Where to Actually Mail a Letter to Someone at SCI Dallas
Mail for SCI Dallas gets routed to different places depending on what you're sending. Here's where general letters go, where books and photo books go, and when you need to mail originals straight to the institution.
General incoming correspondence for SCI Dallas (letters, photos, drawings, and similar items) doesn't go directly to the prison. Instead, you mail it to the Pennsylvania DOC's mail vendor, Smart Communications. Use this address and include the inmate's name and number exactly as shown: Smart Communications/PA DOC Inmate Name/Inmate Number State Correctional Institution P.O. Box 33028 St. Petersburg, FL 33733.
Why the Florida P.O. Box? Smart Communications opens and scans your letters and photos into electronic documents. The SCI Dallas mailroom then prints the scanned copies and delivers them to the inmate. Because originals are not preserved through this process, you'll want a different mailing option if you need something returned or kept in its original form.
Addressing Requirements
- ✓ Include a full return address with the sender’s first and last name
- ✓ Include the inmate’s full, correct name
- ✓ Include the inmate’s inmate number
- ✓ Print your general correspondence on 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper
Note: General incoming correspondence can't be bound or opened like a book. Keep it to simple, flat pages. That's what the scanning system is set up to process.
Sending photos as general correspondence? Keep the limit in mind: 25 photos per mailing. They cannot be returned, and the originals are securely destroyed after 45 days. That's a big deal if you're thinking about sending your only copies. Make duplicates before you mail.
Books, magazines, calendars, and photo books for someone at SCI Dallas go to the Pennsylvania DOC Security Processing Center (SPC), not to Smart Communications. Address the package to: Inmate Name, Inmate Number 268 Bricker Road Bellefonte, PA 16823-1667.
- ✓ Soft cover only
- ✓ 25 pages max (cover not counted)
- ✓ No larger than 8 x 11 inches
- ✓ Must comply with DOC content criteria
- ✓ Must originate from a third-party vendor
Where publications come from matters. Items must ship from original-source vendors like publishers, bookstores, or online distributors. Religious items from the Religious Articles Catalog have their own rule: the inmate must place the order, and the items ship directly to the facility. Family members cannot order religious items for inmates through that catalog.
Official, transactional originals get mailed directly to SCI Dallas using the Business Office format. This covers things like checks and passbooks, birth certificates, Social Security cards, driver's licenses, personal ID cards, green cards, welfare and medical cards, and school diplomas. Address the envelope to the institution with: "Attn: Business Office – Inmate name/inmate number" at the facility address.
Note: Some facilities use a separate mailing address for official and original documents. Check the SCI Dallas facility page. If a separate address is listed there, use that for all official and original documents.
For a regular letter or printed photos, send it to Smart Communications at P.O. Box 33028 in St. Petersburg, Florida (with the inmate's name and number). Mailing general correspondence directly to the prison can slow things down, since SCI Dallas routes all general incoming mail through the Smart Communications process.
- Check the SCI Dallas facility page before mailing originals - some institutions use a separate mailing address for official and original documents.
- Use the separate mailing address if it’s listed - that address should be used for all official and original documents.
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