How to Send Mail to a Loved One at Blue Ridge Regional Jail — Amherst (Phoenix, MD scanning address & photo rules)
Sending mail to someone at Blue Ridge Regional Jail — Amherst works differently than you might expect. Your letter goes to a P.O. Box in Phoenix, Maryland, where it's scanned and delivered electronically to your loved one's tablet.
Personal mail at Blue Ridge Regional Jail - Amherst doesn't arrive as paper. Letters, photos, and drawings get scanned at an offsite facility, then delivered digitally through the tablet system. You're still mailing a physical envelope - but your loved one reads it on their tablet.
Note: BRRJA doesn't accept physical personal mail at the facility. Legal mail is the exception - it's copied and destroyed while the inmate watches, and the copies go directly to them.
For personal mail to get scanned and delivered correctly, address the envelope to the Phoenix, MD P.O. Box like this: Facility Name Inmate Name, Inmate # P.O. Box 247 Phoenix, MD 21131 Include the full facility name and the state where it's located, plus your loved one's full name and identifier. Your full name and physical return address must be clearly written in the top left corner - without it, mail can be delayed or rejected. Use the same inmate identifier you've used before.
The Phoenix, MD address is for personal mail only. Don't send legal mail there. Checks and money orders follow different rules and shouldn't go to this address either.
- ✓ Do not mail cash, certified checks, or personal checks - these are not accepted.
- ✓ Do not put a money order inside a letter; letters containing money orders will be returned to the sender.
- ✓ If you send a money order, it must be mailed by itself (no letter included).
- ✓ Make the money order payable to BRRJA, with the inmate’s name written after the purchaser’s name.
- ✓ Send money orders to the P.O. Box/physical address only (not to the Phoenix personal-mail scanning address).
Sending photos? Keep the limit in mind: inmates can't receive or keep more than 10 pictures at a time. If your loved one already has photos, sending more could push them over.
- ✓ No Polaroid photos.
- ✓ No picture frames.
- ✓ Photos must be no larger than 4×6 inches.
- ✓ Do not send nude or revealing photos of any type.
BRRJA isn't accepting outside deliveries of books, magazines, or newspaper subscriptions right now. If you were planning to send reading material from a publisher or retailer, hold off - those deliveries won't be accepted.
Pre Mail Checklist
- ✓ Address personal mail to: Facility Name; Inmate Name, Inmate #; P.O. Box 247; Phoenix, MD 21131.
- ✓ Write the full facility name and the state where the facility is located on the envelope.
- ✓ Include your loved one’s full name and identifier (use the same identifier you’ve used before).
- ✓ Put your full name and physical return address in the top left corner.
- ✓ Remember: personal mail is scanned offsite and delivered electronically to a tablet.
- ✓ Don’t mail personal letters to the facility - physical personal mail isn’t accepted there.
- ✓ Keep photos within the rules: no more than 10 total in possession, no Polaroids, no frames, and 4×6 max.
- ✓ Don’t send nude or revealing photos.
- ✓ Don’t send books, magazines, or newspapers - outside deliveries are currently not accepted.
- ✓ Never include a money order inside a letter; if you’re sending a money order, mail it alone.
Before you seal the envelope, double-check: the Phoenix, MD P.O. Box is for personal mail only - not legal mail, checks, or money orders. Sending funds? Follow BRRJA's money-order rules: make it payable to BRRJA with the inmate's name written after the purchaser's name, and send it to the P.O. Box/physical address only.
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