Erie County Holding Center Mail and Photos

Addressing It, With the Number From the Wristband

Inmate's name and ICN #
Erie County Holding Center
40 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, New York 14202

The ICN number is the Inmate Control Number, and Erie says it is on the person’s wristband. If you do not have it, the roster PDF carries it in its first column.

Two addresses on the same street that are not the jail, both of which appear in search results:

• 10 Delaware Avenue is the Sheriff’s Office administrative headquarters. The New York State Commission of Correction lists this one, which is how it ends up on directory sites.
• 25 Delaware Avenue is the District Attorney’s Office.

There is also a 121 West Eagle Street address circulating for this facility on competitor guides. Erie County does not publish it anywhere, and it appears to belong to a City of Buffalo police lockup, which is a different agency entirely. Do not use it.

No Scanning Vendor, and Why That Is Worth Saying

We checked for this specifically, because most New York county jails now route mail through a contractor. Erie names none: no Securus Digital Mail, no Smart Communications, no TextBehind, and no Clifton Park processing box.

Mail goes to the building, and the county’s own censorship process describes the Superintendent’s Office reviewing physical material. So a letter you post is a letter they hold, a card is a card, and a photograph is an actual photograph rather than a scan on a screen.

Ten Photographs, and Nothing Instant

The photo rules are precise and they are enforced by counting.

• More than ten photographs in one envelope is contraband.
• Polaroids, whole or altered, are barred. So is any other instant photograph.
• Nudity is barred, specifically material displaying frontal nudity or penetration.
• Sonograms of the plastic x-ray type are on the not-accepted list.

If you have twenty photographs to send, that is two envelopes rather than one thick one.

Books From Any Source, Which Is Unusually Generous

Most jails restrict books to an approved vendor. Erie does not.

All printed material, meaning magazines, newspapers and books, is accepted through the mail only, and people may receive printed materials or publications from any source.

The conditions attached:

• Magazines must be the current month and in new condition.
• Religious and educational material is soft-cover only, and by mail only.
• No more than five books or magazines and two newspapers may be in a cell at one time, and that count includes anything borrowed from the facility library.

That last limit is the one families miss. Sending a sixth book does not add to a collection, it creates a problem.

The Censorship Timetable, Which Has Deadlines

Erie publishes something most jails do not: how quickly it has to tell you when it holds something back.

If printed material needs censoring, the Superintendent notifies both the person inside and the sender, in writing, within:

• 48 hours for a periodical
• Seven days for a publication or book

Material is refused where it describes actual or attempted jail escapes, or relates to drugs, gangs, weaponry or locksmithing. All unacceptable materials are returned to sender.

The Sting in the Returns Policy

This is the sentence to read twice:

Any item which can be purchased in the inmate commissary and which is sent through the US mail will be considered contraband, and will be returned to sender at their expense.

So the cost of a rejected parcel lands on you, not on the county. The not-accepted list is long and includes things people send with the best intentions: personal cheques, musical or oversized greeting cards, plastic-type cards, phone calling cards, medicine, deodorant, hair products, combs, brushes, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, washcloths, towels, cosmetics, crosses, chains, necklaces, medallions, rings, watches, bracelets, stamps, writing paper, envelopes, pens, pencils, crayons, coloured pencils, pantyhose, metal or plastic objects, glue, decals, stickers, artwork that is beaded or painted or glued or stringed, belts, food, sweets, cologne or perfume, cassette tapes, radios, tape players, televisions, lottery tickets, hair, and tobacco products.

Stamps and writing paper are on that list, which surprises people who are trying to make it easier for somebody to write back.

One Package Per Stay, With Counts Attached

Packages cannot be dropped off. Erie states plainly that clothing and packages will no longer be accepted at any Jail Management Division facility, and that any incoming package must be purchased from and mailed by a company whose ordinary business includes the sale and shipping of such items.

The county’s official route is its package vendor at eriecountynypackages.com, which redirects to the Access Corrections catalogue.

One package of the following per stay, and the counts are exact:

For men, no logos, white only	For 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

Also refused as incoming property: sneakers of any kind, sweat suits, jogging suits, shorts, hooded shirts, pyjamas, robes, belts, boots, and shoes or sandals with steel toes, rivets or metal buckles.

Court Clothing Has Its Own Window

A real exception, and it runs on a schedule most families never find.

Court clothing may be dropped off or exchanged Monday to Friday only, between 7:00 and 11:15 AM and 12:30 and 2:15 PM.

The rules on what counts:

• Two outfits only, and for trial only.
• No orange clothing.
• Pants with no metal decorations or attachments, a shirt with no logos or hoods, a dress, or a two or three piece suit.
• No clip-on ties and no belts.
• Jackets or coats are accepted only from November through March.
• Clothing sprayed with cologne or perfume will not be accepted.

Writing From a Phone

Because Erie does not scan anything, the paper route genuinely works here. What it still asks of you is an envelope, a stamp, the right ICN number and a trip to a postbox.

Pigeonly covers the same journey from your phone: you write, and the letter is printed and posted to the Holding Center under Erie’s own rules. No printer, no stamps, and no chance of sending the ICN number to 10 Delaware Avenue by mistake.

It does not change anything Erie does at its end. The counts still apply, the contraband list still applies, and the Superintendent still reviews what arrives.