2007
Important Information Regarding Florida DOC and Missouri DOC Pen Pal Ads
Florida DOC allows their inmates to have pen pals, but prohibits the placing ads for pen pals. This rule states:
"Inmates shall not use correspondence privileges to solicit or otherwise commercially advertise for money, goods or services. For the purposes of this rule this includes advertising for pen-pals; inmates are not prohibited from corresponding with pen pals, but shall not place ads soliciting pen pals. Inmates are prohibited from receiving correspondence or materials from persons or groups marketing advertising services, or from subscribing to advertising services. Inmates who post ads or have ads posted with the assistance of another person shall be subject to disciplinary action."
See Title 33 of the Florida Administrative Code specifically 33-210.101(9). This is a PDF file and you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this document.
Over the course of several months early last year, some Florida inmates were given disciplinary charges because of pen pal advertisements placed on our website. We worked with the Florida DOC and successfully relieved these inmates of such disciplinary action because of the type of service we provide.
Missouri DOC inmates are also prohibited from placing pen pal ads. We received this in email from the MO DOC:
Effective June 1, 2007, the Department of Corrections is banning all offenders from participating in pen pal solicitation through websites. This decision is the direct result of a continued increase in the number of complaints from unsuspecting citizens who were mislead by such postings. Further investigation verified that through m isleading web postings and photos, offenders have solicited thousands of dollars from the public.
Sincerely,
In support of the Department’s mission to protect the public and to hold offenders accountable for their actions a notice was sent to all offenders advising them that they need to have their names and advertisements removed from any active pen-pal websites. Failure to do so, or future efforts to post ads on a website soliciting pen pals, may result in a conduct violation. The Department will monitor pen-pal websites for compliance.
Lisa Jones
Constituent Services Officer
Missouri Department of Corrections
All ads for all Florida DOC and Missouri inmates are removed immediately and we will not approve any ads for those inmates until further notice. Even if the inmate is aware of the possibility of disciplinary action from the DOC, we cannot allow the ads to be on LostVault. Sorry, there are NO EXCEPTIONS!
We will continue to accept Federal ads for Florida and Missouri inmates, as the BOP does not have such a rule in place.
If you have a loved one residing within the Florida or Missouri DOC and would like to find someone to write them, feel free to join our discussion forums and post in the "Mail Needed - Special Requests" forum. Do not post their name or address, just something about them and invite interested writers to email and/or private message you on LostVault.
Should you require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
LostVault