The New Digital Mail System at Western Tidewater: How to Send Messages, Photos, and Paper Mail

Western Tidewater now delivers personal mail digitally. Letters and photos from family and friends show up on your loved one's tablet through the

The big change is that personal mail you send (letters, notes, and similar items from family and friends) isn’t handed to your loved one as paper anymore. It’s delivered digitally to the inmate via the tablet’s “Facility Messages” app, so what you mail in is processed and then shows up on the tablet instead of as a physical envelope.

• ✓ Western Tidewater Regional Jail, Inmate Name, Inmate Jacket# (five digit # must be included), P.O. Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131

If you want something faster than mailing it in, you can use GettingOut to communicate directly. Western Tidewater allows family and friends to send and receive digital text messages and photos and to set up video visits online or through the GettingOut mobile app (www.GettingOut.com/sign-in).

For video visits that connect to your own device at home, the facility’s “Getting Out” tab is the starting point to set up a tablet account. Once that’s in place, the inmate can schedule a visit from the tablet in their block to an outside source like your home computer or cell phone.

You can also do onsite video visitation in the lobby using the facility kiosks. Western Tidewater has six kiosks available (including one ADA-compliant kiosk), and visitors may use them from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. every day of the week. One free 20-minute video visit per week is provided.

Legal mail is handled differently. Mail from attorneys, lawyers, courts, and similar legal sources should continue to be sent directly to the facility at 2402 Godwin Blvd., Suffolk, VA 23434 for distribution to inmates.

• ✓ Verify you’re using the correct pathway for communication (GettingOut sign-in) versus mailing to the P.O. Box for digitized delivery
• ✓ Double-check the inmate’s five-digit jacket number before you send anything
• ✓ Confirm current pricing/fees and any message or photo limits within GettingOut before you add funds or send multiple items
• ✓ Check what file types/sizes are accepted for photo uploads in GettingOut so your upload doesn’t fail or get rejected
• ✓ If you plan to mail in something unusual (like a card design you want scanned), confirm how it will be delivered through the tablet “Facility Messages” system

If you get stuck - can’t find the right account, messages won’t go through, or you’re unsure which option to use - start with GettingOut (www.GettingOut.com/sign-in) since that’s the system used for digital messages, photos, and video visits. For questions about how Western Tidewater handles mail delivery on the jail side, contact the facility directly.