Mail & Packages in New York (DOCCS)

Mail to an incarcerated person in New York is processed by the individual facility. New York does not route incoming personal mail through an off-site scanning vendor. Instead, non-privileged mail is opened and photocopied at the facility, and the incarcerated person receives the photocopies rather than the original letters; the scanned images may also be made available on the person’s JPay tablet. Books, publications, and packages must come from approved vendors.

How incoming personal mail works now

Incoming non-privileged (personal) mail is opened and photocopied at the facility. The incarcerated person receives the copies, and the original paper is generally not delivered. DOCCS applies this process to limit contraband.

Address each envelope with the incarcerated person’s full committed name and DIN (Department Identification Number), followed by the facility’s mailing address, and include a return address. The DIN is the identifier DOCCS assigns to each incarcerated person; it can be found on the DOCCS Incarcerated Lookup.

Personal letters are subject to a page limit per envelope, and certain items are not accepted in personal mail — including cash, checks or money orders, Polaroid photographs, and materials with glitter, tape, stickers, or glued or layered pages. Money for the person’s account is sent through JPay, not enclosed in a letter — see Sending Money in New York. Confirm the current page limit and prohibited-item list before sending.

Legal mail

Legal and other privileged mail is sent to the facility, not to an off-site vendor, and is handled under DOCCS’s rules for privileged correspondence. Privileged mail is not photocopied in the same way as personal mail; as of December 2025, DOCCS reports screening incoming privileged mail with terahertz (“T-Ray”) scanners rather than opening it. There are limits on the number of pages of legal material that may be received at once without advance approval from the facility. Confirm the current privileged-mail procedure and any page limits with the specific facility before sending.

Books and publications

Books and publications must be ordered from an approved vendor and shipped directly to the facility; they cannot be mailed in from home. DOCCS maintains lists of vendors, and some vendors are disapproved. Confirm that the publication and the vendor are currently permitted before ordering.

Packages

Under the package policy in effect since May 9, 2022 (Directive #4911 / #4911A), all packages must be ordered directly from approved vendors and shipped to the facility by mail or carrier. Families and visitors can no longer bring packages to the facility or mail packages from home, and food packages from family and friends are no longer permitted — food must be purchased through an approved vendor. A limited number of non-food packages per year may be received, and each package must show the incarcerated person’s name and DIN. Confirm the current package allowance, approved-vendor list, and any item limits before ordering.

Verify Before Acting

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