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NNSO badgeInmate Correspondence

The Newport News Sheriff’s Office encourages correspondence between inmates and persons outside the correctional facility in the interest of providing an avenue for meaningful family ties and preparation for release.  Inmates can correspond with families, friends, attorneys, courts and other public officials and organizations unless such correspondence poses a threat to safety and security of the facility, violates a state or federal law or violates US Postal Service regulations.

Inmates have a First Amendment right to freedom of speech and association via the US Postal Service; however, it is subject to the Sheriff’s Office incoming and outgoing rules and policies to prevent the trafficking of unauthorized items, ensure the protection of the public and prohibit criminal activity.

Only when letters are in the possession of the US Postal Service is the correspondence considered mail and subject to Postal Service regulation. According to CSR PS-206 of the USPS’s Customer Support Ruling, inmate mail does not enjoy the right to privacy until delivered to or deposited in a mail receptacle. Therefore, designated Sheriff’s Office personnel may open, examine and read for security issues any inmate mail.

The Newport News Sheriff’s Office has contracted with Smart Communications for kiosks and tablets in all housing units that are available to inmates for outside and internal communications.

All regular inmate mail (postcards, letters, greeting cards, etc.) is scanned into the MailGuard system.  Inmates will be able to read that mail on electronic tablets.

All inmate postal mail must be sent to this address:

Smart Communications-Newport News Sheriff’s Office
Attention To: (insert INMATE NAME-ID NUMBER)
P.O. Box 9117
Seminole, FL 33775-9117

The Inmate Name and ID Number must be clearly PRINTED on the outside of the envelope or postcard to ensure the mail is posted to the correct amount.   Mail without an inmate ID number and name will be “Returned to Sender.” 

Please clearly print the information to help ensure mail is posted to the correct account for viewing.  

You will need the inmate’s ID#.  There are several ways to get it:  Have the incarcerated person give it to you, search the person’s name on the inmate search page or use jailatm.com. (You must create an account first.)

MailGuardTracker.com enables you to track postal mail delivery to correctional facilities that utilize the MailGuard postal mail processing service.   Sign up for a free account and view delivery status, receive notifications if your mail is rejected, and download copies of mail that has been received and processed.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Please be advised that when you mail an item, the original document will be destroyed.  Please do not mail originals of important documents like marriage certificates, birth certificates, social security cards and pictures. You should only mail copies of these documents or pictures that you do not mind NOT getting back.  These will be scanned into the electronic system and destroyed after 45 days.

Upon release, returning citizens can login to the public website https://www.smartjailmail.com/ and enter their inmate number and password to download their photos, messages, and postal mail for FREE.

Incoming mail with any of the following will be deemed unacceptable:

  • Depictions of nudity, obscenities, suggestive images or other offensive materials
  • Depictions, images, writings, or references that may incite violence, riot or racism

MAILING BOOKS AND MAGAZINES

Magazines and paperback books (no hard cover books) must be sent from the publisher to the inmate in care of the Newport News City Jail.   

The mailing address is:

Inmate’s Name & ID number
C/O Newport News City Jail
P.O. Box 57
Newport News, VA  23607-0057

LEGAL OR CONFIDENTIAL MAIL

An inmate has a right to legal and confidential mail which has different rules for searching. An inmate may correspond confidentially with the following (not a complete list):

  1. A licensed attorney
  2. State or federal courts
  3. The American Civil Liberties Union
  4. Federal, state, or local public officials

All correspondence addressed to the inmate must have the name of the person, title, return address, and office (i.e. the law office). For legal mail to receive special handling and to prevent inadvertent opening, the sender is required to adequately identify on the envelope “Confidential or Legal Mail” or use similar language. Confidential mail will be opened in front of the inmate and the contents will be shaken to verify there is no contraband. It will be scanned for legal elements to validate its authenticity.

NOTE: Family members and friends may NOT send confidential or legal mail to an inmate.

OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE

Outgoing mail from any inmate may be opened and inspected if it is determined by the Jail Administrator that there are reasonable grounds to believe the mail is being sent in violation of policy or rules. However, mail which is clearly identified as being sent to the business address of one of the following may be sealed by the inmate and shall not be opened or otherwise inspected by staff prior to mailing, unless the entity has specifically objected in writing to receiving mail from the inmate.

  1. A licensed attorney
  2. State or federal courts
  3. Federal, state, or local public officials
  4. Sheriff’s Office command staff

All mail being sent from the City Jail must have a return address as follows: inmate’s full name and ID number, Newport News City Jail, P.O. Box 57, Newport News, VA 23607-0057. Mail intended for other inmates to be forwarded via 3rd parties will not be allowed.

An inmate who has legally changed his/her name must use the dual name format as shown above. Designated staff collects outgoing mail once each business day.

LETTERS BETWEEN CONFINED INMATES

An inmate may be permitted to correspond with an inmate confined in another penal or correctional institution if the other inmate is either a member of the immediate family or is a party or witness in a legal action in which both inmates are involved. Such correspondence may be approved in other exceptional circumstances, with particular regard to the security level of the institution, the nature of the relationship between the two inmates, and whether the inmate has other regular correspondence.

PROHIBITED MAIL

Inmates are prohibited from receiving mail that may pose a threat to the security, good order, or discipline of the facility may facilitate or encourage criminal activity or may interfere with the rehabilitation of the prisoner.

The following pose such risks under all circumstances and shall be rejected:

  • Money, personal checks, money orders or other negotiable instruments
  • Stamps, stickers and stationery items (i.e., envelopes)
  • Pornographic or sexually-explicit materials
  • Magazines, newspapers and books

Inmates are not permitted to receive unsolicited funds through the mail nor are inmates permitted to solicit funds or initiate requests for funds other than from family and friends. Learn more on how you can safely deposit funds into an inmate trust fund account.

CRITERIA FOR MAGAZINES, BOOKS, NEWSPAPERS

Books, periodicals and other publications must be sent directly from a publisher, mail order distributor or bookstore through the U.S. Postal Service.  DO NOT send a package of any type to an inmate — it will be rejected.

Binders and Covers restrictions

  • No metal bindings other than staples 
  • No spiral bindings. 

NOTE: Metal bindings include paper clips, binder clips and other metal fasteners. Staples may not be allowed in some housing units.

SUBJECT MATTERS THAT WILL BE REJECTED

  • Is written in code
  • Depicts/encourages/describes methods of escape
  • Threatens physical harm, blackmail or extortion
  • Encourages/instructs in the commission of criminal activity
  • Depicts sexual conduct of nudity or lewd exhibition of genitals
  • Depicts/describes procedures for brewing alcoholic beverages or manufacture of drugs
  • Depicts/encourages/describes activities leading to use of physical violence or group disruption
  • Depicts/describes construction or use of weapons, ammunition, bomb and chemical agents
  • Dangerously inflammatory by advocating or encouraging institutional disruption or violation of rules

DISAPPROVAL OF INMATE MAIL 

Any incoming or outgoing correspondence that is read and determined to represent a direct threat to the security of the City Jail and Annex, such as gang content, escape attempts, threats/loss of life, or destruction of state property, shall be rejected. In addition, if the correspondence appears to contain evidence of criminal acts, it will be investigated or turned over to appropriate authorities for investigation.

EMERGENCY MESSAGES

All emergency messages will be given to the shift supervisor who will, after verification, deliver it to the inmate. Jail staff is not obligated to transmit messages other than emergency messages to the inmate.

Emergency messages are defined as follow:

  1. Death of a relative or close friend
  2. Birth (where the inmate is the father)
  3. Serious injury to relative
  4. Any other message that the supervisor feels is important enough

For actual and verifiable emergencies, such as a serious illness, death, or medical emergency of an immediate family member, please contact the Newport News City Jail by calling 757-926-8535 and at the prompt, press three (3) for jail administration.