Minnesota: pen pal rules and how to send mail
We found no rule in this department's published policies that stops people here from being listed on a pen-pal site. Normal mail rules still apply, and no one may ask pen pals for money.
Personal letters to people in Minnesota prisons go to a department-wide mail center, not to the prison. They are scanned, and the person receives a printed copy.
Checked against the department's own pages . How we check, and corrections
Pen pal listings
We found no rule in this department's published policies that stops people here from being listed on a pen-pal site. Normal mail rules still apply, and no one may ask pen pals for money.
Sending mail to someone in Minnesota
Personal letters to people in Minnesota prisons go to a department-wide mail center, not to the prison. They are scanned, and the person receives a printed copy.
The department gives this address format for personal mail (each prison's page below fills in its own name):
First Name / Last name, and OID MCF-facility name, Minnesota (do not abbreviate Minnesota) P.O. Box 247 Phoenix, MD 21131“TextBehind will copy all items and mail the copy to the facility for distribution.” Department source
“Unacceptable mail: TextBehind does not accept legal mail, money orders, personal checks, gift cards or cash in the mail, and these items will be returned to the sender.”
Electronic messages: On JPay, you make an account, add the person by name and ID number, and pay per message. Step by step for each app. Department page.
Source: Minnesota 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 Minnesota (11)
How to write to someone at each one: the mailing format, mail rules and messaging, from the department's own pages.
Find someone in Minnesota
Official Minnesota inmate locator
We check every profile's name and ID number against this locator within a day of it going live.