Sending Mail to Someone at Marion C.I.: OMPC address, scanning, and the 15‑page rule
Mailing a letter or card to someone at Marion Correctional Institution? The biggest thing to know: Ohio now routes most personal mail through the Ohio Mail Processing Center (OMPC), where it's scanned before reaching your loved one.
The OMPC opened on November 13, 2023, and handles incoming letters and greeting cards for people in Ohio state prisons, including Marion C.I. Your original letter won't arrive as-is - first-class mail gets copied and scanned into an electronic format. The front of your envelope is also copied so your return address stays attached to the scanned contents. Your loved one will still see who sent it and where it came from.
Heads up: The OMPC process is for letters and greeting cards. It does not apply to legal mail, packages, or magazines.
OMPC has a hard limit: fifteen (15) pages total, written or typed, front and back. That "front and back" part matters - if you write on both sides of a sheet, both sides count. Stick to white or yellow paper, and keep pages no larger than 8½ x 14 inches.
For cards, choose a standard greeting card - single-fold or multi-fold is fine. Skip anything that plays music or has pop-out elements; those are prohibited. OMPC will scan your letter or card, any photos you include (and enclosures up to 8½ x 11), plus the front of your envelope. Everything gets bundled together so the return address stays with the message.
Photo rule: Photos are typically scanned, and the originals are destroyed unless the incarcerated person asks to have the originals forwarded to another address at their expense.
Not everything goes through OMPC. Legal mail still goes directly to the parent institution, and packages and magazines bypass OMPC entirely. Printed materials have their own rule: family and friends can't buy magazines, newspapers, or books from third-party vendors and ship them directly. New orders and subscriptions have to go through identified staff, who process requests through approved vendors.
Printed materials: Even though your loved one may still be allowed to possess magazines, newspapers, and books, new subscriptions/orders must be processed by identified staff through approved vendors - friends and family can’t place those orders directly for delivery.
Want to help with magazines, books, or other approved items? The easiest route is usually money - put funds on your loved one's account so they can pay for approved purchases through proper channels. For packages, family and friends can order food and sundry packages, but those orders are subject to facility item lists and code limits. What's allowed varies by institution.
- ✓ Keefe Group / Access Securepak
- ✓ Union Supply Direct
- ✓ Walkenhorsts
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