Why Your Mail to Southwest Regional Jail (Abingdon) Goes to Florida — and When to Use the VA Facility Address

Regular mail to the Abingdon facility doesn't go directly to the jail. Postcards, letters, greeting cards, and other personal correspondence get sent to Smart Communications in Seminole, Florida for processing. Once there, everything is scanned into their system. Your loved one won't receive the physical envelope or paper - they'll access the mail electronically instead.

Here's the catch: originals are destroyed after scanning. Whatever you send won't be kept or returned. Don't mail anything you want back.

• ✓ Mail copies, not originals, of marriage certificates
• ✓ Mail copies, not originals, of birth certificates
• ✓ Mail copies, not originals, of Social Security cards
• ✓ Only send pictures you can afford to lose (send copies, not one-of-a-kind originals)

Two exceptions skip the Florida routing entirely: legal mail and money orders. Both should go directly to the Abingdon facility's Virginia address: Abingdon Facility INMATE NAME P.O. Box 280 Meadowview, VA 24361

Whichever address you use, write the inmate's full name and ID number clearly on the outside of the envelope or postcard. Missing either one? The mail comes right back to you.

Because mail is stored electronically, it doesn't vanish when someone gets released. Former inmates can log into the SmartInmate public website using their inmate number and password to download photos, messages, and scanned mail for free.