What to Include (and NOT Include) When Mailing Letters or Photos to an Inmate at McHenry County Jail
Jail mail gets rejected for small, easy-to-miss reasons—wrong photo format, extra enclosures, or decorations that seem harmless. Follow these rules to make sure your letter actually reaches your loved one.
Address the envelope with the inmate's full name and Jail ID, then mail it to: McHenry County Jail 2200 N. Seminary Avenue Woodstock, IL 60098 Both pieces of info matter. Missing or incomplete identifying details can delay delivery - or prevent your mail from reaching the right person at all.
Note: McHenry County Jail only accepts mail sent through the U.S. Postal Service - no hand-delivery or drop-offs for inmates.
Once the jail receives your letter from the Post Office, it's typically delivered to the inmate within 24 hours - excluding weekends, holidays, and unusual circumstances. Outgoing mail works the same way. Letters from inmates are usually forwarded to the Post Office within 24 hours of receipt, again excluding weekends and holidays.
Always include your name and complete return address. Mail without sender information is considered unauthorized - it won't be delivered to the inmate or returned to you. Instead, it gets placed in the inmate's property and held until they're released.
McHenry County Jail doesn't allow inmate-to-inmate correspondence. If you're writing to someone in custody, the letter needs to come from you - not another incarcerated person.
- ✓ Any ornamentation on letters or cards (including musical parts; plastics; wood; metals; cloth; ribbon; cord; etc.)
- ✓ Adhesives of any kind
- ✓ Paints
- ✓ Colored pencils
- ✓ Crayons
- ✓ Any “foreign substance” on the paper
- ✓ Altered paper
- ✓ Discolored paper
- ✓ Runny ink
- ✓ Glitter
- ✓ Perfume
- ✓ Lipstick
- ✓ Blank paper tucked inside the correspondence
- ✓ Stamps included inside the correspondence
- ✓ Envelopes included inside the correspondence
Photo Rules
- ✓ No more than ten (10) photos per envelope
- ✓ Photos must be printed on photo paper
- ✓ No Polaroid photos
- ✓ No photos larger than 4x6 (unless printed on a standard sheet of paper)
Photo content matters. Skip anything showing alcohol, drugs, gang affiliation, or weapons (real or fake). Nudity and sexual content are also off-limits.
If your envelope contains an unauthorized item, the jail may return the entire letter - and everything inside - back to you. Double-check your letter, card, and photo choices before sealing the envelope.
The one exception: if your mail lacks a sender name and return address, it won't be mailed back. Instead, it's flagged as unauthorized and held in the inmate's property until release.
Practical Checklist
- ✓ Address it with the inmate’s full name and Jail ID, and mail it to McHenry County Jail, 2200 N. Seminary Avenue, Woodstock, IL 60098
- ✓ Include your full return address and name on the outside of the envelope
- ✓ Send it through the U.S. Postal Service (no drop-offs)
- ✓ Keep letters/cards plain: no ornamentation (musical parts, plastics, wood, metals, cloth, ribbon, cord, etc.)
- ✓ Don’t use adhesives, paints, colored pencils, crayons, or anything that leaves a foreign substance on the paper
- ✓ Avoid altered/discolored paper and runny ink
- ✓ Don’t include glitter, perfume, or lipstick
- ✓ Don’t tuck extra blank paper, stamps, or an extra envelope inside
- ✓ For photos: send no more than 10 per envelope, printed on photo paper
- ✓ Don’t send Polaroids
- ✓ Keep photo size to 4x6 or smaller (unless printed on a standard sheet of paper)
- ✓ Skip prohibited photo content: alcohol, drugs, gang affiliation, weapons (real or fake), nudity, or sexual content
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