What You Can't Put in the Envelope — Stewart County mail rules and why mail is returned
If your letter to Stewart County Detention Center gets sent back, it's usually because something about the envelope or contents broke the jail's mail guidelines. Use the checklists below to keep your mail from being returned.
Stewart County Detention Center screens all incoming mail. Anything that violates their guidelines gets sent back. The simplest way to avoid a return? Keep your envelope and everything inside plain and straightforward.
Address your mail like this: Offender First and Last Name Offender ID Number Stewart County Detention Center (TN) P.O. Box 69 Dover, TN 37058
Exterior Content Prohibitions
- ✓ Lipstick on the envelope or paper inside
- ✓ Perfume on the envelope or paper inside
- ✓ Paint on the envelope or paper inside
- ✓ Glitter ink on the envelope or paper inside
- ✓ Lamination on anything in the mailing
- ✓ Glue on the envelope or contents
- ✓ Stickers on the envelope or contents
- ✓ Tape on the envelope or contents
Note: If the envelope or anything inside contains items listed above, the jail can return the entire piece of mail to you.
Don't send any kind of money through the mail to Stewart County Detention Center. Cash, checks, or credit cards in the envelope will all be returned to the sender.
Tip: If you already mailed money and it comes back, that's normal under the jail's rules. Use only the jail's approved methods for adding funds instead of putting money in a letter.
Stewart County Detention Center doesn't allow puzzle books, coloring books, comic books, or any type of magazine in inmate mail. Send any of those and they'll be rejected.
Note: Banned publications and recreational items sent through the mail can be returned to you. If you're sending reading material, check the jail's current policy first.
Inmate-to-inmate mail is not allowed at this facility. That includes letters routed through a third party or sent from another penal institution.
Inmate-to-inmate mail is one of the most common reasons letters get rejected here. More broadly, any mail that doesn't follow the jail's guidelines can be sent back to the return address.
Troubleshooting Quick
- ✓ The jail returned your letter and the envelope or contents had lipstick, perfume, paint, glitter ink, lamination, glue, stickers, or tape.
- ✓ The jail returned your letter because you included money, cash, a check, or a credit card.
- ✓ The jail returned your mailing because it included a puzzle book, coloring book, comic book, or any kind of magazine.
- ✓ The jail returned the letter because it was inmate-to-inmate mail (even if you tried to send it through a third party or another institution).
- ✓ The jail returned your mail because it violated the facility’s mail guidelines.
- Compare what you sent to the prohibited list. Look closely at both the envelope and the paper inside.
- Remove anything not allowed. Keep the mailing plain, with none of the prohibited substances or add-ons.
- Fix the address details. Use the format with the offender’s first and last name and offender ID number.
- Resend only a compliant letter. If it follows the guidelines, it is less likely to be returned.
Find an Inmate at Stewart County Detention Center
Search for a loved one and send messages and photos in minutes.
