Prison Visitor Guide

Mail & Packages in Maryland (DPSCS)

Maryland delivers incoming personal mail directly to the facility (no off-site vendor); how to address it with the person's name and SID number, the new-paperback-only book rule, and care packages through Access Securepak.

Last reviewed: 2026-06-14

Maryland delivers incoming personal mail directly to the facility where the incarcerated person is held — there is no off-site scanning center, and letters are not converted to photocopies or tablet images. Mail, books, money, and care packages each follow a different channel, described below.

How to address personal mail

Mail goes to the prison where the person is held. The envelope includes the incarcerated person’s committed name and SID number (State Identification number) along with the facility’s inmate-mail address, plus the sender’s name and return address. The SID is the person’s identifying number throughout the DPSCS system and is also required on money orders and account deposits.

Confirm the person’s current facility and its mailing address before sending; the facility acronym is part of the address.

What is not allowed

Mail to an incarcerated person may not contain:

  • Cash, money orders, checks, or stamps.
  • Sexually explicit material, or content depicting violence, gang activity, or racism.
  • Messages written in code.

Books and other items with altered pages or covers are also rejected (see below). Money for the person’s account is sent through Access Corrections, not by mail — see Sending Money in Maryland.

Books and publications

Books mailed to an incarcerated person must be new paperbacks ordered from a publisher or online bookseller (such as an online retailer). A mailed book may not have:

  • A hard cover.
  • Removed, torn, or reattached pages.
  • A removed or reattached book cover.

Hardcover books are rejected. Confirm the facility’s current limits on the number of books and publications a person may receive or keep.

Mail clearly marked as legal mail — correspondence from an attorney, court, or legal-services organization — is handled separately from regular mail. Legal mail is opened in the incarcerated person’s presence to check for contraband rather than read. The envelope must identify the sender as a legal source for this handling to apply.

Packages

Family and friends send care packages through Access Securepak, the program contracted by DPSCS. Orders are placed:

  • Online at marylandpackage.com,
  • by phone at 1-800-546-6283, or
  • by mail to Access Securepak.

Packages are limited to a set dollar amount per person per quarter, and the available items are set by the program’s order form. Personal packages assembled and shipped directly by family are not accepted; orders go through Access Securepak.

Verify Before Acting

For the general, nationwide overview of this topic, see the national guide: Staying in Touch.

Sources

This page is compiled from the following publicly available sources. Policies change without notice — confirm current details with the facility before relying on them.