Erie's mail rules are set for the whole county, so what changes between its two jails is only the address, and that is the part people get wrong. Send letters and photos in minutes.
Send letters and photos in minutes
Erie County writes one set of mail rules and applies them at both of its jails, so the counts, the contraband list and the package limits here are identical to the Holding Center’s. What is specific to Alden is the address, and because the two buildings sit twenty five miles apart with no forwarding promised, the address is the part worth getting right first.
Inmate's name and ICN #
Erie County Correctional Facility
11581 Walden Avenue
Alden, New York 14004
The ICN number comes from the person’s wristband, and from the first column of Erie’s roster PDF.
Check the facility code before you seal the envelope. Alden and the Holding Center are separate buildings twenty five miles apart, a transfer between them is never announced, and the roster shows a move only as a changed code. An envelope addressed to the wrong Erie jail is an envelope going the wrong way.
Because Erie County wrote the rules once. The photo cap, the contraband list, the package quantities and the censorship deadlines are all countywide, published in a single FAQ that names both facilities together. Where the county draws a distinction it says so explicitly, as it does for the lobby cash window that only Buffalo has.
So we set them out here rather than sending you to another page for something that applies to your person. If you are writing to both buildings for different people, the rules do not change between them.
Erie enforces by number more than most jails do:
| Item | Limit |
|---|---|
| Photographs in one envelope | 10 |
| Books or magazines in a cell | 5, including library books |
| Newspapers in a cell | 2 |
| Clothing packages | 1 per stay |
| Court outfits | 2, trial only |
Barred outright whatever the count: Polaroids and other instant photographs, sonograms of the plastic x-ray type, and anything showing frontal nudity or penetration.
Erie accepts books and magazines from any source, which is a real departure from the approved-vendor rule most jails run. The conditions:
If something is held back, the Superintendent has to notify both the sender and the person inside, in writing, within 48 hours for a periodical and seven days for a book. Material about escapes, drugs, gangs, weaponry or locksmithing is refused.
Erie’s summary is the clearest statement of the rule: anything buyable in the commissary that arrives by post is contraband, and it goes back to the sender at the sender’s expense.
The refused list includes a lot of well-meant things: personal cheques, musical and oversized greeting cards, plastic-type cards, phone cards, medicine, toiletries of every kind, jewellery, stamps, writing paper, envelopes, pens and pencils, crayons, stickers and decals, beaded or painted or glued artwork, belts, food and sweets, cologne or perfume, cassette tapes, radios, televisions, lottery tickets, and tobacco.
Stamps and writing paper are on that list, which catches people trying to make it easier for somebody to reply.
No drop-offs. Erie states that clothing and packages are no longer accepted at any of its facilities, and that a package must be purchased from and mailed by a company whose ordinary business includes selling and shipping such items. The county’s route is its package vendor site, which redirects to the Access Corrections catalogue.
One package per stay, and the contents are fixed:
| Men, no logos, white only | Women, no logos, white only |
|---|---|
| 6 pairs of socks | 3 bras, no bones or underwires |
| 6 briefs | 6 panties |
| 6 t-shirts, no pockets | 6 t-shirts |
| 6 socks |
Never accepted as property: sneakers, sweat suits, jogging suits, shorts, hooded shirts, pyjamas, robes, belts, boots, and any shoe or sandal with steel toes, rivets or metal buckles.
This is the one thing on this page you bring in person, and the window is narrow: Monday to Friday only, 7:00 to 11:15 AM and 12:30 to 2:15 PM.
Worth planning around if you are coming from Buffalo, because those windows are weekday and daytime only.
Erie sets out its general mail rules in unusual detail and then publishes nothing about privileged or legal correspondence: no separate address, no opening procedure, no attorney policy, for either facility.
That is a gap on the county’s side. Call Alden on 716-937-9101 before posting anything privileged.
Erie does not scan mail, so the postal route works exactly as you would hope: your letter arrives as your letter. What it still asks of you is the right building, the ICN number, a stamp and a postbox.
Pigeonly handles that from your phone. You write, and it is printed and posted to Alden under Erie’s own rules, with no printer and no stamps, and without the risk of addressing it to Delaware Avenue out of habit.
The county’s counts and contraband list still apply at the other end, exactly as they would to anything you posted yourself.
6 of 8 questions
The person's name and ICN number on the first line, then Erie County Correctional Facility, 11581 Walden Avenue, Alden, New York 14004. Confirm the facility code on the roster first, because the Holding Center in Buffalo is twenty five miles away and a transfer between the two is never announced.
Mail & PhotosNo. Erie County writes one set of rules and applies them at both facilities, publishing them together in a single FAQ. The photo cap, contraband list, package quantities and censorship deadlines are identical. Where the county does draw a distinction between its jails it says so, as it does for the lobby cash window Buffalo has and Alden does not.
Mail & PhotosTen. Above that the envelope is treated as contraband. Polaroids and other instant photographs are barred at any number, as are sonograms and anything showing frontal nudity. Split a larger set across several envelopes.
Mail & PhotosYes, and from any source, which is more generous than the approved-vendor rule most jails use. It has to arrive by mail rather than be dropped off, magazines must be the current month in new condition, and religious or educational material has to be soft-cover. Only five books or magazines plus two newspapers may be in the cell at once.
Mail & PhotosIt goes back to you, and Erie is explicit that it goes back at the sender's expense. The county's rule of thumb is that anything you could buy in the commissary counts as contraband if it arrives by post, which catches stamps, writing paper, pens, toiletries and sweets.
Mail & PhotosOnly court clothing, and only Monday to Friday between 7:00 and 11:15 AM or 12:30 and 2:15 PM. Two outfits, for trial only, never orange, no clip-on ties or belts, and jackets only from November to March. Ordinary clothing packages must be bought from and posted by a company that sells and ships such items.
Mail & PhotosIt is reviewed for contraband and can be censored, but it is not scanned or digitised. Erie names no digital mail vendor for either facility, so the physical letter reaches the person rather than an image of it on a tablet.
Mail & PhotosErie County does not publish a legal mail address or procedure for either of its jails, despite setting out its general rules in detail. Call Alden on 716-937-9101 and get the instruction before sending anything privileged.
Mail & PhotosConfirm the facility code before you post.
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View ArticleSame rules, and the address that catches people out.
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All information on this page comes directly from official government and facility sources. How we verify information › Last verified September 17, 2026. Official source: www4.erie.gov/sheriff/frequently-asked-questions-faq ›