Should You Use NCIC Messaging or Mail a Letter to Van Zandt County Jail?

Van Zandt County Sheriff's Office runs an Inmate Messaging system through NCIC. You can send messages, photos, and document images directly to an inmate. If you mail something instead, it still ends up digital: the county scans incoming mail and delivers it electronically through the same messaging system. Your loved one views it on the kiosk in their cell either way. The real difference isn't digital versus paper - it's whether you start by typing and attaching files, or by mailing pages that get turned into a scan.

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• ✓ $0.25 per message through the NCIC inmate messaging system
• ✓ $0.35 per picture or document sent through the messaging system

If speed matters most, NCIC messaging wins. Messages deliver instantly, and you can attach photos or documents when you need information in front of your loved one fast. The tradeoff is cost - messages are priced per message, and photos or documents are priced per image. A long back-and-forth or lots of attachments can add up quickly. Mailing feels more familiar, but Van Zandt County Jail doesn't hand physical letters to inmates. Personal mail goes through central processing, gets scanned, and arrives electronically. The original is destroyed afterward. There's also a page limit: anything over five pages won't be scanned or delivered.

1. Choose NCIC when time matters - If you want instant delivery, or you need to send photos or document images quickly, the Sheriff’s Office NCIC messaging system is built for that.
2. Use the county’s approved route for personal (non-legal/non-commercial) mail - County instructions have shifted over time, but the current rule states that (starting August 11, 2025) inmate mail other than legal and medical mail must be mailed to the central processing PO Box under the Sheriff’s mail rules.
3. Send legal, medical, and commercial mail directly to the facility - Legal and commercial mail should continue going to the jail directly, and the current guidance also separates out legal and medical mail to be mailed to the Van Zandt County Jail rather than the processing PO Box.

Since centrally processed mail gets scanned and delivered to the inmate's kiosk, mailing a physical letter doesn't mean your loved one receives the original paper. The physical item may be destroyed after processing. If what you're sending matters as a keepsake, that's the key limitation - your loved one will likely see it as a scan on the kiosk, not the actual letter you mailed.

Two rules will save you frustration: keep mailed materials to five pages or fewer (anything longer won't be scanned), and don't expect items back if you send them to the processing PO Box. Mail sent there won't be returned or released, so only send what you're okay losing in original form.