Where to Mail Letters and Photos for Inmates at SCI Retreat (Smart Communications address and rules)
Mailing a letter or photos to someone at SCI Retreat? You won't send it directly to the prison. All non-privileged mail goes through Pennsylvania DOC's Smart Communications processing center first, using a specific address format.
Address all non-privileged mail - personal letters, photos, and similar correspondence - to: Smart Communications/PA DOC, Inmate Name/Inmate Number, SCI Retreat, P.O. Box 33028, St. Petersburg, FL 33733. Include the inmate's full name and inmate number exactly as shown. This helps your mail get matched to the right person and routed without delays.
Smart Communications handles intake for general correspondence. They open your mail, scan letters and photos into an electronic document, then the facility mailroom prints and delivers it. This scanning step is why your original items won't arrive in the same physical form you sent them.
Photo Rules
- ✓ No obscenity
- ✓ No explicit sexual material
- ✓ No nudity
Heads up: Original photos can’t be returned to you. After 45 days, the originals are securely destroyed - so don’t send anything you need back or can’t replace.
Send letters through the Smart Communications/PA DOC central address - not directly to SCI Retreat. The most common reasons mail gets rejected or delayed? Missing return-address details and leaving off the inmate number. Double-check both before you seal the envelope.
- ✓ Include a full return address with your first and last name
- ✓ Include the inmate’s full, correct name and inmate number
- ✓ Print on 8½" x 11" paper
- ✓ Don’t bind it or make it open like a book
- ✓ Double-check the inmate number before you seal the envelope
Use the Smart Communications/PA DOC address for non-privileged mail: regular personal letters, photos, and similar correspondence. Legal mail works differently. Send privileged/legal mail directly to the inmate at the institution's Legal Mail Address. Mark the envelope correctly, include a full return address, and add an attorney or court control number. Attorneys must also include the weekly secondary authentication number/time code on the front. Follow these requirements carefully so legal mail gets handled as privileged correspondence.
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