HELP!!! :D

I am in the middle of an argument with a retailer about their policy on sending catalogs to prisoners, and I need your help!

I need to know if the state prison system you deal with - and also whether the Federal system - allows catalogs to be sent in to prisoners in the mail, whether directly by a retailer or by you.

Please answer the poll yes or no above so I can provide some figures - anyone & everyone can participate - and I also need ONE PERSON FROM EACH STATE and ONE WHO DEALS WITH THE FEDERAL SYSTEM - only those who know the answer, please - to respond in this thread whether that state/system allows them or not.

Please - if you see someone from your state has already responded in the thread, just bypass the thread so it can be limited to one response per state... (trying to keep PTO manageable and not spam every state forum asking, LOL!)...

I am talking just catalogs in general - you know, Crutchfield, Sharper Image and whatnot - and I know most states probably wouldn't allow sexually-related item catalogs in so that's beside the point, I'm just looking for the "in general" answers. It just so happens the company I am arguing with sells, of all things, RELIGIOUS material!!

I'll close the poll and thread when all or most of the states have been accounted for. Then I'm going to go back to this company and say, "SEE????!!!!!!" :D

I'll start -

ALABAMA - does allow catalogs to be mailed in directly from a retailer!

THANKS for your help!!!!

Lys

ILLINOIS-- DOES allow catalogs.... :D at least I have sent them in and JD has received them!! ;) I have also requested catalogs directly (through websites) that have also gotten to him!

Lysbeth, the feds handle it on a prison to prison basis. Some allow soft back books, such as cataloges, to be mailed from the streets. Other prisons make them come from the retailers. But, every place I have come across they do allow them, jsut a matter of who mails them.

But, every place I have come across they do allow them, jsut a matter of who mails them.

Can you post which states? The 'every place' is kinda hard to pin point!

Montana does allow catalogs. Oregon does as well.

Missouri DOES allow catalogs if sent directly from the company. They may NOT allow them to order all merchandise in a catalog but the catalog itself can be mailed in.

Idaho does allow catalogs to be sent in from the company or a book store

Pammie, my posts was one paragraph long. It started with Fed prison. The entire paragraph was about fed prison.

Florida allows catalogs, magazines, etc. as long as they are mailed from the Publisher or Retailer. I just signed Charlie up for an East Bay catalog so he can order some clothes to come home in! He got it last week. Same as all other mail though, MUST have his DC # on the label.

I used to work for a mail order catalog company and we sent catalogs to numerous prisons. The prisons would send us a list of the inmates that had been released so we would stop sending catalogs to them. We never had a problem with sending catalogs and we did not have the prisoners numbers on the catalogs either. I stopped working for the company 1 1/2 years ago.

Maine - used to be able to get catalogs, but then the mail policy changed over the summer and they were not allowed. 2 weeks ago, they modified the mail policy, but I'm not sure if that affected catalogs or not.

Thank you all SO MUCH for your input! Keep 'em coming!

Still need to know about:

Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Georgia
Hawaii
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

I received catalogs in the Fed system, but that was a few years ago. I still sign up guys for catalogs just so they will get some mail.

New York allows them

New York Yes, at least the medium security facilities allow inmates to receive catalogs. My husband got at least couple this past year. Spiegel I think and smaller ones.
Caprione

California allows magazines

IOWA

Clarinda Correctional Facility

My mom wanted to send my fiance her old copies of Readers Digest because he loves that publication...he was told that he could not get publications addressed to anyone other than himself. As far as what type of publications he can receive, I have no clue. We are all new to the prison system, including my fiance who is 44 years old.

Alaska doen't have a Fed Prison... Ofenders are sent out like CA & AZ.. For state it can be mail from the outside... In CA where my Boo is at It has to come from the Store it's self.. He's doing his time in Fed

Michigan allows them - only straight from the store though. If it is a catalog it has to be on the approved vendor list.

WA allows them, at least in WSRU Monroe. At least, the Bust the Move and Eastbay ones. Not those sent in bulk mailings (like Access). And I cannot get Access to mail it to him personally...
Abelle

I don't know about others but I know Kilby want even let me send my dad things printed off the internet like football schedule or nothing so what I did was cut out the part that said . com on it and he got it

Jamie

My fiance is in a federal prison and I order him catalogs on line all the time.