General Information about e-mailing an inmate

  • There is no expectation of privacy for e-mail messages. Every message will be reviewed by jail staff; therefore, this system should not be used for legal or confidential mail, or any other privileged communications.
  • Please limit your correspondence to two message per day in lieu of postcards.
    Messages are limited to a single page and may contain a single picture as an attachment.  Inmates will not receive the message electronically. The message will be received by jail staff, printed, and delivered to the inmate.
    • No photos of drugs, drug paraphernalia or drug related imagery.
    • No photos of cash
    • No photos of weapons
    • No gang related photos of any kind, such as hand gestures, including but not limited to gang signs.
    • No photos of swimsuits, underwear, cleavage, partial nudity or anything that could be considered sexually explicit. Make sure the subject’s pose is not sexually suggestive. 
    • No ultrasound photos with personal information visible. Personal information on the photo must be cropped out.
    • No photos of identification cards, drivers licenses, car tags, or any materials that have identifiable information on it.
    • NO undressed or partially dressed children.
    • No photos of inmates.
  • Inmates will not be able to respond via e-mail. Outgoing correspondence will continue to be by U.S. Mail.  When prompted to enter your address, please enter the address that you prefer the inmate to use for any written return correspondence.
  • Do not use the inmate email system to solicit business or advertise services. Messages that appear to be unsolicited advertisements will not be forwarded to the inmate.
    E-mail received for inmates who are no longer in custody will not be delivered.

Instructions for Sending an Inmate Message

  1. Search for the inmate on the Who’s in Jail site using the inmate’s name.  As you start to type the inmate’s name, it will start to auto populate to help you with your search.
  2. Once you find the person you are looking for, click on the name of the correct inmate to view the inmate’s page in the Who’s in Jail System. 
  3. At the top of the inmate's profile you will see a link to “Email Inmate” you can click to send a message. When you do so, you will be asked to verify your email address. This is necessary to prevent abuses related to people sending messages pretending to be someone else. Enter your email address and submit.
  4. Within a few moments you should receive an email from emailadmin@tcsoal.org. Open the email. It will contain a link for you to click, which will take you to an online web form where you can complete your message.
  5. The message is limited to 2,500 characters of plain text. You can add a single photo to the message. Do not prepare your message in any other text editor to cut-and-paste into our system. The use of text formatted outside our system can cause errors that will keep your message from being sent.
  6. As you type your message, the used/available character count is displayed below the text. When you are done and within the character limit, go ahead and submit your message.
  7. You should get another email message indicating your message was received. Do not reply to the message as the TCSOAL Inmate Email account is part of an automated system and is not monitored.