What You Can and Can't Mail to an Inmate at USP Yazoo City (Packages, Books, and Mail Checklist)

At USP Yazoo City, written correspondence falls into two categories: general mail and special mail. The distinction matters - it determines how staff handle the envelope and what kind of inspection happens before it reaches your loved one.

General incoming mail gets opened and inspected by staff. They're checking for contraband and reviewing content that could threaten security or good order at the facility. Regular letters and personal cards go through this process.

Special mail works differently - but only when it's clearly marked as special mail. Properly marked special mail may be opened only in the inmate's presence. Staff still inspect it for physical contraband. If the envelope isn't marked correctly, it won't receive special-mail handling.

Here's the biggest "don't" for most families: packages from home. At USP Yazoo City, inmates cannot receive packages from home unless there's prior written approval from the inmate's unit team or other authorized staff.

• ✓ Release clothing
• ✓ Authorized medical devices

Want to send reading material? Follow the "direct from the source" rule. Inmates at USP Yazoo City may receive magazines and hardback or paperback books only when they come directly from the publisher or another authorized commercial source. Books mailed from a friend or family member will likely be rejected - even if the content itself would be allowed.

Even when a book or magazine ships correctly, it can still be turned away for content reasons. The Warden may reject any incoming publication deemed detrimental to security, good order, or discipline - or anything that might facilitate criminal activity.

• ✓ Instructions for making or using weapons
• ✓ Content describing or encouraging methods of escape
• ✓ Instructions related to drug manufacture
• ✓ Written content that is coded
• ✓ Content that incites violence or encourages disruption
• ✓ Material that encourages or instructs criminal activity
• ✓ Sexually explicit material that, by its nature or content, threatens security

When a publication gets rejected, it's typically because the Warden determined it poses a security risk or could facilitate criminal activity. Sexually explicit material or material featuring nudity (covered under the Ensign Amendment) gets returned to the publisher or sender, and the inmate receives notification.

If your loved one believes something was rejected in error, they can request a review through the facility's internal channels. Since rejections are tied to the Warden's authority over security and good order, the appeal should focus on why the specific publication doesn't meet those grounds.

Quick Dos Donts Checklist

• ✓ Assume personal letters are general mail and will be opened and inspected for contraband and security/good-order concerns
• ✓ If you’re sending special mail, make sure it’s specifically marked as special mail so it can be opened only in the inmate’s presence (it will still be inspected for physical contraband)
• ✓ Don’t mail packages from home unless the inmate has prior written approval from their unit team or other authorized staff
• ✓ If you do send an allowed home package, keep it to the narrow exceptions: release clothing or authorized medical devices
• ✓ Send books and magazines only directly from the publisher or another authorized commercial source (not from your home)
• ✓ Avoid publications that include weapons instructions, escape methods, drug-manufacture instructions, coded writing, incitement to violence/disruption, instruction in criminal activity, or sexually explicit content that threatens security

Before you mail anything, remember these three rules: general mail gets opened and inspected, special mail must be marked correctly to be opened in the inmate's presence, and books or magazines must come directly from the publisher or an authorized commercial source. Follow them, and you'll avoid most rejections at USP Yazoo City.