Inmate Packaging Rules and DOCCS Package Size Limits
, by Jahmaxx Care Packages, 6 min reading time
Packaging is the most common reason an inmate package gets rejected. Food other than fresh fruit and vegetables must arrive in airtight, hermetically sealed containers. Paper, film, and foil seals do not qualify, and individual items carry their own size caps.
Quick answer: Packaging is the most common reason an inmate package gets rejected. Under NYS DOCCS Directive 4911, food other than fresh fruit and vegetables must arrive in airtight, hermetically sealed containers — heat-sealed plastic bags or vacuum-sealed pouches. Paper, plastic film, and foil seals do not qualify. No glass, no cans. Individual items also carry size caps: 32 oz for beverages, 16 oz for pouched food and condiments, 7 oz for hot sauce.
This page covers the packaging and size requirements specifically — the specifications that decide whether an item is issued or destroyed.
The sealing requirement
Every food item except fresh fruit and vegetables must be commercially packaged in airtight, hermetically sealed containers impervious to external influence. The directive names the acceptable forms: heat-sealed plastic bags and vacuum-sealed pouches.
What does not qualify, in the directive’s own examples:
- A tubular potato chip container
- A powdered drink mix container wrapped with a plastic seal
- A coffee creamer plastic jar with a paper or foil seal
The pattern: paper, plastic film, and foil seals fail. The seal has to be heat-formed or vacuum-formed, not applied.
Two clarifications that catch people out:
An outer cardboard box is fine as long as the item inside is separately heat-sealed in plastic. A commercially packaged glued paper or cardboard box does not by itself disqualify an item.
Resealable packaging is permitted. A zip-top bag that was heat-sealed at manufacture is acceptable.
Containers that are never allowed
No glass containers. No cans. This applies across food entirely — there is no size or content exception.
It rules out a lot of ordinary grocery items: canned vegetables, canned soup, glass jars of sauce or pickles, bottled drinks in glass. Anything you would normally buy in those formats has to come in a pouch or box instead, or not at all.
Toiletries have a narrow exception: when an approved item cannot be obtained in plastic, one-ounce glass containers may be permitted, received directly from an approved store or manufacturer as packaged by them. Pump-style containers are not allowed at all.
Labeling requirements on the product
Every food item must carry a commercially printed ingredients list on the packaging. An item without one will not be issued regardless of what it contains.
Original labels showing product information — expiration date, ingredients, warranty, quantity — are preserved with their products during inspection. If a label is withheld for a security reason, the processing officer must document why in a memorandum.
Size limits by category
These are per-item caps, separate from the overall 40-pound monthly limit.
| Beverages and liquids, including concentrates | 32 oz max each; pouches or boxes only |
| Dry beverage mixes | 32 oz max each |
| Pouched food | 16 oz max; must not require cooking |
| Condiments | 16 oz max |
| Hot sauce | 7 oz max, and under 3,600 Scoville units |
| Dried coffee creamer | 16 oz max |
| Raisins | 2 oz max per package |
| Cigarettes | 2 cartons per month; NYS tax stamps required |
| Loose tobacco | 12 oz per month |
Overall package limits
Three food packages per month, 40 pounds combined. The count is based on arrival at the facility, not order date.
Directive 4911 does not set dimensional limits on the shipping box itself for state facilities. What it limits is the number of packages, the total weight, and the size of individual items inside.
The trap is split shipments. Vendors operating as third-party fulfillment services may break one order across multiple boxes, and each box counts separately against the three-package limit. A single order arriving as three boxes consumes the entire month. Ask before ordering.
Non-food packages do not count against the food limit, and up to two per calendar year may be sent directly by family or friends.
Non-food size and value caps
Packaging rules extend beyond food:
- Food utensils — plastic only, no logos, no double-wall or insulated containers. Bowls and thermoses 2 quarts max, cups and drinking containers 16 oz max. Food storage containers 2 quarts max, clear only.
- Radios and tape players — $150 max, clear see-through case only, no larger than 8" by 14", local permit required
- Headphones — $50 max, no metal bands, local permit
- Typewriters — $370 max with hard case, clear see-through body, memory not exceeding 7K
- Mirror — 8" x 10" x ¼" max, plastic only
- Rug — 3' x 5' max, fire retardant label required
- Most clothing — $90 max value per item
Any single article over $30 must arrive with the vendor’s original printed receipt, bill, or invoice. Handwritten receipts are not accepted.
How packaging is inspected
Contents are removed from the shipping container and inspected visually and by x-ray. The shipping box is never given to the person.
Absent a security concern, original product packaging stays sealed. If staff detect an abnormality — in the x-ray, packaging, feel, texture, weight, or labeling — individual items may be opened, and the processing officer must file a memorandum explaining why, kept in the package room file with a copy to the Deputy Superintendent for Security.
Food removed from sealed packaging during inspection may be transferred to clear plastic bags.
When packaging fails
Anything spoiled, contaminated, or in a broken or leaking container is treated as a health risk and destroyed, recorded on Form #1755F. The Department is not responsible for articles damaged in shipping or received spoiled, and there is no refund process on their side.
If an item is on the allowable list but held back over specifications — wrong size, wrong container — the person may request review via Form #2068. If the item is not on the list at all, there is no review.
Packaging you don't have to check
Jahmaxx Care Packages stocks to the Directive 4911 sealing and size requirements and ships to all 42 New York State DOCCS facilities. Single shipment per order — never split across boxes. Over 5,000 products, typically shipped next day, among the lowest shipping rates of any NYS package vendor.
Browse meats, cheese, snacks, condiments, beverages, or the full catalog.
Related: Directive 4911 explained, sending food packages, how the package program works.
Sources
- NYS DOCCS Directive #4911, Attachment A, effective December 21, 2023 — doccs.ny.gov
- NYS DOCCS, “Family Guide: Allowable Items” — doccs.ny.gov/family-guide-allowable-items
Reflects Directive #4911 as of December 21, 2023. Facilities may add restrictions through their own Facility Operating Procedures. Confirm before ordering.