Montgomery County's Photo & Mail Rules: Why Your Loved One Gets Photocopies and How to Send Photos That Get Delivered
Mailed photos and your loved one only got black-and-white copies — or nothing at all? You didn't mess up. Montgomery County Correctional Facility photocopies all incoming mail and photos. Here's how the policy works, how to prep photos so they actually get delivered, and how to retrieve your originals before they're destroyed.
Montgomery County Correctional Facility photocopies all incoming photographs. Your loved one gets the copy; the facility keeps the original.
Heads up: If even one photo in your mailing violates policy, the facility returns all photos from that mailing to the sender - there’s no partial delivery.
Prepare Photos
- ✓ Send photos in a plain white envelope.
- ✓ Put a clearly marked return address on the envelope (from the person sending the photos).
- ✓ Stick to standard 4x6 photos - anything larger won’t be accepted.
- ✓ Don’t use third-party photo vendors that print and mail the photos for you (for example, Shutterfly or FreePrint).
Before sealing the envelope, go through every photo you're sending. Montgomery County's rule is unforgiving: one policy violation means the entire batch gets returned. If you're on the fence about a particular picture, leave it out and send something else instead.
Montgomery County doesn't pick and choose from a batch. If any photo in your mailing violates policy, every photo in that mailing comes back to you. The takeaway: check each one before you send.
Once the photocopy reaches your loved one, the facility holds onto the original for 60 days. Miss that window and unclaimed mail - photos included - gets destroyed.
- Have your loved one arrange pickup - the facility allows an outside party to retrieve the original mailing, but it must be picked up within 60 days of the photocopy being delivered.
- Go during the allowed pickup window - pickup is Monday through Friday, 7am–3pm (excluding holidays).
- Bring government-issued ID - the person picking up must present a government-issued ID.
Address inmate mail exactly like this: Montgomery County Correctional Facility Attn: [Inmate Name and ID Number] P.O. Box 247 Phoenix, Maryland 21131 Double-check that your loved one's name is legible and include their ID number on the address line.
Quick reject-check: Photos are most likely to be rejected if they don’t come in a plain white envelope with a clear return address, if they’re larger than 4x6, or if they were printed/mailed by a third-party photo vendor.
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