Mail and Photos at Ulster Correctional Facility

How to Address It

John Smith, 12A3456
Ulster Correctional Facility
P.O. Box 800
Napanoch, NY 12458-0800

Name and DIN together on the first line. The DIN is the Department Identification Number the state lookup returns, and mail without one cannot be sorted to a person.

One Box, No Bracket

Many New York prisons publish a business box on the address line and a separate family box in brackets beside it. Ulster does not. NYSDOCCS lists the address as 750 Berme Road, P.O. Box 800, Napanoch, NY 12458-0800, and that box is the one for family mail as well. The last four digits of the ZIP, 0800, match the box.

Ulster and Eastern, One Hamlet

Two New York state prisons sit in Napanoch, and both use the five-digit ZIP 12458.

	Ulster	Eastern NY
Security	Medium	Maximum
Street	750 Berme Road	30 Institution Rd
Box	P.O. Box 800	P.O. Box 338
ZIP	12458-0800	12458-0338

The facility name and the box have to agree. A letter with the other prison’s box goes to the other prison, and nobody carries it down the road.

Not the County Jail

The Ulster County Jail is run by the county at 380 Boulevard in Kingston. It holds people awaiting trial or serving short sentences, and it has its own mail rules. Someone in state custody at Ulster Correctional Facility is in Napanoch, and their mail goes to P.O. Box 800.

What the Envelope Needs

• Full name and DIN on the first line
• P.O. Box 800, then Napanoch, NY 12458-0800
• Your full return address, in the top left corner
• Nothing else written on the outside

A letter with no return address is treated as contraband and is not delivered. That is the department’s own wording and it holds statewide.

The Paper Arrives

Mail at Ulster is opened and inspected at the prison and then handed over. Your envelope, your handwriting, your paper.

Many New York county jails now route personal mail to a scanning centre and deliver it as an image on a tablet. State prisons do not.

What the Mailroom Refuses

Published by the department and applying statewide.

Refused	Note
Polaroid photographs	The format itself, whatever the picture shows
Nude photographs
Postage stamps	Do not enclose stamps for a reply
Letters from other people	Third-party mail, with an exception for children
Tape, glue or paste	Including on newspaper clippings
Cash, checks, money orders	Covered below

There is also a paper limit: five pages of printed or photocopied material per letter, with newspaper clippings counting one page each. Legal papers for an active case can exceed it only with the Superintendent’s written permission, obtained in advance, and no more than once every four months.

Photographs

Ordinary printed photographs get through and they are the best thing you can put in an envelope.

Polaroids do not, anywhere in New York, because of the format and not the picture. An instant print has a thick backing that can conceal things, so the category is excluded.

Order prints from a photo service or print them at home on ordinary photo paper, and keep writing on the back to a name and a date.

Money Goes to Miami

Nothing financial goes in the envelope. The inspection is looking for exactly that.

Deposits go to the JPay lockbox, PO Box 531190, Miami, Florida 33153, with a JPay deposit slip, capped at $999.99 per money order and free by post. On a visit day the lockbox inside Ulster takes $50 in cash a day in total.

Packages Come From Vendors

Families cannot post or carry packages in. Everything arrives directly from an approved vendor by USPS, FedEx or UPS.

The allowance is two non-food packages a year and three food packages a month, food capped at a combined 40 pounds. The department publishes a disapproved vendor list and Directive #4911 carries the detail.

Legal Mail Runs Separately

Mail from a lawyer or a court is privileged under Directive #4421, and it is opened in front of the person it is addressed to, not in the mailroom.

A family member cannot send ordinary mail under a legal label. Trying it puts the letter at risk instead of speeding it up.

On the Days That Are Not Yours

Ulster gives most families one weekend day, set by the DIN, and the rest of the week belongs to the post and the phone.

Pigeonly prints and sends letters and photos to Ulster with P.O. Box 800, the full ZIP and the DIN already in place, so the envelope goes to Napanoch and not to Kingston or down the road.