Inmate Mailing and Return Address
Norfolk City Jail
(Inmate's full name, floor, and cellblock)
811 East City Hall Ave.
Norfolk, VA 23510
Emergency Correspondence
In the event of an emergency such as the death of a family member, please call the Norfolk City Jail Chaplain at (757) 664-4954. If you would like to deliver the emergency message in person you are required to follow normal visitation guidelines.
Click here to go to the Visitation Guidelines page.
Correspondence between inmates and their relatives, friends, judges and other officials is desirable, constructive, and highly encouraged.
Incoming mail is opened and examined for contraband.
There is no limit to the number of letters an inmate may send at their own expense.
Inmate families may subscribe to newspapers, magazines, educational or correspondence materials, and softbound books for Norfolk City Jail inmates. These materials must be received directly from the publisher and must not contain references to violent overthrow of government or any authority under which an inmate is held, information relating to the fabrication of weapons or explosive devices, or any sexually explicit material.
Inmates may have in their possesion a total of five (5) pieces of reading material only (i.e. book, magazines, crossword puzzle books, bibles, dictionaries, pamphlets). This also includes items mailed to the inmates from the publisher. All books must be paperback - no spiral bindings or hardcovers allowed.
Unacceptable items are returned at the expense of the inmate or sender.
If the cost of returning the unacceptable items is not paid by either the inmate or the sender, the contraband will be contributed to a non-profit organization or destroyed.
Any correspondence items in question require delivery approval from the Commanding Officer of Corrections.
Inmates are prohibited from corresponding with another inmate incarcerated in the Norfolk City Jail, or other local, state, or federal institution unless it is otherwise determined that such correspondence is in the best interest of both the inmates and the institutions. Only immediate family requests are considered and these requests are forwarded to the Commanding Officer of Corrections for consideration and approval. If the correspondence involves two institutions, both must approve.
The Norfolk Sheriff's Office does not accept packages or large envelopes through the mail or over the counter and only flat mail is accepted. All other mail is returned.
The following received items are considered CONTRABAND and are not permitted in the facility:
- Photos over 4x6 inches including border
- Polaroid pictures
- Excessive photos (greater than 5) and/or sexually explicit photos
- All tobacco products or incendiary items or devices i.e. matches, lighters, etc.
- Any packages
- Any envelopes over 6x9 inches
- Money orders/cash/checks
- Stickers
- Blank stationary, blank paper, stamps and/or envelopes
- Mail sprayed with perfume/cologne, any unknown substance or lipstick
- Musical cards, cards with ribbons, stickers, velvet, glitter, plastic or other attachments, newspaper clippings, pages torn from magazines or books
- Unauthorized correspondence from other facilities, jails, etc.
- Magazines and books not sent directly from the publisher
- Magazines and/or books containing sexually explicit material, information about the fabrication of weapons or explosive devices, any gang related material, literature advocating overthrow of government, whether sent from publisher or citizen
- No return address
