What You Can and Can't Mail to an Inmate at Jefferson Parish Correctional Center (photos, books, magazines)

Short Checklist Disallowed

• ✓ Mail that originates from other inmates (whether at Jefferson Parish Correctional Center or any other penal institution)
• ✓ Commissary items
• ✓ Tobacco products
• ✓ Blank stationery (blank paper)
• ✓ Stamps and envelopes

To help your mail get to the right person, address the envelope with the inmate’s name as it was used at the time of incarceration, plus their CCN number. Include the dorm number and the cell or bed number too, if you know it.

Jefferson Parish Correctional Center does allow inmates to receive pictures, but Polaroid instant-camera photos aren’t accepted. If you’re printing photos at home or ordering standard prints, avoid anything that’s a Polaroid-style instant photo.

Plan for everything you send to be checked. All mail received by the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center is opened by JPSO correctional employees and searched for contraband, and any item that violates the facility’s contraband rules can be seized and disposed of.

Stick with paperbacks - hardcovers aren't allowed. Magazines are also accepted, which makes them a good option if you want to send something current without eating into the book limit.

Books and magazines must ship directly from a publisher or bookstore. You can't mail them yourself from home.

There’s also a hard cap on how many books an inmate can receive: a maximum of four. If you’re planning to send multiple paperbacks, keep that limit in mind before you place an order.

If you’re wondering why mail sometimes doesn’t make it through, the first thing to know is that every piece of mail is screened. All mail received by the Correctional Center is opened by JPSO correctional employees to search for contraband.

When something breaks the rules, it doesn’t get returned to you. Any mailed item that violates the Correctional Center’s contraband rules is subject to seizure and will be disposed of - whether it’s a prohibited item like stamps or tobacco, or an unacceptable photo.

1. Order books and magazines from the right source - Make sure books and periodicals are purchased and shipped from a publisher or a bookstore.
2. Address everything with complete inmate details - Use the inmate’s name as it was used at the time of incarceration, plus their CCN number, and add the dorm number and cell/bed number if you know it.

Double-check before you order: paperbacks only, and four books max. If you want to send more reading material, magazines don't count toward that limit.