How to send messages, photos, and packages
New Hanover County Detention updated its mail rules effective December 1, 2025. Address mail to the facility P.O. Box and include the inmate's name and ID number on every piece. A return address is required. Only letter-size pages (8.5 × 11 inches) are accepted, and anything over five pages gets returned. Here's an important detail: mail is scanned on the front side only. Write on the back of a page, and it comes back to you. Photos are limited to one per mailing. Publications are less clear—one facility notice says books, magazines, and newspapers aren't accepted, while another says magazines and soft-cover books may be allowed if purchased directly from the publisher and delivered as a parcel.
Search for a loved one and send messages and photos in minutes.
Mail that doesn't follow New Hanover County Detention's new rules gets returned — not delivered. Here's the exact address to use starting December 1, 2025, along with size, page, and photo limits, the front-side-only scanning requirement, and what you need to know about the book ban.
Mailing something to someone at New Hanover County Detention? Small formatting mistakes can get the whole envelope sent back. Use this checklist to make sure your mail actually arrives.
Beginning December 1, 2025, send inmate mail to the facility P.O. Box and put the inmate’s name and ID number on the envelope. Include a return address on every piece of mail.
Facility guidance is mixed. One notice says books, magazines, and newspapers aren’t accepted, but another says magazines and soft-cover books are allowed only when purchased directly from the publisher and delivered as a parcel.
Mail is limited to five pages—anything more gets returned. Inmates can receive one photograph per mailing. Only letter-size (8.5 × 11) pages are accepted, and since the facility scans front-side only, writing on the back will get your mail returned.
Trying to send a book or magazine to someone at New Hanover County Detention? The official guidance is confusing—because it actually contradicts itself. Here's what the facility's own pages say, where those statements clash, and the safest way to handle it.
Visiting someone at New Hanover County Detention takes some planning. Visits are appointment-only, and here's the catch: the inmate has to schedule them, not you. This guide covers how to coordinate the time slot, what ID to bring, and how to avoid getting turned away at check-in.
Your first visit goes smoother when you know the two big rules up front: visits are appointment-only, and the incarcerated person schedules them—not you. Here's how the hours, visit limits, and housing-unit restrictions affect your plan.
