Chapter 5 – Adult Custody and Security Operations

54010.8.2 Metered Envelopes in Correspondence

• Per the USPSUnited States Postal Service Domestic Mail Manual, Section 604, metered reply envelopes sent in with correspondence must adhere to the following conditions:

  • The postage amount must be enough to prepay the postage in full.

  • Indicia may be printed directly on the mail piece or on a label and must be positioned in accordance with 604.4.8.3 (Position of Indicium on Mail Piece). An applied label must meet the standards in 604.4.8.11 (Adhesive Tape of Label).

  • Indicia used to prepay reply postage, except for Information Based Indicia (IBI) generated by a Personal Computer Postage system, must not show the date.

  • IBI generated by a Personal Computer Postage System to prepay reply postage must show the date the licensee printed the indicium and must include the words “REPLY POSTAGE.”

  • The mail piece must be pre-addressed for return to the licensee. Prepaid reply mail is delivered only to the address of the licensee. When the address is altered, the mail is held for postage.

  • Except for those Personal Computer Postage systems with the capability to print an address for the given class or size of mail piece, the address side of reply may be prepared by any photographic, mechanical, or electronic process or combination of such processes (other than handwriting, typewriting, or hand stamping). For those Personal Computer Postage systems with the capability to print destination addresses for the given size and class of mail piece, the address must be prepared using the Personal Computer Postage system.

  • The words “NO POSTAGE STAMP NECESSARY POSTAGE HAS BEEN PREPAID BY” must be printed above the address.

  • For bar-coded letter-size First Class Mail reply mail for all postage evidencing systems except Personal Computer Postage, a Facing Identification Mark (FIM) A may be used. For Personal ComputerPostage, FIM D is required for prepaid reply when the indicium is printed directly on the mail piece.

  • The address side must follow the style and content as described in this Section and shown in the illustration below. Nothing may be added except a return address, FIM, or bar-code.
    

• This is the only type of Metered envelope that will be allowed to come in to any inmate with correspondence.