Federal Bureau of Prisons: pen pal rules and how to send mail
We found no Bureau of Prisons rule against being listed on a pen-pal site. General rules still apply: people may not run a business while confined or ask anyone outside family and friends for money.
Personal letters go to the person at their prison's mailing address, with their full name and ID number. How letters are handled depends on the prison.
Checked against the department's own pages . How we check, and corrections
Pen pal listings
We found no Bureau of Prisons rule against being listed on a pen-pal site. General rules still apply: people may not run a business while confined or ask anyone outside family and friends for money.
Sending mail to someone in Federal Bureau of Prisons
Personal letters go to the person at their prison's mailing address, with their full name and ID number. How letters are handled depends on the prison.
“Starting in November 2024, in institutions other than minimum-security facilities, all general correspondence (including photos and commercial greeting cards) sent to an adult in our custody will be photocopied, and only the photocopies will be provided to...” Department source
“"General correspondence" is opened and inspected by staff for both contraband and content that might threaten the security or good order of the institution.”
Electronic messages: On TRULINCS and CorrLinks, the person inside has to add you first; you then accept an emailed invitation. Step by step for each app. Department page.
Source: Federal Bureau of Prisons mail page, read 2026-10-07. Rules change; the department's page is the final word.
See also: prison mail rules and your first letter.
Federal prisons (179)
How to write to someone at each one: the mailing format, mail rules and messaging, from the department's own pages.
Find someone in Federal Bureau of Prisons
Official Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator
We check every profile's name and ID number against this locator within a day of it going live.