What You Can and Can't Send in the Mail to Nebraska Correctional Center for Women (NDCS’s scanned mail rules)

NDCS policy starts from a reasonable baseline: no restrictions on how many letters you send, how long they are, what language you write in, or who sends them - unless there's a legitimate safety or security reason to limit something. Most everyday personal correspondence is allowed, as long as it doesn't create a problem.

As of November 12, 2024, NDCS routes all incoming personal mail through a contracted scanning vendor. Your loved one receives a scanned copy - not the original paper.

Here's the big change for families: you don't address personal mail directly to Nebraska Correctional Center for Women anymore. Instead, send it to the vendor mailbox in Phoenix, Maryland. Your envelope must include the facility name (where the person is housed), their committed name or legally changed name, and their institutional number. Even mail that's allowed under NDCS policy can get rejected if the vendor can't process it cleanly. Careful addressing and "scanner-friendly" formatting is what gets through reliably.

NDCS doesn't tightly limit mail length or quantity. Letters, postcards, photos, and greeting cards are all fine - as long as nothing raises a safety concern. The catch: since everything goes through the scanning vendor starting November 12, 2024, acceptance depends on whether the item can actually be scanned, not just whether it's technically allowed.

Rejection Checklist

• ✓ Address all personal correspondence to the scanning vendor mailbox: Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131
• ✓ Include the facility name (Nebraska Correctional Center for Women) on the address
• ✓ Use the incarcerated individual’s committed name or legally changed name (not a nickname)
• ✓ Include the institutional number on the address
• ✓ Keep in mind that scanned-mail processing can still reject items that would otherwise be allowed under NDCS policy if they don’t meet the vendor’s scanning/processing criteria

Incarcerated individuals can't possess postage stamps. Instead, they buy pre-stamped envelopes through the canteen and can keep up to 40 at a time. Planning to send self-addressed stamped envelopes? Those are only allowed from specific sources: government agencies, attorneys or legal entities, publishers, vendors, religious headquarters, or educational facilities. For education-related SASEs, they must be part of an approved correspondence course.

1. Re-check the address line by line - Personal correspondence must go to Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131, and it needs the facility name, the incarcerated individual’s committed or legally changed name, and their institutional number.
2. Compare what you sent to NDCS’s mail policy basics - NDCS generally doesn’t restrict mail by length, language, content, or source unless it’s necessary for safety, order, or security.
3. Call the scanning vendor for scanning-service problems - If the issue seems tied to the scanning process, contact customer care at 1-866-516-0115.
4. Fix name/number issues through NDCS Records - If you think the institutional information you used is inaccurate, send questions to: Records Administrator, Department of Correctional Services, PO Box 94661, Lincoln NE 68509.