Inmate Mail

Mailing Address:

Inmate's Name
C/O Cumberland County Jail
50 County Way
Portland, ME 04102

Inmates are not allowed to accept cash.

Mail Policy:

  • Inmates of the Cumberland County Jail are permitted to communicate or correspond with persons or organizations, subject to the limitations necessary to maintain order and security. This policy will ensure that inmates maintain important ties with their families, friends, attorneys, officials and the community.
  • Excluding weekends and holidays, or emergency situations, incoming and outgoing letters are held for no more than 24 hours and packages are held no more than 48 hours.
  • Inmate mail will be opened and inspected for contraband.
  • For security reasons the Cumberland County Jail does not allow either incoming or outgoing mail coming from or going to any person incarcerated in a juvenile or adult detention or correctional facility.
  • Mail received for inmates who are no longer at this facility, either by release or transfer, will be marked "return to sender" and returned to the postal service with the next business day's mail.
  • Incoming inmate mail will be inspected for the purpose of intercepting contraband, and money orders. day's outgoing mail. Incoming mail from attorneys, courts, or government officials and representatives will be opened to inspect for contraband and in the presence of the inmate.
  • All incoming mail must be sent to the facility in white legal size envelopes, including post cards (i.e. birthday/holiday). This assists in drug detection through the incoming mail. Incoming legal mail will be exempt from the white envelope rule. Any mail that does not fall within the guidelines will be returned to sender. Listed below are reasons for items to be refused, disposed of or returned to sender:
    • Any non paper items
    • Anything gang related (photos, colors, writing symbols, or hand gestures)
    • Blank paper, cards, or stamps
    • Cards larger than 5 inches by 7 inches
    • Cash, personal checks, second party checks
    • Colored envelopes (except legal mail)
    • Colored pencil(s), markers, crayons, paint, watercolors or wax on any part of the envelope
    • Correction tape/fluid
    • Correspondence in code
    • Drugs
    • Food items or cosmetic items
    • Foreign unidentified substances
    • Home made cards or poster cards
    • Identification cards or facsimiles
    • Incomplete return address
    • Instant camera photos (i.e. Polaroids)
    • Items having suspicious stains or markings
    • Lottery tickets or prepaid phone cards
    • Magazine or newspaper clippings
    • Magazines, books, newspapers NOT from the publisher
    • Mail from other penal institutions
    • Mail that violates a not-contact order, PFA, or other court order
    • Musical or recordable cards
    • No inmate name
    • Padded envelopes
    • Paperclips or staples
    • Photos larger than 4" X 6"
    • Pictures or drawings of nude, obscene, or sexually explicit material
    • Plastics or anything laminated or made of cardboard
    • Rubber inked stamps
    • Stickers of any kind (including return address labels)
    • Tape
    • Two-ply cards
  • Magazines, books, and newspapers will only be allowed in from the publisher, and or Amazon.com - not an outside source. Inmates are limited to 2 magazine subscriptions.