What You Can and Can't Send in the Mail to Nebraska Correctional Center for Women

NDCS policy starts from a simple baseline: there are no blanket restrictions on the number of letters you can send, how long they are, what language they're written in, what they say, or who they come from. The main exception is when staff reasonably believe a limitation is needed to protect public safety or facility order and security. What actually changes the day-to-day experience for families is the mail-scanning process. As of November 12, 2024, all incoming personal correspondence is scanned by a contracted vendor. Your mail must go to the vendor mailbox (not directly to the facility) and be addressed with the facility name, the incarcerated person's committed or legally changed name, and their institutional number: Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131.

Since NDCS doesn't set broad limits on content, length, language, or source, most everyday personal correspondence is allowed by default. Letters, cards, and other personal written items are all fine, unless there's a specific safety or security reason to restrict them. If you're thinking about sending something that could raise security concerns, keep that exception in mind. NDCS can limit mail when there's a reasonable belief it's necessary to protect public safety or facility order and security.

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• ✓ Address personal correspondence to the scanning vendor mailbox (Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131) with the facility name, the incarcerated person’s committed or legally changed name, and institutional number.
• ✓ Make sure what you send is readable when scanned. If the scan is not readable, it will not be scanned again.
• ✓ If you’re unsure whether something belongs in “personal correspondence,” assume it will be scanned and delivered electronically after review.

Postage works differently inside NDCS facilities. Incarcerated individuals can't possess postage stamps. Instead, pre-stamped envelopes are sold in facility canteens, and a person can have up to 40 pre-stamped envelopes at a time.

There's a narrow exception for self-addressed stamped envelopes. NDCS allows incarcerated individuals to receive them only when they come from a government agency, an attorney or other legal entity, a publisher, vendor, religious headquarters, or an educational facility (as part of an approved correspondence course).

If your mail gets returned, the most common fixable reasons are process-related. Personal correspondence has to be routed to the contracted scanning vendor mailbox and addressed correctly (facility name, committed or legally changed name, and institutional number). Send it somewhere else, or leave out key details, and it can get kicked back. Readability is another common issue. NDCS policy makes clear that unreadable scans are not scanned again, so anything that can't be clearly captured in a scan may never reach the person you're writing to. And even though NDCS doesn't impose broad content limits, mail can still be restricted when there's a reasonable belief it's necessary for public safety or facility order and security.

1. Double-check the address format - Send personal correspondence to Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131, and include the facility name, the incarcerated person’s committed or legally changed name, and their institutional number.
2. Correct anything that could cause a bad scan - If what you sent may scan as unreadable, re-send it in a way that is easy to scan and read, since unreadable scans are not scanned again.
3. Avoid sending stamps - Incarcerated individuals may not possess postage stamps. If you’re trying to help with outgoing mail, follow NDCS rules on pre-stamped envelopes instead.