Mail & Photos to George W. Hill Correctional Facility

The Mailing Address

Address general correspondence to:

[Incarcerated Person's Name, ID Number, Housing Area]
George W. Hill Correctional Facility
P.O. Box 23
Cheyney Road
Thornton, PA 19373

Include the full facility name and the person’s ID number and housing area for accurate delivery.

Money Orders Use a Different Address

If you’re mailing a money order instead of a letter, it goes to a completely separate address:

George W. Hill Correctional Facility
[Name, ID Number]
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131

Don’t send a money order to the Thornton, PA general mail address, and don’t send a letter to the Phoenix, MD address, they’re processed differently.

Mail Is Scanned and Delivered Digitally

Since June 20, 2022, incoming paper mail, letters, cards, drawings, and photos, is opened, scanned, and delivered to the incarcerated person’s tablet instead of being handed over as a physical item. The only exception is attorney-client privileged legal mail, which follows a separate process.

Photo Albums Are Banned

Unlike a standard photo enclosed in a letter, photo albums are explicitly prohibited, in both physical and digital form. Don’t include one in anything you mail.

Sending Photos Through Pigeonly

Since photos mailed on paper still go through the same scan-and-deliver process as letters, sending them through Pigeonly is a way to reach the person’s tablet without mailing a physical print or waiting on the facility’s scanning turnaround.

Books and Publications

Books must come directly from a publisher or bookstore, not from you personally, and hardcover books aren’t accepted regardless of source. If a bookstore ships the item, it’s capped at 4 books per 30-day period. Shipments sent directly from the publisher don’t have that same cap.

Prohibited Items

Beyond photo albums, the facility prohibits stickers, buttons, pins, plastic or phone cards, pens and pencils, musical cards, return-address labels, food, and anything with lipstick, body oils, perfume, or glue on the envelope. Items already sold on commissary, like stamps, stationery, and envelopes, also can’t be mailed in from outside.

Packages Require Special Approval

Packages aren’t normally accepted. If there’s a specific need, it requires a request from the incarcerated person’s Case Manager along with Warden approval, not something you can arrange from the outside on your own.

Correspondence Between People in Custody

If you’re trying to arrange mail between two people who are both incarcerated, whether at George W. Hill or elsewhere, this is only allowed for immediate family, verified with a birth or marriage certificate, and requires Case Manager and Warden approval.

What’s Never Allowed

Never mail cash directly, use one of the official deposit methods on the Send Money page instead. Also avoid anything that could be mistaken for a prohibited substance or contraband.

If Your Mail Doesn’t Seem to Be Getting Through

Given the digital scanning process, allow some processing time before assuming something is lost. If it’s been a couple of weeks with no acknowledgment, call George W. Hill at (610) 361-3200 to check on it.

Writing a First Letter

Keep a first letter simple: who you are, your relationship to the person, and that you intend to stay in touch. Make sure your return address is legible, since a missing or unclear one can complicate the scanning process.

Sending Mail Regularly

If you plan to write often, keep in mind that everything routes through the same digital scanning system, so build in some lag time between when you send something and when it appears on the person’s tablet, especially around holidays when mail volume across the facility increases.