Letters here go to a post office box in ZIP 12602 while the building sits in 12601, and only one of those two takes a letter. Send letters and photos in minutes.
Send letters and photos in minutes
Dutchess County publishes a proper mail policy, which is more than a lot of New York counties manage. It gives an address block you can copy, it explains why it wants blue or black ink, and it tells you what happens to a letter that turns up without a return address. The one thing to get right before anything else is which of the county’s two addresses you are writing on the envelope.
The county publishes two addresses for this jail and they do different jobs.
For a letter:
Incarcerated Individual's Name
Dutchess County Justice and Transition Center
P.O. Box 1389
Poughkeepsie, New York 12602
That block is the county’s own wording, taken from its correspondence page, and it is the only place on the county site that says here is how to address a letter.
The other address, 150 North Hamilton Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601, is the building. It sits at the bottom of every jail page the county publishes, linked to a map, and it is the letterhead on the visitation and dress code documents. It is also the address for a Freedom of Information Law request, which the county labels clearly. What it is not is the address on a personal letter.
Two things make this easy to get wrong. The ZIP codes differ by one digit, 12601 against 12602. And the street address is the one you see more often, because it is on every page.
A letter that arrives without a return address on the outside is refused and returned to sender. The county states that flatly, with no grace period and no held mail.
Put your full name and address in the top left corner of the envelope every time, including on a card.
The county asks for handwritten letters in blue or black ink only, and it explains itself: other colours do not copy clearly, and a letter that does not copy clearly may reach your person as an illegible copy.
It asks for the same reason that you keep the writing inside the margins, about one inch from the top, bottom, left and right edges, so nothing gets cut off in reproduction.
Read those two rules together and the picture is clear enough: incoming mail at this jail is reproduced before it is handed over.
All incoming mail is subject to inspection for contraband.
Photos are held to a 5 by 7 inch maximum. Polaroids are not accepted, and neither is anything in a frame.
Content rules are short: photographs cannot be suggestive, provocative, nude or revealing.
This is the rule that catches people who have dealt with another jail.
Cash sent through the post is accepted and deposited into the account with no service fee. The county says it does not recommend it, but it takes it.
Cheques and money orders sent through the post are returned to sender, and the county attributes that to the facility’s Rules and Regulations Handbook.
Nearly every other county jail in New York runs this the other way round, refusing cash and asking for a postal money order. Dutchess does not.
Books are allowed, but only direct from an online publisher or bookstore. Nothing used, and nothing hardcover.
Anything that is already sold on commissary cannot be mailed in at all.
Clothing can be sent in for trial or funeral wear only. Nothing blue, nothing black, and nothing that resembles a uniform.
Brassieres are allowed but only from verified online retailers, with no padding, no underwire and no hidden pockets.
One religious item per person. A prayer rug is capped at 27 by 43 inches, and a medal has to be under two inches.
Anything held as unclaimed property is destroyed after 30 days. That clock matters most around a release or a transfer, when property is easy to forget about.
The rules above are the whole picture for an envelope you post yourself. If you want the letter and the photos to go out without a trip to the post office, Pigeonly prints and posts them to the same box the county publishes, at 5 by 7 or smaller, in the format the mailroom expects.
6 of 9 questions
Write the person's name, then Dutchess County Justice and Transition Center, P.O. Box 1389, Poughkeepsie, New York 12602. That is the county's own address block from its correspondence page. The 150 North Hamilton Street address in ZIP 12601 that appears at the bottom of every county jail page is the building's location, not the address for a letter.
Mail & PhotosThe county's published address block asks for the person's name and nothing else. No booking number, no identification number, no housing unit. That does not mean a number would cause a problem, only that Dutchess does not ask for one.
Mail & PhotosAlmost certainly because there was no return address on the envelope. The county states that correspondence without a return address is refused and returned. Colour ink, writing that runs to the very edge of the page, or a prohibited item inside are the other usual reasons.
Mail & PhotosThe county asks for blue or black ink on handwritten letters, and says other colours do not copy clearly, which may leave your person with an illegible copy. Keep the writing about an inch inside all four edges for the same reason.
Mail & PhotosYes. The county's ink colour and margin rules exist because incoming mail is reproduced in some form before it is handed over. That is why it asks for blue or black ink and an inch of margin on every side.
Mail & PhotosA size cap of 5 by 7 inches, a ban on Polaroids and anything framed, and a content rule against pictures that are suggestive, provocative, nude or revealing.
Mail & PhotosNo. Cheques and money orders sent by post are returned to the sender, which the county attributes to its Rules and Regulations Handbook. Cash sent by post is accepted and deposited with no fee, although the county says it does not recommend it. That is the reverse of how most New York jails work.
Send MoneyYes, if it comes direct from an online publisher or bookstore. Nothing used and nothing hardcover. Anything the commissary already sells cannot be mailed in.
Mail & PhotosOnly for a trial or a funeral. Nothing blue, nothing black, nothing that looks like a uniform. Bras have to come from a verified online retailer with no padding, no underwire and no hidden pockets.
Mail & PhotosMake sure they are still at this jail before you post anything.
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All information on this page comes directly from official government and facility sources. How we verify information › Last verified September 21, 2026. Official source: dutchessny.gov/Departments/Jail/Inmate-Correspondence.htm ›