The change will take effect on November 3, 2025.
The Tennessee Department of Corrections will transition physical mail to digitized and scanned personal mail for inmates at all TDOC facilities.
Buel and Teresa Moore of Lenoir City still remember sending photographs and letters to their daughter during their time in prison.
“I think most of Teresa’s mailings were photographs. Our daughter would ask for photographs and we would mail them,” Buel said.
Now, when you send a letter, you will no longer address it to prison. Instead, it should be addressed with the following example.
- Facility name
- Inmate First Last
- TDOC Identification Number
- PO Box 247
- Phoenix, MD 21131
That address is for a centralized facility that will process, scan and then deliver mail digitally to tablets.
“It’s really about inmate safety, staff safety and just creating an overall safe environment for those who are incarcerated and those who have to work in the environment,” TDOC Commissioner Frank Strada said.
Strada said the hope for this change is to reduce smuggling.
“I think 10 other states do similar things like this in prisons, but it goes to a centralized location where it’s scanned, digitized, and then sent back to the inmate with their PIN number with a 48-hour hold, and then released to the inmate population,” Strada said.
Privileged mail, which for example may be from lawyers, will continue to be sent to prisons throughout the state. Don Bosch, founding partner of The Bosch Law Firm and WBIR legal expert, said that while he understands the reasoning, there are some drawbacks.
“You know, when a person is in prison, one of the things they appreciate are those physical letters, the photographs that may arrive,” Bosch said. “If the iPad breaks, if there is a shortage of iPads, if the battery on the iPad is dead, they won’t be able to access these things,” Bosch added.
However, people like Buel and Teresa understand why the changes are being made.
“They may have an emotional attachment to physical things outside, but I think that also has to be weighed against the safety aspect,” Buel said.