Why Your Inmate's Mail Goes to Florida — What Happens to Originals and How to Send Legal Mail
Sending mail to Florida when your loved one is locked up in Snohomish County? It's confusing, but there's a reason. Snohomish County Jail routes personal mail through a scanning facility, while legal mail takes a completely different path. Getting the address right determines whether your letter arrives or bounces back.
Personal mail at Snohomish County Jail doesn't arrive as paper. Everything gets scanned and delivered digitally to inmates on jail-provided tablets. Once scanned, the original is destroyed. This matters if you're sending anything irreplaceable. Photos, handwritten letters, kids' drawings - the physical originals won't come back to you. Your person will only see the scanned version, so think about what will still look good as a digital image. That's what they'll actually have.
Heads up: Inmate ID numbers on personal mail are scanned by a machine. If the machine can’t read the ID number, the mail will not be delivered.
- ✓ Your full return address (complete return address information is required for the mail to be processed)
Since personal mail gets scanned offsite, you'll send it to a processing address - not the jail itself. Include the inmate's name and ID number, formatted like this: Inmate Name and ID # Snohomish County Sheriff's Office PO Box 9196 Seminole, FL 33775 Yes, that Florida PO Box is correct for personal letters. Skip the ID number (or write it illegibly), and the system can't route your mail to the right person.
Don’t mail personal letters to the jail building: Personal inmate mail sent to the jail’s physical street address in Everett, WA will not be accepted and will be returned to the sender.
Don't send money through personal mail - no cash, checks, or money orders in envelopes. Use the jail's approved deposit options instead.
Care packages aren't accepted through the mail or dropped off at the jail. If you want to send hygiene items, underwear, or writing supplies, order them online through Access Securepak. Books and magazines work differently. They're only accepted if shipped directly from a publisher, warehouse retailer, or online bookseller. Send them to the jail's Everett address: 3025 Oakes Ave, Everett, WA 98201 (include the inmate's name and ID number, c/o Snohomish County Corrections).
Legal mail - attorney-client privileged correspondence - follows different rules. Mark it clearly as "LEGAL MAIL" and send it directly to the facility, not the Florida PO Box. Use this format: Inmate Name and ID # c/o Snohomish County Corrections 3025 Oakes Ave Everett, WA 98201
Legal mail goes to Everett, not Florida: Do not send legal mail to the address used for personal inmate mail.
- Write the inmate’s name and ID number - Personal mail must include the inmate’s name and ID number and be addressed to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office PO Box 9196 in Seminole, FL 33775.
- Make the ID number easy to scan - The ID is read by a machine; if it can’t read the number, the mail won’t be delivered.
- Include a complete return address - Complete return address information is required for your mail to be processed.
- ✓ Do not drop off personal inmate mail at the jail; it may not be dropped off by family or friends
- ✓ Do not send money to an inmate using personal mail (use the jail’s approved deposit methods instead)
Double-check before you mail: Personal letters go to Seminole, FL. Legal mail goes to Everett. Mix them up and your mail gets returned or lost in the system.
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