Benton County Jail Inmate Mail

Benton County Jail Inmate Mail

When mailing a letter or postcard to an inmate, please address your mail as follows:

Inmate's First and Last Name
Benton County Jail
113 E. 3rd St.
Benton County Jail
113 E. 3rd St.
Vinton, IA 52349

All mail sent to an inmate at the Benton County Jail must include the sender's name and mailing address in the top left corner of the envelope or postcard.
Failure to include your return address will most likely result in your mail NOT being delivered and your letter destroyed.

The information below provides complete instructions regarding:

• Benton County Jail Inmate Mail Policies,
• Mail Instructions,
• What type of mail is NOT allowed,
• Rules for Mailing Letters and Photos and Postcards
• Emailing an inmate,
• Policies for Sending Magazines, Newspapers, Books and Packages to Benton County Jail in Vinton, Iowa.

Follow these instructions exactly to help ensure that your inmate receives his/her mail and not have it thrown away.
The Benton County Jail has a zero-tolerance policy regarding mail violations.

Benton County Jail Inmate Mail Announcement

Staff at the Benton County Jail has increasingly been finding letters that are being mailed to inmates being dipped into illegal drugs in liquid form. Because of this crime they may be eliminating all direct mail from families and friends and moving to a system where all personal mail (not legal) is sent to a third party who will either provide photocopies of your letters or will forward them in a digital form to be read by inmates on terminals in their unit.

Instructions on this service are listed below, or will be outlined in detail when this new policy takes affect. If you have any questions, call the Benton County Jail at 319-472-2337.

Mail Policies regarding letters, postcards, greeting cards, digital mail, newspapers, magazines and books are listed below. Scroll down for instructions. Failure to adhere to them will result in your inmate and you losing certain privileges.

Benton County Jail Physical Address
113 E. 3rd St.
Vinton, IA 52349

Benton County Jail Mailing Address
113 E. 3rd St.
Vinton, IA 52349

TextBehind Digital & Letter Writing Service

TextBehind enables you to communicate with your incarcerated loved ones located inside the United States from anywhere in the world using text letters, kids' drawings, and custom greeting cards. Unlimited inmate reply letters are processed for electronic delivery to your smartphone and email at no extra charge.
The cost to send an electronic letter is approximately $1.00.

Here’s how it works:
1.    All offender mail (paper and electronic) is addressed and delivered to TextBehind. Electronic mail is sent through the apps (iphone, Google Play). Paper mail is sent to the address below:
Inmate Name and Inmate Number
Benton County Jail Iowa (note: please do not abbreviate the name)
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131
2.    If it was sent via TextBehind's app (iphone, Google Play), TextBehind can process it within one business day.
3.    An additional step is involved in processing mail that is sent using the U.S. Postal Service. TextBehind will  use a scanner to make digital files of the contents of the mailing—including cards, photos or artwork.
4.    All digital files are then forwarded to the offender’s assigned prison.
5.    The jail or prison's mailroom staff print approved pages and then delivers them to the inmate.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• TextBehind does not deliver any mail to the inmate directly, nor do they guarantee delivery of your letters to the inmates by the courier, jail or prison staff. Once they process your mail and ship them out on your behalf, they are out of the loop entirely. However, at times they may offer to resend your letters under certain strict conditions as a courtesy. 
• Inmates do not receive any invites when you add them, and neither do they need to accept the use of TextBehind service. Once you add the inmate, you can create letters for them. 
• There is NO guarantee that Benton County Jail will cooperate and process TextBehind 'mail', and then deliver it to your inmate. Only when jails enroll directly with TextBehind, is your inmate most likely to get your TextBhind communications.

Here’s what happens when TextBehind receives a letter from an inmate:

• Upon receiving, TextBehind staff open their letters, scan, and upload high-quality images to your TextBehind account as a complimentary service. You are not required to have any money or credits balance in your TextBehind account to receive inmate letters.
• Next, you will receive a text and email alert to notify you of any new incoming reply letters. At that time, you can log into the TextBehind website or mobile app and view letters in your CONTACTS >> Click on Conversation Icon. 

YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS...

• Inmates do require a stamp to send out their letters to TextBehind using Postal Service.
• The cash or credit balance from your TextBehind account will not be shared with inmates as a substitute for the stamps. 
• All letters printed and shipped by TextBehind nationwide to virtually any jail or prison facility are delivered to the jails/prisons by couriers such as the USPS or FedEx as their standard process.
• After the shipments, TextBehind has no control over the process.
• The delivery of your letters depends on couriers and prison staff taking the necessary action, and on time.

IMPORTANT TextBehind LINKS:
Register / Log in with TextBehind
Contact TextBehind with Questions
Add an Inmate to your list of Contacts
TextBehind Volume Discount packages
** Address to Mail letters using TextBehind **
Inmate Name and Inmate Number
Benton County Jail Iowa (note: please do not abbreviate the name)
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131

RATES (subject to change):

TextBehind is a digital texting and letter writing service used by jail and prison inmates and inmate’s friends and families all across America. Due to the problem of letters and postcards containing, or soaked in contraband (drugs), TextBehind electronic and physical letters replaced the former policy of allowing mail to be sent directly from inmate’s friends and family members, and vice versa.

