Sheriff's Office

Mail, Telephone & Tablet Privileges

Inmate Mail Privileges

Mail coming into the facility must be clearly addressed with the full legal name of the inmate. The full return address of the sender should be in the upper left-hand corner of the envelope.

Address format for inmates residing at the main jail:

Kent County Correctional Facility
[Inmate's Full Name]
703 Ball Avenue, NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

  • All incoming mail is searched for contraband prior to delivery.
  • Inmates are not permitted to keep the envelopes that personal mail arrives in. All envelopes are disposed of once the content of the mail is given to the inmate.
  • Inmates are permitted to keep the envelopes that legal (attorney) mail arrives in.

Permitted Items

  • Letters sent in legal size or smaller envelope.
  • Postcards
  • Appropriate magazines or soft cover books sent directly from the publisher, bookstore, or distribution entity. The magazines or books will not contain “Due on Delivery” bills.
  • Photographs 5x7 or smaller. There is a limit of (5) five photographs per piece of mail.
  • Cards no larger than 6x8.

Items That Are Not Permitted

  • Stamps, extra envelopes, envelopes with metal clasps, blank pages, paperclips, staples, lottery tickets, identification cards, prepaid telephone cards, magazines or newspaper articles, jewelry, food items, lipstick on letter or envelope, crayon colored pictures, catalogs, and any items containing gang insignia or references or recruitment for gangs.
  • Magazines/books/content of mail depicting nudity or advocates discrimination.
  • Photographs larger than 5x7
  • Any sexually explicit or obscene pictures.
  • Cards or items that contain glitter, foreign substance, musical, plastic, plastic covered or blank.
  • All publications and/or personal materials depicting any degree of nudity are not allowed.

The Kent County Correctional Facility has the right to continually update this list and return any mail items that are deemed potentially harmful or may cause an unsecure environment in the inmate population.

Inmate Mail Containing Contraband

If mail is found to contain anything other than what is authorized it will be marked as contraband. Mail containing contraband will be placed in the inmate’s property. The inmate will be notified if any portion of their mail contained contraband. The contraband mail will be available to the inmate upon their release. Mail not containing contraband will be forwarded to the inmate.

Outgoing Inmate Mail

Inmates will have the ability to purchase envelopes, paper, and postage stamps through commissary. Indigent inmates will be given paper, stamped envelopes, and a writing utensil according to procedures listed in the inmate rulebook. A complete return address is required on all outgoing inmate mail. This includes the inmate's first and last name and the Facility address. Any mail that does not have the required return address will be left with the inmate until the inmate's name and Facility address is included. All outgoing mail from the facility will be stamped "Originates from the Kent County Correctional Facility" on the back of the envelope. Any mail that is sent inmate to inmate within Kent County Correctional Facility is strictly prohibited. It will be considered contraband and will be immediately destroyed by the facility staff.

  • Any mail that does not have the required return address will be left with the inmate until the inmate's name and Facility address is included.
  • All outgoing mail from the facility will be stamped "Originates from the Kent County Correctional Facility" on the envelope.
  • Any mail that is sent inmate to inmate within Kent County Correctional Facility is strictly prohibited. It will be considered contraband and not forwarded to the inmate.

Inmate Telephone Privileges

Telephone access is provided to the inmates between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Calls may be monitored and/or recorded at any time.

  • All calls are outgoing collect service only and billed at $0.16 a minute through ICSolutions.
  • If you do not wish to be charged, do not accept the call.
  • Telephones are located in every housing unit in the facility and in the booking area.
  • Inmates are allowed access to the phones during their dayroom periods.
  • The facility does not accept incoming calls or messages for the inmates.
  • If you have been receiving unwanted phone calls from inmates from this facility you may request to put a "block" preventing any more future calls reaching you by calling (616) 632-6400 and selecting option 2 to speak to a Supervisor.
Additional Information:

Inmate Tablets

Tablet access is provided to the inmates between 8:00AM and 10:00 PM. All messages and pictures are subject to monitoring and review.

  • Incoming messages to the tablets cost $0.50/minute and incoming pictures cost $0.50/picture.
    • Pictures containing nudity, depicting violence or collage pictures are not permitted.
    • The tablets can accept pictures but do not have the capabilities to send/take pictures.
    • Some content available on the tablet is free.
    • Content that is not free is available to the inmate to the cost of 5 cents per minute.

Any questions relating to billing or tablet accounts can be directed to ICS at gettingout.com or calling 866-516-0115.

If released, you must contact gettingout.com or call 866-516-0115 to request a refund of any funds that were in the tablet account at release.

Additional Information: