Sending Mail to Kankakee County Jail: Books, Photos, and What Gets Rejected

All mail to and from Kankakee County detention facilities gets searched by a Sheriff's Department employee. Assume anything you send will be opened and reviewed. Plan your mailings around the facility's limits - that's how you make sure your loved one actually receives them.

• ✓ Include a return address on every piece of incoming mail.
• ✓ Make sure the return address includes both your name and your full address.

Want to send reading material? Skip anything hardbound. Hard-cover books and calendars aren't allowed through the mail.

• ✓ Send only new books (no used books).
• ✓ Have books shipped directly from a bookstore, warehouse, or publisher.
• ✓ Retailers like Barnes & Noble or Amazon are acceptable options (or a similar retailer).

Photos Policy

• ✓ Include no more than five (5) photos per mailing.
• ✓ Keep photos at standard size: 4 x 6 or smaller.

Send mail through the U.S. Post Office or a commercial carrier. The jail doesn't accept mail dropped off at the facility.

Printing something from the internet to mail in? Keep it short - Kankakee County Jail accepts no more than five pages of internet-printed material. Case logs and legal documents don't count toward that limit.

Legal paperwork is handled differently than general internet printouts. Copied case law and other legal material will be accepted through the mail.

1. If it’s rejected before opening - unopened mail that isn’t accepted is returned to the sender.
2. If it’s rejected after opening - mail found to be unacceptable after it’s been opened will be destroyed as contraband.