How to send messages, photos, and packages
Search for a loved one and send messages and photos in minutes.
Most care packages can't be mailed directly to someone at FCI Mendota. The rules are strict—but once you understand what counts as a package versus an approved publication, sending something that actually gets delivered becomes much simpler.
Staying in touch with someone at FCI Mendota typically comes down to phone calls and TRULINCS electronic messages. Both systems require approvals, are monitored, and have limits that shape what you can say and what gets recorded.
Mail rules at FCI Mendota follow Bureau of Prisons standards, but a few details trip families up. Packages and publications are the biggest sticking points. Here's how general mail, special mail, and publisher-sent reading material work so your items don't get turned away.
Nothing's worse than a long drive that ends with "no visits today." Before you head to FCI Mendota, run through these checks to make sure your loved one is there, you're cleared to visit, and visits are actually happening that day.
Trying to stay in touch with someone at FCI Mendota? Phone contact runs through the Bureau of Prisons system, and calls are monitored (with limited exceptions for attorney calls).
You can't just show up at FCI Mendota and expect to get in. Your name has to be cleared and added to the inmate's approved visiting list first. The process is straightforward once you understand what the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) needs from you.
