.
- Your letter is delivered to the inmate’s tablet - Once it clears screening, the inmate accesses it on their tablet.
- ✓ Keep it to 10 pages or fewer per envelope
- ✓ Use pages no larger than 8.5" x 11"
- ✓ Put the inmate’s full name on the envelope
- ✓ Include the inmate’s ID number on the envelope
- ✓ Include Facility ID 5258 on the envelope
Legal mail is different: Legal/privileged mail must be mailed directly to RSW Regional Jail (not to the processing center) and should be marked as legal mail.
After your letter passes the processing center's requirements, it gets scanned and delivered electronically to your loved one's tablet. The physical original is then destroyed. That means the paper you wrote on, the envelope, and anything you tucked inside won't make it to them.
Rejections
- ✓ Magazines
- ✓ Books
- ✓ Packages
- ✓ Publications of any kind
- ✓ Original important documents (for example: birth certificates, driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, green cards)
- ✓ Envelopes with more than 10 pages
- ✓ Pages larger than 8.5" x 11"
Size and page count aren't the only things that matter - content does too. Mail containing sexually explicit material, gang references, illegal activity, violence, or drug and alcohol content won't be accepted. Photos of nude or partially clothed people will also stop your letter from getting through.
Don’t send irreplaceable originals: The processing center does not accept original important documents, and items like that are not returned.
Practical Tips
- ✓ Write the inmate’s full name clearly
- ✓ Add the inmate’s ID number
- ✓ Include Facility ID 5258 on the envelope
Need copies of mail after someone's released? RSW Regional Jail accepts requests for digital copies via email. Send your request to inmate.mail@rswregionaljail.com and include: Facility Name (RSW Regional Jail), the inmate's full name, their ID number, and an email address where you can receive the files.
Quick way to prevent problems: Stay within the 10‑page limit and 8.5" x 11" size, and don’t include prohibited content or original important documents.
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