SmartMail allows inmates to communicate safely and quickly with family and friends outside of the jail, prison or detention center. Inmates send and receive electronic letters using a safe and secure computer kiosk or tablet stationed in their institution. THE COST IS JUST $0.50 CENTS; cheaper than a postage stamp and envelope.
More information on how to send and receive messages and photos with an inmate.
Type of Mail Allowed for Montgomery County Jail
All regular inmate postal mail (Postcards, Letters, Greeting Cards, etc.) will be scanned into the system and available to the inmates to view their postal mail via the inmate kiosk/tablets. Please be advised that when you mail an item, the original document will be destroyed. Upon release inmates can login to the public website at: https://www.smartinmate.com and enter their inmate number and password and download their photos, messages, and postal mail for FREE.
Inmate's Full Name & Booking Number
Smart Communications-Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office
P.O. Box 9123
Seminole, FL 33775-9123
** No Newspapers or Magazines Allowed **
Books
You may send books to the inmate if they are shipped directly from the publisher, or an online vendor such as Amazon.com or BarnesnadNoble.com.
Books must NOT contain images or content that are considered excessively violent, pornographic or obscene. Any book that does not meet the Montgomery 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.
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.
By law, every inmate is entitled to receive mail delivered through the United State Postal Service. While for years, this mail was always delivered in the form of a letter or a postcard from friends and loved ones directly to the inmate, the definition of inmate mail has changed a bit.
Inmate mail can be:
• A letter in an envelope,
• A postcard,
• A greeting card, or
• A digital letter
Because of security and contraband concerns, mainly the paper and envelope that a letter is written on or enclosed in, being soaked in a liquid form of drugs, many jails are increasingly limiting the type of mail inmates can get.
Some still allow regular mail in an envelope with a stamp, but many now have the letter sent to a third-party that opens the letter, scans it and the envelope into a computer, emails the letter to the jail where they print it out, giving the photocopies to the inmate, or they send it to a computer kiosk or tablet digitally that the inmate can access.
Others only allow postcards, specifically the white, pre-stamped postcards that you can purchase from the post office.
When greeting cards are allowed, they can’t be cards with glitter, music or other do-dads. They can only be plain paper cards.
Some jails, in fact most, require that mail be written or typed with only black or blue ink. Some allow black pencils to be used.
None allow crayons, markers, lipstick prints, etc.
All require white envelopes, white paper or lined paper such as from a pad. Very few allow paper that is card stock. It must be plain white, 20-lb. printer paper.
To see the inmate mail policies for Montgomery County Jail check out the inmate mail details above or call the jail at 937-225-4160 for specific information.
There are five different types of addresses for every jail:
1. The physical address of the jail
2. The mailing address for an inmate’s personal mail
3. The mailing address for the inmate’s legal mail
4. The mailing address for the jail’s administrative staff
5. The mailing address for sending money to the inmate’s trust or commissary fund
Visit the Inmate Money page for this information
In general, the only three addresses that friends and family of inmates need to be concerned about are:
• The inmate address for personal mail.
• The address for sending money orders to the inmate’s commissary account.
Visit the Inmate Money page for this information.
• The physical address of the jail.
Because this section is about mailing an inmate, the address for mailing an inmate is:
Inmate's Full Name & Booking Number
Smart Communications-Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office
P.O. Box 9123
Seminole, FL 33775-9123
or
Inmate's Full Name
Inmate ID#
Montgomery County Jail
330 W. Second Street
Dayton, OH 45422
If the red address is visible, then use that address, as that is the new address the jail is using for an inmate's personal mail to combat contraband entering the facility.
To mail a letter to an inmate in the Montgomery County Jail, first completely read all the mail policies and guidelines that are on this page. Also read any updated mail guidelines that are on the official page for facility. If you still have questions, then call the jail at 937-225-4160 and ask specifics.
It is important to understand that if even one thing is done incorrectly when sending a letter to the jail, even if everything else is done correctly, then your letter will not be delivered to the inmate. In fact, even though the jail claims they will mail your letter back to you so that you will know it was not delivered, there is always the chance it will be disposed of.
So here you are at home, wondering why your inmate is not responding to your letter, when in fact, they may not have even received it.
All mail to the inmate must be addressed as follows:
A full return address, which includes your full name and full address. Without this the mail will not be delivered to the inmate.
A complete address to the inmate, including:
Full Name (name that they were booked under)
Inmate ID# (booking #, SO #, etc.)
