Quick facts

System

Montana Department of Corrections (DOC)

Inmate ID

AO Number (DOC identification number)

General mail goes to

Off-site scanning center — P.O. Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131

Recipient receives

Digital scan on an assigned tablet (print available at 25¢/page on request)

Page limit

No published page-count cap for scannable personal correspondence

Address must include

Full facility name (no abbreviations), full inmate name, AO number, and sender’s full name + return address

Originals

Destroyed after scanning (unless held for investigation)

Digital mail since

May 1, 2024 for most DOC secure facilities

Where to send mail

Personal mail from family and friends (including printed PDFs)

For Montana State Prison, Montana Women’s Prison, Pine Hills Correctional Facility, and Riverside. Include the full facility name and state, the person’s full first and last name, and AO number. Your return address must show your full first and last name (no initials). Personal mail sent directly to these facilities will be returned.

[Full Facility Name], Montana
[Full First and Last Name], [AO Number]
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131

Send to the facility instead — not Phoenix

• Crossroads Correctional Center (on-site scanning) → 50 Crossroads Drive, Shelby, MT 59474

  Personal mail is scanned on-site and delivered digitally — not through the Maryland PO Box. Address: [Full First and Last Name], [AO Number] / Crossroads Correctional Center / 50 Crossroads Drive / Shelby, MT 59474.

• Dawson County Correctional Facility (on-site scanning) → 440 Colorado Blvd., Glendive, MT 59330

  Personal mail is scanned on-site and delivered digitally — not through the Maryland PO Box. Address: [Full First and Last Name], [AO Number] / Dawson County Correctional Facility / 440 Colorado Blvd. / Glendive, MT 59330.

• Saguaro Correctional Center (on-site scanning) → Saguaro Correctional Center, Eloy, AZ

  DOC 3.3.6 requires personal mail for Saguaro inmates at the facility’s designated mailing address — not the Phoenix MD scanning center. Confirm the current street address with the facility or DOC Secure Contracts Bureau before sending.

• Pine Hills youth residents → P.O. Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131 (special name format)

  Use youth initials and youth ID instead of full name. Example format from DOC: Pine Hills Correctional Facility- MONTANA / (Youth Initials) #00(Youth ID) / P.O. Box 247 / Phoenix, MD 21131.

• Legal / privileged mail → Facility mail room (Attn: Mail Room Staff)

  Mark the envelope “Legal Mail,” “Legal Correspondence,” “Privileged Mail,” or “Privileged Correspondence.” Legal mail is opened in the person’s presence — not scanned through the off-site center. Mail sent to the scanning vendor without proper legal marking is returned to sender.

• Money orders and cashier’s checks → Facility mail room — separate envelope

  Send funds in a separate envelope addressed to “Mailroom inmate funds” at the facility. Do not include checks or money orders in the same envelope as personal letters. See cor.mt.gov Inmate Financial Services for facility addresses.

• Books, magazines, and newspapers → Facility street address (approved vendor only)

  Publications must ship directly from an approved vendor (e.g., Hamilton Books, Harper Collins, Penguin Random House as listed on cor.mt.gov). Senders must be approved visitors. Do not send publications through the scanning center.

• Packages and wet-signature documents → Facility street address

  Non-scannable items — packages, originals of financial/ID documents, and documents requiring a wet signature — must go to the facility, not the scanning center.

Format & content rules

• Scannable personal mail — letters, greeting cards, drawings, photos, and printed PDF pages — must go to P.O. Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131 for MSP, MWP, Pine Hills, and Riverside. Crossroads, Dawson, and Saguaro use on-site scanning at the facility address instead.
• Envelope must show: sender’s complete first and last name and return address; inmate’s complete first and last name and AO number; and the full secure-facility name (abbreviations not acceptable). Missing information → returned to sender.
• After scanning, the vendor destroys original mail unless retained for investigation. The person receives content on their tablet; they may request a printed copy at 25 cents per page.
• Do not enclose in scannable mail: cash, personal checks, original money orders, original passports, Social Security cards, or original birth certificates (copies of financial/ID documents are scannable).
• Content restrictions follow DOC 3.3.6 Attachment A — including rejection of crayon/gel-pen writing, excessive marker ink, perfume/glitter, padded or musical cards, blank postcards, stickers/labels, and sexually explicit material.
• Multiple or duplicate photocopies of the same photograph or document may be rejected. Single newspaper clippings from public-domain publications are generally allowed.
• Mail mixing scannable and non-scannable items in one envelope sent to a facility will be returned in full — keep letters and funds/publications in separate envelopes.
• Content can still be withheld under DOC 3.3.6 if it threatens security or otherwise violates policy, even after scanning.

Document mailing checklist

1. Confirm the person is in DOC custody and look up their AO number and facility.
2. Choose the correct destination: Phoenix MD scanning center (MSP, MWP, Pine Hills, Riverside) or the facility address (Crossroads, Dawson, Saguaro).
3. Address the envelope with full facility name, full inmate name, AO number, and your full name + return address.
4. Keep personal letters separate from money orders, publications, legal mail, and packages.

Look up an AO number →

Send with PrisonPDF

• Upload a multi-page PDF or DOCX and we print and mail it for you.
• When you select Montana, we use the Phoenix MD scanning address (or facility address for Crossroads/Dawson) and collect the full facility name.
• We do not review PDFs — Montana DOC may still reject or withhold mail that violates policy.

Official sources

• Montana DOC — Inmate Personal Mail
• DOC 3.3.6 — Inmate Mail in Secure Facilities (PDF)
• Montana DOC — Attorney/Client Contact
• Montana Offender Search