Anderson County Jail's Mail Processing: Why Your Letter Goes to Longview First

Mailing a letter to someone at Anderson County Jail? You might notice a Longview address - even though your loved one isn't housed there. That's because the jail uses centralized mail processing. All inmate mail (except legal and medical) goes to PO Box 591, Longview, TX 75606, where it's scanned and delivered electronically.

• ✓ Inmate’s full name
• ✓ Sheriff’s Office/booking/identifying number
• ✓ Your return address

Your letter gets scanned at the processing center, then delivered to the inmate electronically. They won't receive the physical paper - instead, they'll view your scanned mail on kiosks inside the facility.

• ✓ Keep pages to 8.5 inches wide x 11 inches tall (letter size)
• ✓ Send no more than 5 pages total; anything over 5 pages won’t be scanned and will be returned to you
• ✓ Write on one side only; mail is scanned front-side only, and any writing on the back can cause the whole mailing to be returned

Items Not Allowed

• ✓ Magazines (not accepted at the PO Box)
• ✓ Newspapers (not accepted at the PO Box)
• ✓ Bulk mail (not accepted at the PO Box)
• ✓ Books (not accepted at the PO Box)
• ✓ If you send any of the above to PO Box 591, they will be returned to the sender; these items must be mailed directly to the facility where the inmate is housed

The Longview PO Box is for regular personal mail - everyday letters and paper correspondence that isn't legal or medical. It all goes through central processing, gets scanned, and shows up electronically on the facility kiosks.

Legal and medical mail shouldn't go through the PO Box system. The jail treats those categories separately, and anything sent to PO Box 591 gets destroyed after scanning - you won't get it back. If you're unsure which category your mail falls into, figure that out before you send it.

• ✓ Address it with the inmate’s name, Sheriff’s Office/booking/identifying number, and your return address
• ✓ Use letter-size pages only (8.5" x 11")
• ✓ Keep it to 5 pages or fewer, or it won’t be scanned and will be returned
• ✓ Write on the front side only; back-side writing can trigger a return
• ✓ Include no more than 1 photo per mailing, or the entire mailing will be returned and nothing delivered
• ✓ Don’t send magazines, newspapers, bulk mail, or books to the PO Box; mail those directly to the facility where the inmate is housed
• ✓ Keep copies of anything you may need later, since PO Box mail is destroyed after processing