Legal Mail vs. Regular Mail at Crawford County Detention Center: What Families Need to Know

Legal mail gets special treatment here. While regular letters and cards go through Smart Communications for processing, legal mail skips that system entirely. It goes straight to the facility. That means you should never send legal correspondence to the Smart Communications PO Box - use the detention center's address instead.

Since November 20, 2017, all regular inmate mail must go to Smart Communications at their designated PO Box. Once there, postcards, letters, and greeting cards get scanned so inmates can view them on facility kiosks. Legal mail doesn't work that way. Send it to the Smart Communications PO Box and you'll create delays or risk misrouting. Keep the two paths separate: Smart Communications handles regular mail, the facility handles legal mail directly.

• ✓ Send regular inmate postal mail (postcards, letters, greeting cards, etc.) through Smart Communications for scanning
• ✓ Use the facility’s designated Smart Communications PO Box for regular mail (effective November 20, 2017)

Send legal mail to the facility's street address - not the Smart Communications PO Box. The address is: 4235 Alma Highway, Van Buren, AR 72956. Got something time-sensitive? Confirm details first by calling 479-474-2261 or faxing 479-471-3264. The bottom line: legal mail bypasses Smart Communications and goes directly to the detention center.

1. Decide whether it’s legal mail - The facility separates legal mail from regular correspondence; legal mail is not part of the Smart Communications scanning process.
2. If it’s legal mail, send it to the facility - Address it to Crawford County Detention Center at 4235 Alma Highway, Van Buren, AR 72956.
3. If it’s regular mail, use the Smart Communications route - Effective November 20, 2017, regular inmate postal mail is sent to Smart Communications at the designated PO Box for processing and scanning.
4. Clearly print the inmate’s name on the outside - The facility requires the inmate’s name to be clearly printed on the outside of the envelope or postcard so it’s posted to the correct account.