Why letters, photos, and drawings you send to Pueblo County Detention Center aren't returned (mail scanning policy)

Starting April 20, 2022, all U.S. Mail sent to someone at Pueblo County Detention Center gets converted to a digital format. The jail scans your letter and delivers an electronic version - the person you're writing to won't receive the actual paper you mailed.

This applies to everything most families send: letters, photos tucked inside, a child's drawing. If it's in the envelope, it all gets scanned and delivered electronically. Wondering why your pictures didn't come back "return to sender"? The jail doesn't treat them as physical keepsakes. They're mail content - digitized along with everything else.

Legal mail is the exception. If something qualifies as legal mail, it bypasses the scanning process and isn't handled like regular personal letters.

Parcels from publishers are also excluded. These skip the scanning process entirely.

Even with digital conversion, the jail still needs to match your mail to the right person before scanning. Address your envelope clearly and include the booking number - this helps ensure your letter actually gets delivered.

1. Find the person in custody - Use the Pueblo County Sheriff’s website Inmate Lookup page to search for people currently in custody at the Pueblo County Detention Center.
2. Locate the booking number - The booking number is listed through that Inmate Lookup.
3. Write the booking number on your mail - Add the booking number so the jail can match your letter to the right person during processing.

Don't want to lose an original photo or a one-of-a-kind drawing? Skip the mail entirely. You can send digital messages directly through the Getting Out mobile app - it's faster, and you keep your originals.

Practical Tips

• ✓ Don’t mail anything irreplaceable (original photos, kids’ artwork, handwritten keepsakes) if you’re hoping to get the original back - originals are destroyed after scanning.
• ✓ If you’re sending something that should be treated as legal mail, make sure it truly qualifies as legal mail, since legal mail is excluded from scanning.
• ✓ If you’re planning to send a parcel, remember that parcels arriving from a publisher are excluded from the scanning/conversion process.
• ✓ Keep the policy change in mind: since April 20, 2022, all U.S. Mail is transferred to a digital format, so paper delivery of personal mail isn’t the expectation.