Inmate’s Housing location (if you know it)
Montgomery County Jail
Mailing Address
City, State, Zip code
Inmate's Full Name & Booking Number
Smart Communications-Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office
P.O. Box 9123
Seminole, FL 33775-9123
A letter that is not addressed completely may not get delivered. Keep in mind that often there is more than one inmate in a jail with the same name. You certainly don’t want the wrong inmate getting your private mail, do you?
Sometimes. There are some jails that will deliver you a notification that a letter which was intended for you was returned because it was either improperly addressed, did not have return address, contained contraband of some sort, had things written in it that were against mail and jail policies, or were sent by someone you were not allowed contact with such as co-defendant or someone the court had forbidden contact with such as a spouse in a domestic violence case.
Most of the time though, the letter is either returned or destroyed, and if there are illegal substances in the letter, it will be turned over to the Montgomery County Sheriff or District Attorney for possible criminal investigation and/or indictment.
Generally nothing but a letter, printouts from a computer printer or photographs can be sent to an inmate in the mail. If there is anything else enclosed, the entire letter and the contents will be returned to you or destroyed.
There are a few exceptions to this, such as several county jails in New York, including the infamous Riker’s Island. Riker’s allows all kinds of things to be mailed to an inmate, including a box of items every month.
Every jail has their own policy regarding allowing inmates to receive photographs in the mail, if at all. For Montgomery County Jail’s policy, review the information on this page.
In general, most jails allow an inmate to have anywhere from four to six photographs in their possession at any one time. These cannot be polaroids, and the photos cannot be construed as even mildly sexual (such as a woman or child in a bathing suit), gang related, drug related or violent.
Some jails allow only photocopied photos.
Some jails only allow photos that are sent digitally and must remain digital.
There are only a few jails that do not allow any photos of any kind.
If you are still uncertain as the policy regarding photographs at this facility, call them at 937-225-4160.
Most jails allow newspapers, magazines and books to be sent to an inmate, if they come directly from the publisher, such as directly from the newspaper or magazine themselves, or from the specific book publisher or trusted mail order source such as Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
There is often a limit of the quantity of books and magazines an inmate can either receive at one time, receive each month, or have in their possession at any one time.
Hardcover books, or books with wire spiral binders are never allowed.
Any publications that portray or discuss violence, sex, gang activity, drugs, jail escapes or anything else against jail policies are not allowed and will be returned.
The policy of the Montgomery County Jail should be detailed on this page. However, if it is not, then call the jail at 937-225-4160 and ask.
Keep in mind that the address the publications should be mailed to is not always the mailing address of where the inmate gets their regular mail, the mail that is scanned and forwarded digitally to them.
The mailing address for publications is:
Inmate's Full Name & Booking Number
Montgomery County Jail
330 West Second Street
Dayton, OH 45422
or
Inmate's Full Name
Inmate ID#
Montgomery County Jail
330 W. Second Street
Dayton, OH 45422
Use the address in red if it is visible to you.
NOTE: There are a few New York jails that allow publications to be sent directly to them as opposed to having it sent through the publisher. One of the most notable exceptions is Riker’s Island in New York City.
There is no limit to how often you can send letters or cards to an inmate. You are only limited to the types of letters and cards that you can send, considering Montgomery County Jail’s policies, which are outlined on this page.
An inmate can mail letters as often as they like. There is no limit to the number of letters that an inmate can write and send. They are only limited by the number of stamps they can afford to purchase through commissary, and the amount of commissary spend that the Montgomery County Jail allows.
Contraband is defined as anything that the jail does not allow to be mailed to an inmate, which is just about everything. The list would fill ten sets of encyclopedias.
It easier to say what is allowed to be sent through the mail:
• When allowed, a certain number of photographs.
• When allowed, newspapers, magazines and books, if they are sent from a publisher.
• When allowed, a care package of snacks, hygiene products or clothing from a commissary company that has contracted with the jail.
Some jails allow printouts of photographs and information to be sent to an inmate through the mail. Refer to the mail policy on this page or by calling the jail directly at 937-225-4160.
Many jails contract with companies that send food, hygiene products and/or clothing to inmates. These can be purchased and sent by friends and family on a weekly or monthly basis.
You can only send items from the one that your jail has a contract with.
Check this page, the Money Page or the Commissary Page for further information, or call the jail at 937-225-4160 to see which one that the Montgomery County Jail works with.
Here are the commissary package companies, in alphabetical order, that provide this service to jails in the United States:
Access Securepak
Care A Cell
Commissary order
Correct Pay
Express Account
icare
Inmate Canteen
Jail ATM
Jail Pack Store (McDaniel Supply)
My Care Pack
Oasis (jailcanteen)
Prodigy Solutions
Tiger
Union Supply Direct
The only gifts you can send an inmate must come from one of the stores above, and Montgomery County Jail must contract with them.
