Featured Inquiry (11/03/09)

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Question:

Can the city clerk place hand-delivered mail (e.g., the city council's meeting agenda) in a councilmember's regular U.S. postal service home mailbox without postage?

Answer:

The answer is dependent upon the type of mailbox. If the mailbox is at the curb, it may not be used for anything that does not have postage. Section 508.3.1.3 of the Domestic Mail Manual states in part:

3.1.3 Use for Mail

[N]o part of a mail receptacle may be used to deliver any matter not bearing postage, including items or matter placed upon, supported by, attached to, hung from, or inserted into a mail receptacle. Any mailable matter not bearing postage and found as described above is subject to the same postage as would be paid if it were carried by mail.

If, however, the mail receptacle is nothing more than, for example, a slot built into the person’s front door, the receptacle does not qualify as a mailbox and the above limitation does not apply; see section 508.3.1.2 of the Domestic Mail Manual:

3.1.2 Exclusions

Door slots and nonlockable bins or troughs used with apartment house mailboxes are not letterboxes within the meaning of 18 USC 1725 and are not private mail receptacles for the standards for mailable matter not bearing postage found in or on private mail receptacles.