Text Behind processes all mail sent to offenders in North Carolina prisons. Offenders receive copies of mail, not the original paper. This helps reduce the volume of drugs and contraband entering prisons. TextBehind also offers an app for people who are comfortable submitting letters by smartphone or computer and uploading photos to send.
As of March 9, 2022, materials for religious correspondence courses, including sacred texts, cannot be sent through TextBehind. If the course and materials have been pre-approved (for details, see FAQ below), then ship them to the offender directly to the prison, not through TextBehind.
All offender mail should be addressed to TextBehind’s facility in Maryland in this manner:
Name and Opus Number Name of Prison (do not abbreviate) P.O. Box 247 Phoenix, MD 21131
| Examples: | |
John Doe #1234567 Scotland Correctional Institution P.O. Box 247 Phoenix, MD 21131 |
Jane Doe #7654321 N.C. Correctional Institution for Women P.O. Box 247 Phoenix, MD 21131 |
Mail not addressed this way will be returned to the sender. (IMPORTANT: The return address must include the full first name and full last name of the sender. Do not use initials. TextBehind will return mail that does not meet this standard.)
Prison facilities and addresses
Here’s how the mail process works:
- All offender mail (paper and electronic) is addressed and delivered to TextBehind.
- If it was sent via the company’s app, TextBehind can process it within one business day.
- For mail sent via the U.S. Postal Service. TextBehind will use a scanner to make digital files of the contents of the mailing— including cards, photos or artwork.
- All digital files are then forwarded to the offender’s assigned prison.
- The prison mailroom prints approved pages and delivers them to the offender.
Keeping suspect mail out of prison, yet still providing the contents, helps reduce the contraband smuggled into prisons. The result is a safer and more secure prison environment, reducing drug use and risk of overdose. Violence among offenders fighting over the contraband trade should also decline.
The new mail process will also prevent drugs from entering the prisons in the form of paper coated in fentanyl, K2, Suboxone or other dangerous drugs. These are hazardous to breathe or even to touch.
If experience in the women’s prisons is any indication, drugs entering the prisons should be significantly reduced. In the year following use of TextBehind in North Carolina’s four women’s facilities, infractions for drug use and possession dropped by 50 percent.
For more information about TextBehind, including a short video, go to textbehind.com. The website has instructions for downloading the company’s app and setting up a payment account.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- After Oct. 18, 2021, you can no longer write to offenders at their assigned prison’s address. Instead, you write to them through a company called TextBehind.
- You can continue to send paper mail through the postal service, or you can download an app from the TextBehind website to send mail electronically.
Address envelopes this way, or they will be returned:
Offender Name and Offender OPUS Number
Name of Prison (do not abbreviate)
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131
Examples:
John Doe #1234567 Scotland Correctional Institution P.O. Box 247 Phoenix, MD 21131 |
Jane Doe #7654321 N.C. Correctional Institution for Women P.O. Box 247 Phoenix, MD 21131 |
- TextBehind will make copies of the contents — letters, greeting cards, photos, artwork, etc. — with an electronic scanner.
- The company will forward the scanned images to the prison.
- The prison mailroom will print out the contents and deliver the pages to the offender.
- For a fuller explanation, go to the TextBehind website, which features a brief video.
- When you download the app from the TextBehind website, you can use your computer or smartphone to write to an offender.
- You can write a letter, select a greeting card or upload your own photos and artwork.
- Like paper mail, app contents will be forwarded by TextBehind to the prison for printing and delivery.
- The app is free to download, but there are fees (starting at 49 cents) to send content.
TextBehind is safer, faster and cheaper.
- DAC wants its prisons to be as safe and secure as possible for staff and offenders.
- One way drugs and other contraband enter prisons is through the mail.
- Scanning and printing mail will reduce the amount of drugs coming in.
- We anticipate less drug use, risk of overdose and violence by offenders for control of the drug trade.
- It will also reduce the risk of accidental contact with dangerous substances.
- Mail should reach offenders sooner.
- TextBehind will forward mail sent by app within one business day of receiving it.
- Mail sent by the app is not subject to postal delivery delays.
- For paper mail, scanning and printing the contents reduces inspection delays.
