A photograph posted to this jail is photocopied, and the original goes into property until release, which is the single most surprising thing about writing to someone here. Send a letter from your phone in minutes.
Write from your phone and we print and post it under this jail's own rules. No printer, no stamps.
Mail goes straight to the building here. There is no scanning vendor and no processing box in another town, which puts Monroe in a shrinking minority of New York county jails. What it does have is a photograph rule that surprises almost everyone: since September 2021, a photo arriving in ordinary post is copied, the copy is delivered, and the original is held in property until the person is released.
Monroe County runs two sites and they take mail separately. Use the one where your person is being held.
The jail:
Inmate Name & ID Number
Monroe County Jail
130 S. Plymouth Avenue
Rochester, New York 14614
The STAR Academy:
Inmate Name & ID Number
Andrew P. Meloni: STAR Academy
750 E. Henrietta Road
Rochester, New York 14623
Two things the county is firm about. The envelope has to carry both a first and last name and the MCJ identification number, which comes off the daily roster. And it has to travel by ordinary United States Postal Service mail. The county states plainly that no overnight or express mail will be accepted, so paying for speed buys a refusal rather than a faster delivery.
This is the rule to understand before you send anything you care about.
Effective 3 September 2021, photographs that arrive in ordinary mail at the Monroe County Jail are photocopied. The photocopy is given to the person you sent it to. The original photograph is stored in their property and stays there until they are released.
So a family posting a birthday photo is not sending a photograph. They are sending a black and white or colour copy of one, and putting the real thing into a property bag for however long the stay lasts.
There is a limit either way: ten photographs per envelope. And instant or Polaroid photos are refused outright, not copied.
Four services bypass the copying. The county names them on its own Jail Bureau page as the route that delivers actual photographs rather than copies: Free Prints, Walmart, Inmate Photos and Shutterfly. We are naming them because at this jail they are the only published way to get a real print into somebody’s hands, and leaving a family to guess would cost them their originals.
What we do, and what we do not do. Pigeonly lets you write a letter or pick photos on your phone and we print and post them to the jail under its own rules, so you do not need a printer, envelopes or stamps. What we do not do is skip the photocopy rule. A photo we post arrives the same way any posted photo arrives, as a copy, with the original held in property. Anyone telling you otherwise about this jail is wrong.
Monroe publishes a long one and it is worth reading before you seal anything.
Materials: cardboard, plastics, anything laminated. Padded or insulated envelopes. Staples and paper clips. Tape or glue. Stickers or any adhesive. Glitter.
Paper and cards: blank paper, blank cards, blank envelopes and stamps. Two-ply greeting cards, which have to be separated and are discouraged anyway. Oversized cards and musical cards.
Images and art: instant or Polaroid photos. Artwork in wax, watercolour, or heavy crayon or marker. Anything gang related. Anything about drugs or weapons.
Other: food. Packages. Perfumes, which are discouraged. Envelopes with suspicious stains or markings.
Money in any form. Cash, cheques and money orders of any type are all refused in the mail. Money has its own routes entirely.
Newspapers, magazines and books reach somebody here only if they are mailed directly from the publisher. A book you buy and post yourself will not get through, however new it is.
And there is a harder limit on top: no hardbound books at all. Paperback or nothing.
Packages do not go through the property window. They have to be bought from a company whose ordinary business is selling and shipping such items, which rules out local retailers and, more usefully to know, third party sellers on Amazon, Etsy, eBay and the Walmart marketplace.
The one carve-out: items sold and shipped by Amazon itself are allowed. Marketplace sellers using Amazon are not. That distinction is easy to miss at checkout and it is the difference between a package arriving and a package being turned away.
Clothing has its own allowance: six white short-sleeved t-shirts, one grey sweatshirt, six pairs of underwear, six pairs of socks and three wireless bras. Nothing with a hood, pocket, zip, button, snap, drawstring or any metal. Solid colour only, no logos and no print.
The county has an older property document still sitting on its server that names Walmart among the approved clothing vendors. The current document forbids Walmart outright.
If you find a page saying otherwise, check its date. The rules above come from the current versions. When two county documents disagree, the newer one is the one the mailroom is working from, and 585-753-4300 will settle it.
6 of 9 questions
Inmate name and ID number, Monroe County Jail, 130 S. Plymouth Avenue, Rochester, New York 14614. If your person is at the Andrew P. Meloni STAR Academy instead, that is 750 E. Henrietta Road, Rochester, New York 14623. The two sites take mail separately, so the right building matters.
Mail & PhotosYes. Since 3 September 2021, a photograph arriving in ordinary mail is copied, the copy goes to your person, and the original is held in their property until release. It applies to photos from anyone, sent any way through the post. The county names four services, Free Prints, Walmart, Inmate Photos and Shutterfly, as the route that delivers an actual print instead.
Mail & PhotosTen per envelope. Instant and Polaroid photographs are not accepted at all, and are refused rather than copied. Sending more than ten risks the whole envelope rather than the extras alone.
Mail & PhotosNo. Cash, cheques and money orders of any type are on the prohibited list for mail. Deposits go through the kiosks, through Access Corrections online or by phone, or through the staffed cash window at the jail, which opens Fridays only.
Mail & PhotosOnly if it is mailed directly from the publisher, and only if it is a paperback. Hardbound books are refused whatever their source. The same publisher rule covers magazines and newspapers, so buying something and posting it on yourself will not work.
Mail & PhotosBecause the county accepts ordinary United States Postal Service mail only. Its own instruction says no overnight, express or similar service will be accepted. Paying for faster delivery does not get a letter there faster, it gets it refused.
Mail & PhotosNo. There is no scanning vendor and no processing box in another town. Letters go directly to the buildings on South Plymouth Avenue and East Henrietta Road. That is increasingly unusual for a New York county jail and it means the paper you posted is the paper they hold.
Mail & PhotosOnly if the item is sold and shipped by Amazon itself. Third party marketplace sellers are prohibited, and so are Etsy, eBay and the Walmart marketplace. The seller has to be a company whose ordinary business is selling and shipping such items. It is worth checking the seller line at checkout before you pay.
Mail & PhotosSix white short-sleeved t-shirts, one grey sweatshirt, six pairs of underwear, six pairs of socks and three wireless bras. Nothing with a hood, pocket, zip, button, snap, drawstring or metal of any kind, and solid colours only with no logos or print. Note that one older county document still lists Walmart as an approved source and the current one does not.
Mail & PhotosWhere the MCJ number on your envelope comes from.
View ArticleMoney cannot go in an envelope, so here is where it does go.
View ArticleA week ahead, on the matching weekday.
View ArticleThe faster way to reach somebody while a letter is in transit.
View ArticleSearch for your loved one and start sending photos, letters, and messages today.
Search for Your Loved OneFree Inmate Search
All information on this page comes directly from official government and facility sources. How we verify information › Last verified September 17, 2026. Official source: monroecounty.gov/files/sheriff/Mail%20for%20Inmates.pdf ›