Mailing Letters to Foothills: Why Your Envelope Goes to Maryland (and How to Address It)

At Foothills and other NCDAC prisons, non-legal physical mail doesn't go straight to the facility. It's routed to TextBehind for screening and scanning, then delivered electronically to the person's tablet. That's why your envelope goes to a Maryland P.O. Box - even though Foothills is in North Carolina.

How to Address

• ✓ Write the incarcerated person’s full name and OPUS number on the first line.
• ✓ On the next line, write the full prison name - do not abbreviate it.
• ✓ Use this mailing address:
• ✓ P.O. Box 247
• ✓ Phoenix, MD 21131
• ✓ Put a complete return address on the envelope, including your full first and last name (mail can be returned without it).

A correctly addressed envelope includes the person's name and OPUS number, the full prison name (no shortcuts), and the Maryland P.O. Box. Here's an example: John Doe #1234567 Foothills Correctional Institution P.O. Box 247 Phoenix, MD 21131 The most common mistake? Missing the OPUS number or abbreviating the prison name. If the address isn't formatted exactly right - name/OPUS, full prison name, TextBehind P.O. Box - your letter gets returned.

When your mail arrives at TextBehind, everything gets scanned - letters, greeting cards, photos, artwork. The scanned images are forwarded to the prison and delivered to your loved one through their electronic tablet.

Want to skip the post office? TextBehind lets you submit letters or upload photos directly from your phone or computer using their app or web upload. Same type of message, no stamp required.

Religious materials follow different rules. Correspondence courses, sacred texts, and Bible study materials need pre-approval from the facility before they're allowed in. Send them without approval and they may not be accepted.

1. Get the material approved first - religious correspondence courses, sacred texts, and Bible study materials must be pre-approved by the facility.
2. Have the source send it to the prison - once approved, the item must be shipped directly from the vendor, school, or religious institution to the offender at the correctional facility.
3. Don’t route approved religious items through TextBehind - approved religious course materials and sacred texts are not supposed to go to the Maryland TextBehind address.

Books, magazines, and other publications have their own rule: you can't send them directly. Instead, order from the publisher or an online retailer and have it shipped to the person at the prison. Don't send publications through TextBehind - packages sent that way get returned.

Common Mistakes

• ✓ Using the prison’s location in North Carolina on the envelope instead of addressing it to TextBehind’s Maryland P.O. Box.
• ✓ Leaving off the OPUS number after the person’s name.
• ✓ Abbreviating the prison name instead of writing it out fully.
• ✓ Mailing without a return address that includes your full first and last name.
• ✓ Assuming “close enough” is fine - if it’s not addressed exactly as required, the mail can be returned to the sender.