Legal Mail vs. Regular Mail at Putnam County Jail: Where to Send It and How It's Processed

Regular postal mail at Putnam County Jail goes through Smart Communications. Postcards, letters, greeting cards, and other general inmate mail all get sent to: Smart Communications / Putnam County, Inmate First Name Inmate Last Name, Inmate ID #, PO Box 9151, Seminole, FL 33775-9151. Once received, the mail is scanned into the Smart Communications system. The inmate then views it on the facility's kiosks or portable kiosks.

Legal correspondence follows a completely different path. As of December 1, 2021, legal mail goes directly to the jail: Inmate First Name Inmate Last Name, Inmate ID #, 130 Orie Griffin Blvd., Palatka, FL 32177.

For Putnam to treat mail as legal mail, two things need to be true: it must come from the inmate's attorney on record, and it must be clearly marked as legal mail. If the envelope isn't clearly labeled, it may not go through the legal mail process.

Once legal mail arrives and is recognized as such, staff open it in front of the inmate. After opening, it gets scanned into the inmate's legal mail account.

Practical Tips Sending Legal Mail

• ✓ Put legal correspondence on the correct route: 130 Orie Griffin Blvd., Palatka, FL 32177 (effective December 1, 2021).
• ✓ Put regular letters, cards, and postcards on the Smart Communications route: PO Box 9151, Seminole, FL 33775-9151.
• ✓ Clearly print the inmate’s full name and inmate ID number on the outside of the envelope or postcard.
• ✓ If the inmate’s name or ID number is missing, expect the mail to be returned to sender.

Sending mail to the wrong address, leaving off the inmate's name or ID, or forgetting to mark legal mail clearly can all cost you time. Mail missing the inmate's name and ID gets returned to sender. Legal mail has its own handling process (opened with the inmate present, then scanned into their legal mail account), so routing and labeling correctly matters if you want to preserve those protections.

1. Choose the right address: Regular mail goes to Smart Communications / Putnam County, PO Box 9151, Seminole, FL 33775-9151. Legal correspondence goes to 130 Orie Griffin Blvd., Palatka, FL 32177.
2. Print the inmate’s name and ID clearly: Put both on the outside of the envelope or postcard. Missing information can get the item returned to sender.
3. Make it clearly legal mail (if applicable): If it is legal correspondence, ensure it is from the inmate’s attorney on record and marked appropriately as legal mail.