What You Can Send in the Mail to an Inmate in Kansas: Letters, Photos, Books, and Censorship Rules
Mail rules in Kansas prisons are straightforward once you know what's allowed, what gets rejected, and how much someone can keep. This guide will help you send mail that gets through the first time.
People in Kansas Department of Corrections facilities can receive regular mail - letters, postcards, photographs, and non-musical greeting cards. Stick to those basics and you're on safe ground. It's the simplest way to stay in touch without your mail getting delayed or sent back.
Note: All incoming letters may be read and inspected for illegal or unauthorized items. Keep that in mind when you write, and don't include anything that could be considered contraband.
Residents can only keep a limited amount of personal mail: up to 10 letters and 50 photographs. Photos must be 8x10 or smaller.
Polaroids won't be accepted. If you're printing photos at home or ordering them online, make sure they're standard printed photos - not instant-film prints.
Items Prohibited Vendor Rules
- ✓ Don’t mail stamps to a resident (they may not receive stamps through the mail).
Want to send a book or magazine? It needs to come directly from the publisher or a vendor. Don't mail your own used copy from home - order it so it ships straight from the seller.
Even standard mail can be censored or rejected after review. Reading materials may be turned away if they're considered a security threat, sexually explicit, contain nudity, or relate to role-playing games (including rulebooks for those games). To avoid delays, choose printed material that's clearly appropriate for a correctional setting.
- Watch for a notice - If mail is censored or rejected, the sender (if known) is notified of the reason.
- Use the appeal option - The notice should also explain that you have an opportunity to appeal the decision.
- Know where it can go next - Separately, the decision made by facility staff may be appealed by the resident to the Secretary of Corrections (or the Secretary’s designee).
First, find out where the person is housed. Kansas uses the Kansas Adult Supervised Population Electronic Repository (KASPER) on the KDOC website to look up a resident's current location. Once you know the facility, check the KDOC site for that facility's mailing address and format your envelope accordingly.
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