What You Can't Put in a Letter to Carteret County Jail (And Why Your Mail Might Get Rejected)

Limit each envelope to 10 pages or fewer. Go over that limit, and your mail gets rejected - not delivered.

Stick to standard letter-size paper: pages must be no larger than 8.5" x 11". Oversized pages don’t meet the processing center’s requirements and can cause your mail to be rejected.

Skip the Polaroids. The processing center won't accept them, even though other printed photos are fine.

• ✓ Glitter
• ✓ Glue
• ✓ Tape
• ✓ Any 3D elements (raised decorations, thick attachments)
• ✓ Any electronic components (including lights, music, or animation)

Leave money out of the envelope entirely. Cash, personal checks, and money orders all get rejected at the processing center.

Never send originals you can't replace. Birth certificates, driver's licenses, Social Security cards, green cards, and irreplaceable photos won't be returned.

Magazines, books, packages, and other publications? Don't send them to the processing center. They'll be returned to you.

Mail containing illegal content or security threats won't just be rejected - it gets forwarded to the appropriate authorities for investigation.

• ✓ Threats (including threats of physical harm)
• ✓ Plans for escape
• ✓ Letters written in code
• ✓ Gang symbols or colors
• ✓ Information that would create a clear and present danger of violence and physical harm to a human being
• ✓ Photos, drawings, or cartoons showing nudity or sexually graphic content (or sexually explicit reading material)

Quick Pre Mail Checklist

• ✓ 10 pages or less per envelope
• ✓ Pages no larger than 8.5" x 11"
• ✓ No Polaroid photos
• ✓ No glitter, glue, tape, 3D elements, or electronic components (lights, music, animation)
• ✓ No original photos or original documents (birth certificates, driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, green cards, etc.)