How to Address Mail to Someone at SCI Benner Township (letters vs. publications)
SCI Benner Township uses two different mailing addresses depending on what you're sending. Get it wrong—or forget the inmate number—and your mail could be delayed or rejected.
Regular personal mail - letters, greeting cards, pictures, photos, and children's drawings - doesn't go directly to the prison. Instead, you'll mail it to Smart Communications, the Pennsylvania DOC's third-party vendor, at their PO Box in St. Petersburg, Florida. Publications and photo books work differently. Those go straight to the DOC Security Processing Center (SPC) in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, addressed with the inmate's name and number.
Use this address format for general correspondence going through Smart Communications: Smart Communications/PA DOC Inmate Name/Inmate Number State Correctional Institution PO Box 33028 St. Petersburg, FL 33733
- ✓ Write a full return address that includes your first and last name.
- ✓ Include the inmate’s full, correct name and inmate number on the envelope.
Keep it simple so processing goes smoothly: correspondence must be printed on 8½" by 11" paper and can't be bound or open like a book. Including photos? Limit it to 25 per mailing. Fair warning - photos can't be returned, and originals are destroyed after 45 days. Don't send anything you need back.
Send publications and photo books to the DOC Security Processing Center (SPC), not to the Smart Communications PO Box. Address the package with the inmate’s name and inmate number, and use this destination: Inmate Name, Inmate Number 268 Bricker Road Bellefonte, PA 16823-1667
- ✓ Make sure the photo book comes from a third-party vendor (not mailed from home).
- ✓ Choose soft cover only.
- ✓ Stay within 25 pages (excluding the cover).
- ✓ Keep the size no larger than 8" x 11".
- ✓ Ensure the contents comply with DOC content criteria.
Common delay triggers: Sending letters or photos to the SPC address (or publications to the Smart Communications PO Box), leaving off the inmate number, missing your full return address (first and last name), or mailing a publication directly from home instead of through a vendor.
- ✓ Match the item to the right destination: general correspondence to Smart Communications; publications/photo books to the SPC.
- ✓ Put your full return address on the envelope, including your first and last name.
- ✓ Write the inmate’s full, correct name and inmate number.
- ✓ For general correspondence, use 8½" x 11" paper and don’t send anything bound or book-like.
- ✓ If you include photos with general correspondence, keep it to 25 per mailing and assume originals won’t be returned.
- ✓ For photo books, use a third-party vendor and keep it soft cover, 25 pages max (excluding cover), and no bigger than 8" x 11".
Not sure which address to use? Contact SCI Benner Township before you mail anything: 301 Institution Drive, Bellefonte, PA 16823, phone 814-353-3630. For broader policy questions - especially about what's allowed - you can also reach out to Pennsylvania DOC support.
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