What You Can't Put in an Envelope to an Inmate at Stewart County Detention Center (and Why)

Quick List

• ✓ Any metal items (including paperclips or staples)
• ✓ Any kind of money (cash, checks, or credit cards)
• ✓ Puzzle books, coloring books, comic books, magazines of any type, photocopies of books, blank pages from activity books, or newspaper/magazine clippings
• ✓ Lipstick, perfume, paint, glitter ink, lamination, glue, stickers, or tape on the envelope or on anything inside

• ✓ Sexually explicit writing in letters
• ✓ References to criminal activity or Security Threat Groups (gangs)
• ✓ Inmate-to-inmate mail within this facility (even if a third party mails it, or it comes from another penal institution)

Stewart County Detention Center bans lipstick, perfume, paint, glitter ink, lamination, glue, stickers, and tape for one reason: they can mask narcotics. This applies to anything inside your envelope and anything on the outside of it. Want to make your letter feel personal? Skip anything that adds a coating, scent, or stickiness. Plain paper is the safest bet for getting your letter delivered.

Metal is another hard no. Even staples or paperclips pose safety concerns inside a jail, so Stewart County Detention Center won't accept them in inmate mail. The facility also restricts printed and "extra paper" materials - puzzle books, coloring books, comic books, magazines, photocopied book pages, blank activity pages, and newspaper or magazine clippings. These items create screening and contraband concerns, so they're treated as prohibited mail.

Don't mail money. Cash, checks, and credit cards won't be accepted at Stewart County Detention Center - they'll just get sent back to you. Skip blank paper, stamps, and envelopes too. Those are available through commissary, and including them can get your entire letter rejected.

Want to send more than a letter? Use an approved option instead of stuffing extras into an envelope. The facility accepts pre-selected, jail-approved care packs through MyCarePack - they'll deliver directly to the jail. Between commissary for basics like writing supplies and approved care packs for other items, you've got safer routes than mailing anything that might be flagged as contraband.

1. Keep the envelope and letter plain - don’t add lipstick marks, perfume, paint, glitter ink, lamination, glue, stickers, or tape.
2. Write with delivery in mind - avoid sexually explicit writing and don’t reference criminal activity or Security Threat Groups (gangs).
3. Don’t try to pass messages between inmates - inmate-to-inmate mail within this facility isn’t allowed, even if you mail it on someone else’s behalf.