Mailing Letters to Sedgwick County Jail: Why Your Mail Goes to Jonesboro, AR (and what to do)

Trying to mail a letter to someone at Sedgwick County Jail? You might be wondering why the address points to Jonesboro, Arkansas instead of Wichita. Here's the deal: the jail uses a scan-and-deliver system. Rather than handing paper letters directly to inmates, all mail gets scanned and delivered digitally. So your envelope goes to a JailATM P.O. Box in Jonesboro, AR. There, it's processed and scanned before your loved one receives it in digital form.

Address your envelope to the JailATM mailing address (not the jail’s street address): Sedgwick County Adult Detention KS (Inmate Name and Number) P.O. Box 16120 Jonesboro, AR 72401

• ✓ Include enough inmate-identifying information (name and identifying details) so staff can clearly match your letter to the right person; if they can’t, it will be returned to you.
• ✓ Put a return address on the outside of the envelope.
• ✓ Send mail for only one inmate per envelope; if more than one inmate is mentioned, it will be returned to sender.

Sending photos, kids' artwork, or drawings? Your loved one will receive a digital copy. Everything that comes through the mail gets scanned and delivered electronically.

One thing to know before you send anything irreplaceable: scanned mail isn't kept forever. All scanned mail is destroyed after 60 days.

1. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) - if you want a picture or drawing returned to you, it must be in the same mailing so it can be sent back.
2. Write your return address on the outside of your main envelope - letters are required to have a return address, and it helps make sure anything that can be returned has a clear destination.

Each envelope should be for one person only. Mail addressed to more than one inmate gets returned to sender.

Want to include newspaper or magazine clippings? Keep it minimal. Printed material must fit in a first-class letter and can't exceed one ounce total.