Tennessee Department of Correction transitioning to digitized inmate mail

Inmate Mail | Courtesy: Tennessee Department of Correction

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WDEF) — The Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) will be shifting away from physical mail beginning on November 3, 2025.

Physical mail will instead be scanned and digitized, then given to inmates on a TDOC-issued tablet.

Mail from family members, friends, and loved ones will be received at an off-site, centralized facility to be processed.

This move aims to reduce contraband and improve security while providing faster and more reliable mail delivery to inmates.

If the received mail is compliant with TDOC’s inmate mail policy, it will be scanned and sent to the inmate as it was written.

Drawings and other permitted personalization will be processed this way as well.

Delivered mail will not cost anything to the inmate, and they will have access to it for the duration of their incarceration.

Through this new system, senders will be able to track the status of their mail and will be notified if it has been rejected.

Mail sent to TDOC facilities after November 3, 2025 will be returned to sender.

Starting on that date, all inmate mail must be formatted and sent to the following address:

Facility name
Inmate first & last name
TDOC ID #
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131

Privileged mail (correspondence from attorneys, court clerks, legal aid clinics, governmental officials or agencies, etc.) will not be affected by this change, and should still be sent directly to the facility.

Outgoing inmate mail will be be affected.