Sending Mail to Lumberton Correctional: Why Your Letter Goes to Maryland First

Non-legal mail to North Carolina's NCDAC facilities - including Lumberton Correctional - doesn't go straight to the prison. It routes through TextBehind in Maryland first for screening and scanning. The scanned images then get delivered electronically to your loved one's tablet. That's why the mailing address is in Phoenix, Maryland, even though the person you're writing to is in North Carolina.

Format the address exactly as NCDAC requires - otherwise, your letter comes right back. Put the incarcerated person's name and OPUS number on the first line. On the next line, write out the full name of the prison (no abbreviations). Then add the TextBehind address: P.O. Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131. One more thing: include your full name and return address on the envelope. Missing sender info is a common reason mail gets rejected.

• ✓ Offender’s full name + OPUS number
• ✓ Full prison name written out (do not abbreviate)
• ✓ P.O. Box 247
• ✓ Phoenix, MD 21131
• ✓ Your full name and return address on the envelope

TextBehind scans letters, greeting cards, photos, and artwork. Those scans get forwarded to the prison and delivered to your loved one's tablet. What they see is a digital version of what you sent - not the original paper.

Want the originals back? You have 30 days to request them from TextBehind. There's a $2.50 service fee per letter to cover return postage. Miss that window, and TextBehind shreds everything.

1. Decide whether you need the originals back - If you mailed anything you can’t replace, plan to request a return.
2. Contact TextBehind within 30 days - Ask for the original letter and contents to be returned.
3. Be ready to pay the return fee - The service fee is $2.50 per letter.
4. Don’t wait past the deadline - After 30 days, the originals are shredded if you haven’t requested them.

Religious materials follow different rules. Correspondence courses, sacred texts, and Bible studies must be pre-approved - and the content has to be accessible for review on the vendor, school, or religious organization's website. Once approved, these materials ship directly from the source to the correctional facility. They don't go through TextBehind.

Publications are another common stumbling block. You can't send them through TextBehind yourself. Order from the publisher or an online retailer and have it shipped to the prison's street address - not the TextBehind P.O. Box. Send a publication through TextBehind, and it comes right back to you.

• ✓ Religious correspondence courses/sacred texts/Bible studies: confirm it’s pre-approved and reviewable on the vendor/school/religious organization’s website
• ✓ Religious materials: make sure the vendor/school/religious institution mails it directly to the correctional facility (not through TextBehind)
• ✓ Publications (books/magazines, etc.): order from a publisher/retailer and ship to the prison street address (do not ship via TextBehind)