- Fees to send mail by the app (starting at 49 cents) are less than a stamp.
- Other than postage, there are no fees to send paper mail.
- DAC (and taxpayers) will not pay for anything, not even the paper copies. TextBehind provides the printers and printer maintenance to all 55 prisons.
- Offenders will receive mailed contents — including cards, photos and artwork — but not on the original paper.
- Safety is the main reason. Prison drug smugglers often coat paper with liquid forms of fentanyl, Suboxone, K2, LSD and other deadly drugs.
- Mailroom staff can accidentally be exposed to the drugs by touching the paper or breathing the fumes.
- Within 30 days, the sender can request return of the original letter and contents by contacting TextBehind customer support: info@textbehind.com.
- A service fee of $2.50 per letter will cover the costs of return mailing.
- After 30 days, the originals will be shredded.
- Caution: Do not send originals of important papers, documents or photos that cannot be replaced.
TextBehind will return all packages to the sender. For information on sending packages to offenders, contact the offender's individual prison facility.
Do not include the following items in a letter, or the letter will be returned to sender:
- Materials and texts for religious correspondence courses
- For more information, see separate FAQ below.
- Books, magazines and newspapers
- See information above on sending packages.
- Money orders, cash, payment checks or IRS checks
- For information on using JPay to send money electronically, go to jpay.com or call JPay’s call center at 800-574-5729.
- Passports, Social Security cards and original birth certificates
- Only copies of these items will be acceptable.
- Postage stamps, stationery, blank envelopes and pre-stamped envelopes
- Offenders may purchase stamps and mailing items through the prison canteen.
- Credit/debit cards or prepaid cards
- Oversized envelopes (they are not scannable)
- Any pieces of fabric
- Banners or posters
- Hardware of any type or other metallic items
- Musical cards, electronic devices or components
- Pop-up greeting cards that are not scannable into an image using a standard process
- Prescription or non-prescription drugs.
No. If you are an attorney or employee of a law firm and must send legal mail to an offender, contact the prison for instructions.
For consistency purposes and due to implemented offender mail procedures with TextBehind, the following procedures should be followed for offender requests to participate in a religious correspondence course, sacred text or Bible study.
1. The religious correspondence course, sacred text or Bible study must be PRE-APPROVED. The religious correspondence course, sacred text or Bible study must be accessible for review on the vendor, school or religious organization’s website.
2. The offender submits a facility Request for Assistance Form requesting the religious correspondence course, sacred text or Bible study to the facility chaplain, religious coordinator or designated staff.
3. The request must include the official study or correspondence course title and the name of the vendor, school or religious organization offering the study or correspondence course.
4. The facility chaplain, religious coordinator or designated staff will review the request and the official study or correspondence course from the vendor, school or religious organization, then will approve or deny the request.
5. The offender is informed of course approval/denial in writing within two weeks.
6. Approved requests will be internally processed by the chaplain, religious coordinator or designated staff within two weeks of receipt. The approved request with supporting documentation will be sent to the Mail Room approving the study or religious correspondence course, and information logged into OPUS under I51013 - SACRED TEXT STUDY (PT).
7. The offender is responsible for mailing their application, documents and completed study or course material to the vendor, school or religious institution at their own expense.
8. All approved religious correspondence course, sacred text and Bible study material must be sent to the offender at the correctional facility (not through TextBehind), directly from the vendor, school or religious institution.
For a list of facilities and physical addresses, click here.
9. Upon receipt of the offender’s approved study or correspondence course, the mailroom will search and inspect, then give the item(s) to the facility chaplain, religious coordinator or designated staff for prompt and personal distribution to the offender.
10. The point of contact for this information is Chaplaincy Services within the Division of Prisons.
Due to security concerns, we do not allow an individual to send publications directly to an offender. You must order the publication from the publisher or from an online retailer and have it shipped to the offender. Please DO NOT ship through TextBehind. They will return the package to the sender. Instead, use the prison's street address as a shipping address, for example:
- John Doe #1234567
- Central Prison
- 1300 Western Blvd.
- Raleigh, NC 27606
For a list of prisons and their street addresses, click here.