What You Can and Can't Send in the Mail to Knox County Detention Center (Checklist)
Mail rules at Knox County Detention Center are strict, and the stakes are real: mail that doesn't meet guidelines can be destroyed. Use the checklist below so your letter gets through the first time.
For standard (non-legal) mail from friends and family, address your envelope exactly like this: Inmate Name - Inmate ID Knox County Detention Center P.O. Box 76550 Highland Heights, KY 41076 Both the inmate's name and inmate ID are required. Leave off the ID or stray from the address format the facility directs, and your mail can be rejected.
Put a return address on the outside of the envelope. Knox County Detention Center requires one on all incoming mail. Skip it and your letter may never get processed.
Assume everything you send will be opened, inspected, and possibly read. Staff check incoming mail for contraband and rule violations.
Want to include something with your letter? Keep it simple. Pictures are the only enclosures allowed. Each inmate can receive up to six photographs per package, and the photos must be printed on photo paper.
Prohibited Quick List
- ✓ Stamps (do not include extra stamps inside the envelope)
- ✓ Blank envelopes
- ✓ Stationery
- ✓ Cash, checks, money orders, or any other forms of currency
- ✓ Threats of physical harm against any person, or threats/details of criminal activity
- ✓ Plans to smuggle contraband into or out of the institution
- ✓ Address labels
- ✓ Stickers
- ✓ Homemade cards
- ✓ Musical cards
- ✓ Non-white envelopes or paper
- ✓ Paintings or tracing paper
- ✓ Pages from coloring books
- ✓ Drawings in colored ink, marker, crayon, or glitter
- ✓ Raised decorations
- ✓ Paint, white-out, glue, or any other liquid form
Your mail has to fit their size limits. Knox County Detention Center only accepts items no larger than 8 1/2" x 11" (letter size) and no smaller than 3 1/2" x 5" (postcard size).
Thickness matters too. Incoming mail must be no thicker than light card stock, and it has to feed through a sheet-fed scanner. Anything bulky, layered, or stiff will be a problem.
- ✓ Use white envelopes and white paper only (non-white envelopes or paper are not allowed)
- ✓ Put a return address on the envelope
Incorrectly addressed mail can be rejected, so take 30 seconds before you seal the envelope to double-check. Include the inmate's name and inmate ID, and send standard friends-and-family mail to: Inmate Name - Inmate ID Knox County Detention Center P.O. Box 76550 Highland Heights, KY 41076
"Extra" touches are where a lot of mail gets rejected at Knox County Detention Center. No address labels or stickers. No homemade cards or musical cards. Use white paper and white envelopes only. Don't include paintings, tracing paper, coloring book pages, or drawings done in colored ink, marker, crayon, or glitter. Raised decorations are out, along with anything involving paint, white-out, glue, or any other liquid form.
Why so strict? All mail must be thin enough to pass through a sheet-fed scanner, and every piece of incoming mail is opened and inspected for contraband and rule violations.
Knox County Detention Center states that any mail not meeting their guidelines will be destroyed. If violations are found, the mail is destroyed and not returned. A plain letter on white paper is always the safer bet.
Some categories get sent back instead of destroyed. Legal mail, certified mail requiring the inmate's signature, and mail with postage due will be returned to the sender.
Don't put money inside a personal letter. Cash, checks, money orders, or any other forms of currency are prohibited in inmate mail. If you're sending a money order for commissary, make it out to the Knox County Detention Center with the inmate's name on the memo line, and mail it to 570 KY 225, Barbourville, KY 40906. For MRT book payments, the money order must also be made out to the Knox County Detention Center, with the inmate's name and "MRT Book" on the memo line, and mailed to 570 KY 225, Barbourville, KY 40906.
Printable Checklist
- ✓ Address standard friends-and-family mail to:
- ✓ Inmate Name - Inmate ID
- ✓ Knox County Detention Center
- ✓ P.O. Box 76550
- ✓ Highland Heights, KY 41076
- ✓ Include the inmate’s name and inmate ID on the address
- ✓ Put a return address on the envelope
- ✓ Use white envelope and white paper only
- ✓ Stay within size limits: no larger than 8 1/2" x 11", no smaller than 3 1/2" x 5"
- ✓ Keep it thin: no thicker than light card stock, must be able to feed through a sheet-fed scanner
- ✓ Enclosures: pictures only
- ✓ Photos limit: up to 6 photographs per package
- ✓ Photos must be printed on photo paper
- ✓ Do not include: stamps, blank envelopes, stationery, or any form of currency (cash/checks/money orders)
Final check: If your mail isn't addressed exactly the way the facility directs, it can be rejected. And remember, all incoming mail is opened and inspected.
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