Why Your Letter Was Returned: Common Mail Mistakes at Sedgwick County Jail

Sedgwick County Jail requires mail to be clearly addressed with enough identifying information to match it to the right person in custody. If staff can't confidently determine who your letter is for, it gets returned. Also include your return address on the envelope - missing or incomplete info is one of the fastest ways to get mail sent back.

• ✓ Address only one inmate per envelope.
• ✓ Don’t mention more than one inmate anywhere in the same envelope - mail that references multiple inmates will be returned to sender.

Sedgwick County Jail limits printed material to what fits in a first-class letter, and total weight can't exceed one ounce. That limit sneaks up on you fast when you add extra pages, photos, or clippings from newspapers or magazines. Keep it simple - one short letter is far less likely to be returned than an overstuffed envelope.

Don’t mail money. Sedgwick County Jail does not accept cashier’s checks, cash, or money orders through the mail, and any letter containing them will be returned to the sender.

Packages are another common reason mail gets turned around. Sedgwick County Jail doesn't accept packages mailed to inmates - they'll be returned unopened.

1. Don’t send inmate-to-inmate letters - Sedgwick County Jail generally prohibits inmates from writing to other inmates.
2. Confirm the exception applies - the only exception is writing to a family member.
3. Make sure prior approval exists - even for family, the inmate must have prior approval; letters containing inmate-to-inmate mail will be returned if that requirement isn’t met.

Sedgwick County Jail scans mail and delivers it digitally, but those scans aren't kept forever. All scanned mail is destroyed after 60 days, so don't treat mailed items as a permanent record.