Send a letter to Häktet Skänninge

What is the postal address of Häktet Skänninge?

Mail to Häktet Skänninge goes to Box 214, 596 21 Skänninge. This is a PO box address, and it is not the same as the visiting address you find on a map. Letters sent to the visiting address are often delayed or returned to sender.

The Prison and Probation Service wants four lines in a fixed order: the recipient's full legal name, the authority name Kriminalvården, the facility name Häktet Skänninge, and finally the box address with postcode and town. Without the line "Häktet Skänninge" the letter ends up in the wrong internal pile even when the postcode is correct.

Swedish postcodes are five digits written as three, then a space, then two — 596 21 — followed by the town on the same line. Do not add "Sweden" if you post through us, because the letter is already inside the country.

Write the recipient's full legal name, not a nickname. Swedish staff match the name against their own register, and a nickname will not be found there.

What kind of facility is Häktet Skänninge?

Häktet Skänninge is in Skänninge, Östergötlands län. A Swedish "häkte" is a remand prison: it holds people who are arrested or remanded in custody while an investigation or trial is ongoing. Nobody there has been convicted, and stays are often short.

Many people on remand have restrictions decided by a prosecutor. Restrictions limit who the detainee may contact, and your letter is then read by the prosecutor or the police before it is handed over.

Because remand periods are short, the person may be moved to a prison while your letter is in transit. Kriminalvården does not normally forward mail between facilities, so a letter that arrives after a transfer is usually returned.

Will staff read my letter before it is handed over?

The Detention Act (häkteslagen 2010:611) gives the authority the right to screen mail to detainees. At Häktet Skänninge the post is opened and checked, and where restrictions apply it is read by the prosecutor.

Letters to and from a lawyer, a Swedish public authority or an international body such as the European Court of Human Rights have special protection and may not be read. If that applies to you, state clearly on the envelope who the sender is.

Screening takes time. Count on one to a few extra days after the letter reaches the remand prison. You will not be notified when the letter is handed over.

You may write in English, or in any other language. Screening staff can request a translation, which adds a few days, but a letter is not rejected for being written in English.

What can you send to someone at Häktet Skänninge?

Assume that anything other than plain paper can be stopped. Cash, food, tobacco, medication, USB sticks, SIM cards, stickers, tape, laminated sheets, Polaroid photos and scented paper are all removed during screening.

If you want to send pictures, ordinary prints on paper are the safest option. With us the images are printed directly into the letter on A4 paper, which usually passes screening more easily than loose photographs in an envelope.

Do not put money in the letter. Contact the remand prison directly if you want to transfer money to the person's account — routines differ between facilities, and cash in an envelope is simply removed.

Stamps, envelopes and blank paper for a reply are also normally stopped. If you want a reply, add your own address as the sender in the order and the person can write back using the facility's own routines.

How do you send a letter to Sweden without a printer or Swedish stamps?

Write your letter in the editor at the top of this page, pick Häktet Skänninge from the list so the address fills in automatically, and pay by card. We print, fold, insert, frank and hand the letter to PostNord in Sweden — so it travels as domestic Swedish mail, not as international post.

A standard letter costs 49 SEK including postage and normally arrives in 3–4 working days. An express letter costs 89 SEK and arrives in 1–2 working days. Each extra page is 18 SEK and colour printing 14 SEK per page. Pay before 11:45 on a weekday and the letter is posted the same day.

This matters if you live outside Sweden: a letter posted from another country to Skänninge adds international transit and can take one to three weeks, and foreign stamps sometimes cause returns. Posting from inside Sweden removes that leg entirely.

If you want a reply, add your own address as the sender in the order. It is then printed both on the letter and on the envelope, so the recipient can write back by ordinary post.

What if the person has been moved to another facility?

People in custody are moved between facilities, sometimes at short notice. If you are unsure where someone is held, call the Prison and Probation Service switchboard on +46 77 228 08 00. Staff do not disclose where an individual is held to just anyone, but they can confirm whether a letter can be received.

Other facilities in Östergötlands län: Häktet Norrköping, Anstalten Skenäs, Anstalten Skänninge.