How to Send Letters and Photos to Someone at Smith Unit (TDCJ Digital Mail Guide)
Sending a letter, greeting card, or photos to someone at Smith Unit? The biggest thing to know: TDCJ now routes most personal mail through a central digital processing center in Dallas.
Starting September 6, 2023, Smith Unit switched to TDCJ's digital mail platform. Personal mail, greeting cards, and photos no longer go directly to the unit. Instead, everything is sent to a processing center, scanned, and uploaded to the incarcerated person's secure tablet for reading.
For personal letters, photos, and greeting cards, use this exact address format: Texas Department of Criminal Justice Inmate's Full First and Last Name + TDCJ Number PO Box 660400 Dallas, TX 75266-0400
- ✓ Inmate’s full first and last name (spelled correctly)
- ✓ Inmate’s TDCJ number included with the name
- ✓ PO Box 660400
- ✓ Dallas, TX 75266-0400
Some mail still goes directly to Smith Unit instead of Dallas. Legal mail, media mail, and items from verified publishers - books, magazines, packages, subscriptions - should be sent to the unit's physical address.
Practical Tips
- ✓ Put the incarcerated person’s full name and TDCJ number on the address label every time - missing the number can slow things down.
- ✓ Don’t send legal mail, media mail, or publisher materials (books, magazines, packages, subscriptions) to the Dallas PO Box; those are meant to go to the unit.
- ✓ Before ordering books or subscriptions, confirm they’re coming from a verified publisher so they’re sent through the right channel.
Note: Personal letters, greeting cards, and photos sent to Smith Unit are scanned at the processing center before appearing on the recipient's secure tablet.
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