Tennessee: 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 Tennessee prisons go to a department-wide mail center, not to the prison. They are scanned, and the person receives a copy on their tablet.
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 Tennessee
Personal letters to people in Tennessee prisons go to a department-wide mail center, not to the prison. They are scanned, and the person receives a copy on their tablet.
The department gives this address format for personal mail (each prison's page below fills in its own name):
Facility Name Inmate First Last Name TDOC ID # P.O. Box 247 Phoenix, MD 21131“Beginning November 3, 2025, we will transition from physical mail to scanned, digitized personal mail for inmates in all TDOC facilities.” Department source
“Pictures will be scanned. Profanity and inappropriate photos will not be delivered.”
Source: Tennessee 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 Tennessee (15)
How to write to someone at each one: the mailing format, mail rules and messaging, from the department's own pages.
Find someone in Tennessee
Official Tennessee inmate locator
We check every profile's name and ID number against this locator within a day of it going live.