Indiana: pen pal rules and how to send mail
Indiana bans incarcerated people from placing ads soliciting pen pals, including ads posted with someone else's help, and can discipline them. They may still write to pen pals. You can still list someone here: you confirm you understand before paying and again by email before the profile goes up.
Where personal letters go depends on the prison: each prison's page below shows its address. They are scanned, and the person receives a printed copy or a copy on their tablet.
Checked against the department's own pages . How we check, and corrections
Pen pal listings
“Incarcerated individuals shall not be prohibited from corresponding with pen-pals; however, they shall not place advertisements soliciting pen-pals. ... Incarcerated individuals who post advertisements or have advertisements posted with the assistance of another person shall be subject to disciplinary action.”
Source: IDOC Policy and Administrative Procedure 02-01-103, Correspondence (eff. 8/22/2023), Section XVIII, Solicitation, read 2026-10-07.
You can still list someone here if they understand the risk and want to go ahead. We ask you to initial that you understand before you pay, and to confirm once more by email after. The profile goes up as soon as you confirm. If you change your mind before then, you get a full refund.
Sending mail to someone in Indiana
Where personal letters go depends on the prison: each prison's page below shows its address. They are scanned, and the person receives a printed copy or a copy on their tablet.
“Most facilities use a centralized mail processing center.” Department source
“All general correspondence (not legal mail or privileged correspondence) is scanned in full color and uploaded directly to the inmate's tablet.”
Electronic messages: On GettingOut, either side can send the contact request, and both have to accept it. Step by step for each app. Department page.
Source: Indiana 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.
Prisons in Indiana (18)
How to write to someone at each one: the mailing format, mail rules and messaging, from the department's own pages.
Find someone in Indiana
Official Indiana inmate locator
We check every profile's name and ID number against this locator within a day of it going live.