How to send messages, photos, and packages
Personal and general mail to Fairfax County Adult Detention Center must go through Smart Communications—send it to the vendor's P.O. Box for processing. This has been required since August 23, 2021. Sending photos? Include your return address plus the inmate's name and number. Photos are limited per mailing and will be opened, scanned, and screened before being uploaded to the inmate's electronic account if approved. Books, magazines, and newspapers must arrive via U.S. Postal Service directly from the publisher or a third-party retailer. Everything gets inspected, and items with nudity, custom photo books, or content threatening facility operations will be rejected. Some official documents should still go directly to ADC, while original transactional paperwork goes to the ADC Property Officer. Medications can be dropped in the lobby prescription safe in original, labeled containers with a ten-day supply limit.
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Sending mail to someone at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center (ADC) is still possible—but the process changed in 2021. Here's exactly where to send personal mail, how it gets handled, and what will get rejected.
Sending mail to someone at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center is straightforward once you know the rules. Some items go to Smart Communications; others must go directly to the jail.
Send personal and general mail through Smart Communications to the vendor P.O. Box Fairfax ADC specifies—this routing has been required since August 23, 2021. Include the inmate's full name and ID number, plus your full physical return address. Legal or professional mail meeting ADC requirements can still go directly to the facility if properly labeled and from an authorized source.
Yes, but publications must arrive via U.S. Postal Service directly from the publisher or an approved third-party retailer. Everything gets inspected. Items with nudity or other prohibited content—including certain custom photo books—will be rejected.
Yes. Send photographs through Smart Communications with your return address and the inmate's name and number, and follow the per-mailing photo limit. Obscene or sexually explicit photos are prohibited. Approved photos are opened, scanned, screened, and delivered to the inmate's electronic account.
Getting to Fairfax ADC is straightforward—if you know where to park and what to expect when you arrive.
Fairfax ADC encourages approved professional visitors to use SMART Communications for virtual visitation and messaging instead of coming in person when that works for your case. If you’re approved as a professional visitor, there’s no cost to use SMART for these professional contacts, which can make it easier to stay in touch without coordinating travel and on-site check-in.
Putting money on an inmate’s account at the Fairfax Adult Detention Center (ADC) comes down to three options: the lobby kiosk, the lobby money safe, or an online credit card payment. The kiosk in the ADC lobby takes cash and credit cards, which can be the fastest option if you’re already at the building. The money safe is for money orders and cashier’s checks made out to the inmate’s full name. If you’d rather pay from home, you can make an online credit card payment through smartinmate.com — just plan for a vendor fee on top of the amount you deposit.
