Penmate Inmate Support Guides

Where to Mail Letters to Texas Inmates: TDCJ’s Centralized Dallas Processing Center (Sept 2023)

If you're mailing a letter to someone in TDCJ, the address changed in September 2023. Here's the exact Dallas mailing format—plus the few types of mail that still go directly to the unit.

• 2 min read • tdcj.texas.gov
Where to Mail Letters to Texas Inmates: TDCJ’s Centralized Dallas Processing Center (Sept 2023)

As of September 6, 2023, TDCJ routes all incoming mail through a digital processing center in Dallas. Personal letters no longer go directly to individual units. Address your envelope to the inmate's full first and last name with their TDCJ number. Send it to: Texas Department of Criminal Justice Inmate's Full First and Last Name + TDCJ Number PO Box 660400 Dallas, TX 75266-0400

Quick address format: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Inmate’s Full First and Last Name + TDCJ Number, PO Box 660400, Dallas, TX 75266-0400.

Exceptions Direct to Unit

  • ✓ Legal mail - send directly to the inmate’s unit
  • ✓ Media mail - send directly to the inmate’s unit
  • ✓ Books, magazines, packages, and other subscriptions from verified sources or publishers - send directly to the inmate’s unit

Some mail skips the Dallas processing center entirely. Legal mail and publications from verified sources or publishers go straight to the inmate's assigned unit address instead.

No tablet? Your letter still gets through. TDCJ prints black-and-white copies of scanned correspondence for inmates without devices.

Where to Mail Letters to Texas Inmates: TDCJ’s Centralized Dallas Processing Center (Sept 2023)

Don't mix up mail and money: Send trust fund deposits to the Inmate Trust Fund - not the facility. Send personal mail to Dallas - not the Trust Fund. And never mail money or personal items to the Dallas digital mail PO Box.

  1. Keep deposits separate from letters - trust fund deposits should not be sent to the inmate’s facility of assignment.
  2. Don’t send personal mail/items to the Trust Fund - the Inmate Trust Fund is not the place for letters, photos, or other personal items.
  3. Use the Dallas PO Box only for incoming mail - the digital mail processing center address is for correspondence, not deposits or personal property.

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