Type of Mail Allowed for Benton County Jail

Postcards
The Benton County Jail allows inmates to receive pre-metered postcards like the type purchased from the post office. They may also allow certain photo postcards as long as they have not been tampered with or contain images that may be considered to be obscene or violent in nature.
Envelopes
The Benton County Jail may also allow regular postcards and envelopes to be mailed to inmates as well, however more and more jails are no longer allowing envelopes or paper letters due to concern about paper being dipped into liquefied drugs like methamphetamines and cocaine and then mailed into secure facilities.
To confirm that the Benton County Jail still allows letters in envelopes call 319-472-2337 or view the Inmate Mail Instructions.
Newspapers
Local or national newspapers may also be mailed to the inmate as long as they are mailed directly from the newspaper publisher.
Magazines
News, special interest or sports magazines may also be mailed to an inmate as long as they are shipped directly from the publisher. Any magazines that contain profanity, weapons, pornography or other content that is adult in nature will be confiscated by the jail staff and will NOT be delivered to the inmate.
Books
Most jails allow books to be mailed directly to the jail from a reputable source such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million. You can order them directly from your computer and have them shipped to the inmate at the address above.
Books must NOT contain images or content that are considered excessively violent, pornographic or obscene. Any book that does not meet the Benton County Jail standards will be disposed of.
Hard cover books will not be accepted by the jail due to their potential to be used as a weapon.
To confirm that the Benton County Jail continues to allow books to be mailed by a third party publisher or bookseller, call 319-472-2337.
Care packages
Care packages are pre-chosen items packaged together and sent to the inmate from a third-party vendor. They can include clothing, snacks and seasonal items.
When a jail allows the inmate to receive Care Packages they must come directly from an approved company that specializes in serving the inmates of jails.
Call 319-472-2337 to see if the Benton County Jail participates in a Care Package program and if so, how to purchase one.

Emailing (Texting) your Inmate

Benton County Jail uses the services of Inmate Sales to allow text messaging communication between inmates and their friends and family.

Chirping is the product name for inmate texting.  
This product allows inmates to send chirps (texts) to friends and family members.

Here's how it works:

• First you must register, and then funds are added to the inmate's account. If you want to pay by phone, call 877-998-5678.
• When an inmate gets the device they may send 5 free automated messages each day for the first three days of possession of the chirping device.  
• These automated messages will inform the person the inmate Chirped who is sending the Chirps and the facility they are Chirping from.
• It will then ask them to go to a direct link to the inmate's account on the Inmate Sales website.
• The website will then instruct them to use a credit card to put money on the inmate's account.  

Cost of Chirping:  

• Inmates will be charged a monthly service fee of $4.00.  Inbound and Outbound Chirps are $0.10 each.
• If an inmate has available funds on their chirping device they will be able to chirp any cell phone and that chirp will appear to be a normal text. 
• If you wish to stop receiving Chirps from an inmate, reply to the Chirp with STOP.

iphone app
Google Play app

How to address your Inmate's Postcard or Envelope

Inmate's First and Last Name
Benton County Jail
113 E. 3rd St.
Benton County Jail
113 E. 3rd St.
Vinton, IA 52349

• All mail sent to an inmate at the Benton County Jail must include the senders name and mailing address in the top left corner of the envelope or postcard.
• Failure to include your return address will most likely result in your mail NOT being delivered and discarded.

Mailed Items NOT Allowed

If your inmate is mailed anything other than a letter or postcard (or sometimes) greeting cards it won't get through.
However as stated above, because of the increased smuggling of drugs, more and more jails are only allowing pre-stamped or metered, solid color or white postcards to be received by inmates, or even using a third-party service that scans the letters and delivers paper or digital copies.
Examples of prohibited items include:

• Stamps and stickers.
• Musical greeting cards.
• Altered mail such as perfumed or lipstick covered.
• Paper with any type of stains such as grease.
• News clippings.
• Crayon, felt tip or hand painted drawings.

POLICIES REGARDING MAILING PHOTOS TO Benton County Jail

• Photos should not exceed 4 inches high x 6 inches wide.
• Send no more than five photos at one time.
• Polaroid Photos are prohibited.
• Photos of weapons are prohibited.
• Photos of drugs, the consuming of drugs or alcohol is prohibited.
• Photos of lewd behavior or people exhibiting too much skin is prohibited.

Important Mail Tips

• Mail is always scanned and inspected for contraband, obscenity and other rule infractions.
• Assume that everything you write will be read by jail staff and can and will be used against you or your inmate in court.  
• Never write anything about the inmate's court case you wouldn't want read aloud in court.
• Mail is considered by the jail to be a privilege. Any violations of the mail policies can result in the inmate's mail privileges being suspended.
• The introduction of contraband by you into the jail through the mail could result in criminal charges being filed against both you and the inmate.