How to Address Mail to Someone at SCI Benner Township (and Why It Goes to Florida First)
Trying to mail someone at SCI Benner Township and wondering why the address says St. Petersburg, Florida? You're in the right place. Pennsylvania DOC routes general correspondence through a third-party mail vendor, and getting the format exactly right is what keeps your letter moving instead of bouncing back.
Pennsylvania DOC uses Smart Communications to handle general correspondence for SCI Benner Township. Your letter doesn't go straight to the prison in Bellefonte - it goes to Smart Communications first, gets processed, and then reaches the facility.
Here's how it works: Smart Communications opens your mail (photos included), scans everything into an electronic document, and sends it to the facility. The mailroom at SCI Benner Township then prints that document and delivers it to the inmate.
For regular letters and general correspondence to someone at SCI Benner Township, use this Florida P.O. Box: Smart Communications/PA DOC [Inmate Name] / [Inmate Number] Institution PO Box 33028 St. Petersburg, FL 33733
- ✓ Write a full return address that includes your first and last name.
- ✓ Use the inmate’s full, correct name.
- ✓ Include the inmate number on the mail item.
Photo rules (quick check): Photos are limited to 25 per mailing, can’t include nudity or explicit sexual material, and originals can’t be returned - after 45 days, original photos are securely destroyed.
When Smart Communications receives your letter, they open it, scan the contents, and create an electronic document. SCI Benner Township's mailroom prints that scan and delivers the printed copy to the inmate.
Because of this scanning process, don't expect to get originals back. Photos sent through general correspondence can't be returned - they're destroyed after 45 days.
Books, magazines, and photo books work differently. Send publications directly to the DOC Security Processing Center (not Smart Communications): [Inmate Name], [Inmate Number] 268 Bricker Road Bellefonte, PA 16823-1667
Need to send official original documents - like IDs, checks, or a birth certificate? Skip the Smart Communications P.O. Box. Mail them directly to the institution, addressed to: Attn: Business Office – [Inmate name/inmate number].
- ✓ Use 8½ by 11 paper.
- ✓ Don’t send it bound or presented to open like a book.
Think mail is missing, delayed, or got rejected? Contact SCI Benner Township directly at 814-353-3630. The street address is 301 Institution Drive, Bellefonte, PA 16823 - this is also where you'd send official originals to the Business Office.
Keep this flow in mind when troubleshooting: general correspondence goes through Smart Communications for scanning before the prison ever sees it. If something went wrong with a regular letter, that's where it started its journey.
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