Inmate Correspondence

INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE

All approved mail and correspondence, with the exception of the privileged correspondence listed below, will be sent to “Text Behind” to be scanned and uploaded for viewing on tablets or the housing area kiosks. The physical article of mail shall be shredded by Text Behind after 30 days.

No physical articles of mail shall be possessed, except for privileged mail and corre-spondence, unless authorized by the Jail Administrator or an authorized designee.

Inmate mail must now be addressed to:
P.O.Box247
Pheonix, MD 21131

You must include:
Lorain County Sheriff’s Office
Inmate Name
Inmate Number

PRIVILEGED MAIL AND CORRESPONDENCE

Inmates may correspond confidentially with courts, legal counsel, officials of this office, elected officials, jail inspectors, government officials or officers of the court.

This facility may also accept and deliver a fax or inter-office mail from these entities with the approval of the Jail Administrator or an authorized designee.

Privileged mail or correspondence shall be opened and inspected in the presence of the inmate to intercept contraband.

NON-PRIVILEGED MAIL CENSORSHIP / REJECTION

Incoming and outgoing inmate mail correspondence shall be inspected to intercept non-permitted items. Mail is rejected or censored based on legitimate facility interests of or-der and security. Incoming enveloped letters, currency, enclosures, and other similar items are confiscated and the inmate advised of that action. The Lorain County Jail does not accept any type of funds by mail.
Incoming and outgoing correspondence is censored on a case by-case basis if it con-tains items including but not limited to the following:

  • Materials that advocate violence or a security breach.
  • Literature that could incite racial unrest.
  • Sexually explicit material, including pornographic magazines, nude pic-tures, or obscene pictures or descriptions of sexually explicit activities.
  • Obscene publications or writings and mail containing information concerning where or how such matter may be obtained; any material that would have a ten-dency to incite murder, arson, riot, violent racism or any other form of violence; any material that would have a tendency to incite crimes against children; any ma-terial concerning unlawful gambling or an unlawful lottery; any material containing information on the manufacture or use of weapons, narcotics or explosives or any other unlawful activity.
  • Material that could lead to sexual aggression or an offensive environment for in-mates.
  • Material that could create a hostile or offensive work environment.
  • Any material with content that could reasonably demonstrate a legitimate facility interest in rejecting the material.

If the items are considered contraband and considered illegal by law they will be forwarded to law enforcement for destruction or investigation for possible charges.

REJECTED MAIL NOTIFICATION

If incoming mail is deemed rejected you will be promptly notified. The sender of the re-jected mail, material or publication will be sent a letter listing what has been rejected and the grounds for rejection. The rejected items shall be secured into your property.

REJECTED MAIL APPEALS

You may appeal the rejection through the Inmate Grievance Procedure. The sender of the rejected material will be provided with contact information of the Jail Administrator or their designee to appeal the rejection.

PACKAGES

The Lorain County Jail will not accept any packages for inmates without prior written ap-proval by the Jail Administrator or their designee. Packages sent without prior approval will be returned to sender.

MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS

The Lorain County Jail does not accept publications, magazines or newspapers.

OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE

Inmates may send correspondence in any quantity, amount and number of white postage prepaid envelopes. An inmate may not correspond with jail employees, other inmates of the Lorain County Jail, contracted staff or volunteers of this facility. There is no limitation on the amount of mail you may send. Outgoing mail shall not be withheld or censored unless there is a strong probable cause to believe it is necessary. Inmates may send mail to anyone outside the facility provided that there are no court orders or other legal or security concerns that would prohibit such contact. Only white postage pre-paid envelopes will be used by inmates to send outgoing mail. All white postage pre-paid envelopes must be obtained through the facility commissary provider.

OUTGOING MAIL COLLECTION

Outgoing mail is to be placed in the mailbox located in your housing area. The mail will be collected from the mailboxes on a daily basis as operations permit by the afternoon shift.

Any type of make shift packages are prohibited and will not be mailed. It is up to the dis-cretion of the Officer in Charge if the package will be returned to you or placed into your personal property.

POSTAGE

Inmates provide their own postage, in the amounts required by the US Postal Service. Pre-Stamped white envelopes are available through commissary and in indigent bags. The Lorain County Jail is not responsible to regulate or control the amount of postage required for mailing, or what the U.S. Postal Services does with the mail once it is placed in their control.