Mail & Packages in Wyoming (WDOC)

Addressing Mail

Wyoming’s published rule is precise: the person’s committed name with their WDOC number immediately following the name. Mail that puts the number after the facility line instead is returned to the sender unprocessed. The format, using WDOC’s own example:

John Doe #12345 Wyoming State Penitentiary P.O. Box 400 Rawlins, WY 82301

A full return address is required, and no titles or nicknames — the committed name only. Each facility receives its own mail:

• Wyoming State Penitentiary — P.O. Box 400, Rawlins, WY 82301
• Wyoming Women’s Center — P.O. Box 300, Lusk, WY 82225
• Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution — 7076 Road 55F, Torrington, WY 82240
• Wyoming Honor Farm — 40 Honor Farm Road, Riverton, WY 82501
• Wyoming Honor Conservation Camp — P.O. Box 160, Newcastle, WY 82701

The person’s WDOC number shows in the Wyoming Offender Locator.

What Can Go in a Letter

Since March 2026, all incoming physical mail passes through an electronic scanning device that screens for contraband — but mail that clears the scan is delivered as the original, not a copy. A letter may be up to half an inch thick in an envelope up to 10 x 15 inches, and may include:

• Up to 10 personal photographs, no larger than 8 x 10 — no Polaroids or self-developing photos, and no nudity, sexually explicit content, or gang signs
• Up to 10 newspaper or magazine clippings
• Hand-made drawings, photocopies, business cards, small pamphlets, single-page calendars, blank postcards without postage, and paper or plastic bookmarks

What Gets Mail Rejected

• Stickers, address labels, sealing wax, or anything affixed to the envelope or contents
• Cash or personal checks (see below for how money actually moves)
• Packages from family or friends — prohibited with no exceptions
• Mail sent through third-party or pen-pal services
• Postage-due mail, and writing in code

Non-privileged mail can be opened and read case by case; letters are processed within about 48 hours under the published policy. Legal mail marked “LEGAL MAIL” is opened only in the person’s presence.

Books, Magazines, and Newspapers

Publications come directly from the publisher only, paid in advance — no “bill me later” orders, and nothing forwarded from home. Hardback books are prohibited regardless of content. The warden can reject content on published grounds (weapons, escape, drugs, sexually explicit material), but not merely because it is unpopular, religious, or political — that protection is written into the policy.

Sending Money Is Separate

Money never goes in regular mail as cash or a personal check. A cashier’s check or money order can be mailed — from immediate family, someone on the approved visiting list, or a sender the facility head has approved — or deposits go through the electronic options covered in Sending Money. Wyoming is unusual in tying deposits to the visitor list: for most private senders, being on the approved list is what makes a deposit possible.

For People Without Money

The published policy gives indigent inmates a postage allowance of five letters per week, with envelopes, paper, and a pen included — a letter back is possible even when the account is empty.

Verify Before Acting

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