If the item that you send an inmate is illegal, then you and/or your inmate can get in trouble, otherwise if it is not illegal, it will just be destroyed or in some cases, returned to you.
Note that if you continue to send items that are considered contraband, some of your communication privileges with your inmate, such as visitation or phone calls, may be suspended.
No, you cannot send postage stamps. Stamps must be purchased by the inmate through commissary. You can send them the money for stamps, but not the stamps.
Stamps can be purchased in the jail commissary be the inmate.
Yes. If an inmate is indigent, the jail will provide them 2-3 stamps, and an equal amount of envelopes and stationery each week.
Yes. If you send the inmate drugs, a weapon or anything illegal, it will be turned over to the Montgomery County Sheriff or District Attorney and it is most likely that you will be prosecuted.
Emailing an Inmate in Montgomery County Jail
Montgomery County Jail uses a secure messaging service call Smart Communications so that inmates can communicate electronically with friends and family members on the outside.
SmartMail allows inmates to communicate safely and quickly with family and friends outside of the jail, prison or detention center. Inmates send and receive electronic letters using a safe and secure computer kiosk or tablet stationed in their institution. THE COST IS JUST $0.50 CENTS; cheaper than a postage stamp and envelope.
More information on how to send and receive messages and photos with an inmate.
How to address your Inmate's Postcard or Envelope
Inmate's Full Name & Booking Number
Smart Communications-Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office
P.O. Box 9123
Seminole, FL 33775-9123
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:
Important Mail Tips
The staff will determine if too many photos are sent. The inmate is only allowed to keep a small number in his or her possession but can rotate them out to property as new ones arrive.
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.
To send a secure email message to an inmate in Montgomery County Jail follow these steps:
How inteleMESSAGE Works
For all information on rates, and how to Text/Email an Inmate in Montgomery County Jail check out our Secure Messaging Guide for Montgomery County.
Because Montgomery County and Ohio can change their bail bond procedures, it is always best to call either the Montgomery County Jail at 937-225-4160, or the court in the jurisdiction (i.e. Municipal Court, District Court, etc.) where the offender was charged, and do this right after an arrestee has been booked.
Ask the staff at the Montgomery County Jail or the Montgomery County Court Clerk these specific questions:
If you feel the bail is too high and you wish to get it reduced, contact a lawyer or the defendant's public defender and get them to look into what they can do to get a bail reduction. The sooner you get working on this the quicker you will get your loved one released.
This entire process will go smoother and faster with a criminal attorney or bail agent handling it for you.
How can you rent a tablet for an inmate in Montgomery County? Read the following:
Tablets can be used by inmates, for the following things:
Contact Paytel online, or call the Montgomery County Jail directly at 937-225-4160 to rent a tablet for your inmate.
To find out everything you need to know about renting a tablet, what it can be used for, how much it costs, and more, check out our Tablet Page for Montgomery County Jail.
To communicate by text or email with an Montgomery County inmate, follow these instructions:
For all the information you need to send and receive secure messages in the form of text or email with a Montgomery County Jail inmate, including how it works, how much it costs, renting your inmate a tablet, how often you can communicate and more, check out our Text/Email an Inmate Page.
NOTE: Your messages will be monitored and stored. You may want to refrain from discussing your inmate's court case.
To schedule a visit and meet with an inmate in Montgomery County, either at-the-jail or remotely by video, follow these instructions:
For all the information you need to schedule and visit with a Montgomery County Jail inmate, including how it works, how much it costs, visitation using a rented tablet, how often and when you can visit and more, check out our Visit Inmate Page.
NOTE: Your visits will be monitored, recorded and stored. You may want to refrain from discussing your inmate's court case as anything discussed can be used against them in court.
To receive phone calls from inmates in Montgomery County, or to assist them in making phone calls to other people, follow these steps:
For all the information regarding phone calls with Montgomery County inmates; rules, policies, phone calling times, costs, limits, tablet rental and more visit our Inmate Phone Page.
To deposit money online for an inmate in Montgomery County Jail follow these steps:
For all information, tips and procedures for sending money to an inmate in Montgomery County Jail, or depositing money at the jail, over the phone or by mail, check out our Send Money Page for Montgomery County.
To send a commissary carepack (food, snacks and goods) directly to an inmate in Montgomery County Jail follow these steps:
For all information, tips and available items for shipping Commissary packages to an inmate in Montgomery County Jail, as well as sending money to the inmate so that they can purchase their own items, check out our Commissary Instructions Page for Montgomery County.
