Penmate Inmate Support Guides

Sending Photos to Your Loved One at SCI Dallas: Rules, Limits, and What Happens to the Originals

Mailing photos to someone at SCI Dallas comes with specific rules. Here's what you need to know: where to send them, how many you can include, what content gets rejected, and what happens to your original prints.

• 2 min read Verified from official sources

You can send photos, but don't mail them directly to SCI Dallas. All general incoming correspondence (including photos) goes through the Pennsylvania DOC's third-party vendor, Smart Communications. Use this addressing format: Smart Communications/PA DOC Inmate Name/Inmate Number State Correctional Institution PO Box 33028 St. Petersburg, Florida 33733

  • ✓ Put your full return address on the envelope, including your first and last name.
  • ✓ Include your loved one’s full, correct name and inmate number on the mailing.

SCI Dallas limits you to 25 photos per mailing. Want to send more? Split them across separate mailings so each one stays within the limit.

Warning: Mailed photos cannot contain obscenity, explicit sexual material, or nudity.

Don't expect to get your original photos back. Mailed photos cannot be returned to the sender. After 45 days, the originals are securely destroyed.

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  • ✓ Photo books must have a soft cover.
  • ✓ Photo books are limited to 25 pages (excluding the cover).
  • ✓ Photo books must not exceed 8x11 inches.
  • ✓ Photo books must originate from a third-party vendor.

Photo books have to follow the same DOC content rules as individual photos. If certain content isn't allowed in a loose photo, it's not allowed in a photo book either.

Note: Don't mail a personally assembled photo book that is bound or opens like a book. Photo books need to come from a third-party vendor.

  1. Print on 8 ½ by 11 inch paper. General incoming correspondence (including photos) must be printed on 8 ½ by 11 paper.
  2. Double-check your return address. Use your full return address, including your first and last name.
  3. Confirm the inmate details. Make sure you use your loved one’s full, correct name and inmate number.

Reminder: Don't send irreplaceable originals. Photos are not returned, and the originals are securely destroyed after 45 days.

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