Mail and Packages to Heritage Trails: Why Letters Are Copied, Amazon Rules, and Restricted Correspondence

General mail at Heritage Trails - anything that isn't legal or other privileged correspondence - gets photocopied in black and white by the mail room. Your recipient gets the copy, not the original. This applies to educational and religious mail too. The policy exists for contraband prevention and helps staff process incoming correspondence consistently.

Sending a package? Here's the most important rule: incarcerated individuals cannot receive packages from third-party fulfillment services. Even if the order looks legitimate on your end, anything routed through a fulfillment middleman can be rejected at the facility.

Amazon orders have their own requirement. For an item to be accepted, it must be both sold by Amazon and shipped by Amazon. Before placing your order, check the product listing - what matters is who the seller is and who handles shipping, not just that you're buying through Amazon.

“Restricted correspondence” is mail to or from another confined person (for example, someone incarcerated elsewhere, on parole, or in a county jail). To request permission, the incarcerated individual must submit State Form 11985, “Request to Correspond with Another Confined Person,” and direct it to the Warden (or the Warden’s designee) for approval or denial.

The request also needs to explain why the correspondence benefits both confined individuals and the facilities involved. In plain terms, the facility wants a clear, reasonable purpose for contact - and reassurance that allowing the exchange won't create safety, security, or administrative problems for either location.

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• ✓ Treat general letters as “copy-only” mail - they’ll be photocopied in black and white, and the original won’t be delivered.
• ✓ If you’re sending something that is legal/privileged mail, confirm it qualifies for that category before you mail it.
• ✓ Don’t use third-party fulfillment services for packages - those packages aren’t accepted.
• ✓ For Amazon, confirm the item is both sold by Amazon and shipped by Amazon (check the product information).
• ✓ Keep prohibited items out of your envelope or package so the whole mailing doesn’t get held up.

For Amazon purchases, take one extra step: open the listing and verify that both "sold by" and "shipped by" show Amazon. If either one is a third party, the package may be rejected. Before mailing anything, review Heritage Trails facility instructions for any local rules that apply on top of these statewide requirements.