Connect With an Inmate at Big Muddy River Correctional Center

Big Muddy River Correctional Center opened in 1993 in Ina, Illinois. It's a medium-security prison for adult male offenders with a capacity of 1,962. Operated by the Illinois Department of Corrections, the center offers a variety of programs to help inmates prepare for life upon release, including academic, vocational, substance abuse, and anger management programs.

It's important to stay in touch with friends and family members who are incarcerated, not only to nurture your own relationship with them but to help them stay positive and look forward to getting back out. You can write a letter (to someone you already know, or you can find a prison pen pal), visit an inmate, and more at Big Muddy River Correctional Center, but you have to follow the prison guidelines to maintain visitation privileges and ensure your letters are delivered.

Typically, prison websites offer a lot of information about contacting an inmate because they want you to stay in touch with your friends and family. Still, it's a lot of information to wade through and double-check to make sure you get it right. Instead of trying to figure it out on your own, DoNotPay can help you contact an inmate more quickly and with less stress.

Big Muddy River Correctional Center Contact Information

Big Muddy River Correctional Center is located between I-57 and Highway 37 near Rend Lake in Jefferson County, Illinois. It's an hour-and-a-half drive from St. Louis or a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Indianapolis. This is the general contact information for the center:

How to Contact an Inmate at Big Muddy River Correctional Center

The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision offers guidelines for visitation, mail, and more for all correctional facilities under their jurisdiction, including Wende Correctional Facility.

Plan Your Visit

To visit an inmate at Big Muddy River Correctional, you have to make sure you're on the inmate's visitor list and then sign up at least seven days in advance. The sign-up system will time you out after 30 minutes, so make sure you're prepared to complete the sign-up process in one sitting, or you'll have to start over. Inmates are allowed to have up to three visits per month.

There are currently different visitation time slots for vaccinated and unvaccinated visitors and inmates.

When you arrive, you'll need to stay in your vehicle and call 618-731-2250. You'll be told when it's okay to enter the facility. Make sure you review the visitation rules.

Plan a Video Visit

If you can't be there in person, you can schedule a video visit instead. These are available all week long from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm and 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm. You must sign up at least seven days but no more than 30 days in advance, and log on 15 minutes before your scheduled visit:

• Apple users sign up here
• Android users sign up here

Video visitors must also be on the inmate's approved visitor list, and no one but the scheduled visitors can appear on the monitor during the visit. These visits are monitored, and you should expect to follow all the regular visitation rules for dress code, behavior, and more.

Send a Letter to an Inmate

Letters and photos are encouraged, but you can expect all correspondence to be examined before being delivered. If there is inappropriate or offensive material in your letter, the inmate will not receive it. If it contains contraband, you will be prosecuted. Don't send postage stamps or include blank envelopes, and don't decorate the envelope with stickers.

You also need to make sure you address the envelope correctly. First, confirm the inmate is still at Big Muddy River Correctional. Then address the letter like this:

Inmate Name & IDOC#

251 N. Illinois Highway 37

Ina, IL 62846

If you send a letter to an inmate who is no longer at Big Muddy River Correctional Center, the letter will probably get lost or be returned to you. This can be a source of distress to both you and the inmate who was expecting to hear from you, so it's essential to get it right the first time. DoNotPay can help.

Why It Can Be Challenging to Contact an Inmate

When visiting a prison or writing letters to an inmate, you have to make sure you follow all the guidelines. Failure to do so can result in lost correspondence or a loss of visiting privileges. It's not always easy to know if you're doing the right thing, but DoNotPay can simplify the entire process for you. Use our Connect With an Inmate product to locate inmates and send letters, knowing that we're taking care of all the details, so you can focus on what you want to say to your loved one.

Use DoNotPay to Help You Contact an Inmate at Big Muddy River Correctional Center

We can help you locate an inmate and exchange correspondence at any prison. If you want to contact an inmate but don't know where to start, DoNotPay has you covered:

1. Locate the Connect With an Inmate service on DoNotPay.

2. Choose whether you want to locate a loved one, create a virtual mailbox, or send a personalized letter.

3. If you want us to find your loved one, provide his or her personal details and the state they are located in. We'll then conduct a search on the appropriate state database.

4. If you want to create a virtual mailbox, just provide your full name! We'll set one up for you so you can easily receive incoming mail from your loved one.

5. If sending a personalized letter, tell us which facility your loved one is located in and what you would like to say to them. You can even include a photo! Your letter will be delivered automatically - just wait 10 days for it to arrive to your loved one!

This process works at Big Muddy River Correctional Center and any other prison or correctional facility. It's simple and efficient, and it's only the beginning: DoNotPay can do more than help you connect with an inmate.

What Else Can DoNotPay Do?

DoNotPay is here to simplify some of life's most challenging and confusing and financial issues. We take the guesswork out of contacting an inmate at Big Muddy River Correctional Center, but you can rely on us for so much more than that:

• Get compensation as a crime victim
• Request jury duty leave
• Find discounts for your favorite products and services
• Enjoy free trials, risk-free
• Learn more about the Freedom of Information Act
• Contact your government representatives
• File an insurance claim
• File SEC complaints
• And more

You don't have to navigate these hassles on your own. Get started with DoNotPay and get the help you need!