How To Send Care Packages for Inmates in Texas

iEditorial Note: These blog posts represent the opinion of DoNotPay’s Writers, but each person’s situation and circumstances vary greatly. As a result, you should make sure to do your own independent research. Because everyone is unique, our self-help tools are never guaranteed to help with any specific situation. DoNotPay is not a law firm and is not licensed to practice law. DoNotPay provides a platform for legal information and self-help.

Show Them You Care—How To Send Care Packages for Inmates in Texas

Sending mail to prisoners isn’t nearly as simple as it’s presented in movies. When you’re writing to a prisoner or sending packages, you have to be mindful of the facility’s rules.

Packages are especially tricky, as there’s an abundance of rules and regulations that determine what you can send. A wrong item can even get you in trouble.

Sending care packages to provide your prison pen pal with essential things is a great way to brighten their day. If you order a pre-approved package, you can be sure that the inmate will get it.

What Are Inmate Care Packages?

A care package is a collection of essential items that you can send to an inmate. If you want to send food or hygiene products to an incarcerated friend or family member, an official care package would be the best—and sometimes only—option.

Some of the contents of an official care package are normally not allowed as part of a regular package, including:

  • Food
  • Clothing
  • Certain hygiene products
  • Electronics
  • Glasses

What sets care packages apart from normal shipments is that some are pre-approved by the facility. Care packages are created by a third-party vendor, which eliminates the possibility of inappropriate contents.

If you plan to purchase care packages for an inmate, you should keep in mind that they may be more expensive than the sum of their parts. Consumer law for prisons allows the care package providers to charge more for necessities than they should, even though it may be the only option in some facilities.

How Can I Send a Care Package to an Inmate in Texas?

If you want to send a care package to an inmate in Texas, you can order one from the eCommDirect website. To do this, you should:

  1. Visit the website and register
  2. Search for the inmate you want to send a package to (you will need their inmate ID)
  3. Choose from the available items for your care package
  4. Order

Not all prisoners are eligible to receive a care package. If they are in protective custody or have special restrictions, they won’t be able to get anything from the outside world.

How Long Does It Take To Deliver a Care Package to an Inmate?

How long it takes for the care package to arrive depends on the distance between the sender and the correctional facility. The postal service will transport the package as if it were any other type of mail. You can expect packages to arrive about five days after you’ve ordered them.

Prison security protocol might cause a delay in delivery to the inmate. Staff inspects every letter and package before they are transferred to the recipient. If there’s a substantial backlog, it might take some time for the package to reach your loved one.

Find an Inmate in Texas Using DoNotPay

It’s difficult to send a package to someone if you don’t know their exact address. If someone close to you is incarcerated, but you aren’t sure where, locating them is your priority.

That’s easier said than done as there’s no exhaustive official database of prisoners and their locations. The good news is that DoNotPay can step in and help you find an inmate in any state. Access our app from your and follow these steps to find your incarcerated loved one:

  1. Sign in to DoNotPay
  2. Navigate to the Connect With an Inmate tab and press Locate Someone
  3. Enter the name of the inmate and the state they’re imprisoned in

DoNotPay will take care of the rest. We’ll find your friend or family member, and you can write them a letter, send a care package, or arrange for inmate visitation.

Even if you don’t have all the necessary information that we request, our app will help you narrow down the search by providing a list of facilities that hold inmates with that name.

Use DoNotPay To Send Letters to Inmates

Once you’ve found your inmate using our app, you might want to stay in contact with them via letters. Most prisons don’t allow inmates access to text or email communication, which is why letters remain an essential form of communication.

You probably don’t know how to address a letter to an inmate, but that’s not a problem—because DoNotPay can do it for you. We can help you compose, style, and send your letter to any correctional facility in Texas.

Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Go to the Connect With an Inmate tab and press Send a Personalized Letter
  2. Enter the inmate’s ID and name
  3. Upload your letter or compose it in the text box
  4. Attach a photo or two if you wish
  5. Pick a customized style for your letter

Once you submit your letter, DoNotPay will take over. We’ll send your letter to the correctional facility and make sure that it arrives without delay. It should reach your loved one without trouble.

DoNotPay Helps You Receive Mail From Inmates

The convenience of text messages and emails over letters can’t be overstated. While digital forms of communication are near-instantaneous, snail mail can drag on forever, especially if someone is in jail. We thought—why not bridge the gap?

While we can’t give inmates smartphones or internet access, we can do the next best thing. Our app lets you receive the inmate’s letters to your inbox instead of your mailbox. Here’s how it works:

  1. The inmate sends a letter to a specific address
  2. DoNotPay digitizes the letter and sends it to you
  3. You read it wherever or whenever you please

It’s a convenient way to get your mail as quickly as possible. To access this feature, press the Virtual Mailbox option in the Connect With an Inmate tab.

What Restrictions Apply to Inmate Care Packages in Texas?

Correctional facilities in Texas are strict when it comes to inmate care packages and their contents. You must follow the prison rules when purchasing a care package, or it will be returned or discarded. Here’s an overview of the rules:

Restrictions Things You Can’t Send
  • You can only send $60 worth of care packages within one quarter
  • Only one package is allowed per day
  • Newly imprisoned inmates can’t receive packages until the next quarter
  • Only eligible inmates may receive care packages
  • Sharp objects
  • Anything that can be fashioned into a weapon
  • Drugs or drug-related objects
  • Sexually deviant content (such as photos and magazines) and objects
  • Anything other than books, magazines, and newspapers if you aren’t purchasing a pre-approved package

Other Tasks DoNotPay Can Take Over

Our app makes sure you can stay in contact with and send packages to inmates in GA, California, Ohio, or any other state in the U.S. If you want to get on a phone call with a federal inmate or text a prisoner, you can count on us to show you how to do it.

That’s not all—we can help you with many other tasks. Think about the last time you tried to dispute a parking ticket? Most people don’t know how, which is why they tend to pay for the ticket instead. The same goes for requesting compensation for delayed flights.

With DoNotPay’s help, you can tackle this and many other administrative issues with ease.

Access our app from your and take a look at all the mundane chores we can make simpler:

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