What Attorneys Must Know Before Sending Mail to District 12 (KY): Contraband Risks and Protecting Envelopes

By registering for the Kentucky Department of Corrections Legal Mail Portal (Attorney Verification System), you agree to take reasonable precautions against contraband. This isn't just bureaucratic language - it directly affects what you mail, how you package it, and how you handle the envelope from prep to post office.

Your safest approach for District 12 (KY): only mail documents you or your trusted staff created. If you must include something from outside your office, stick to official documents from verified sources - think birth certificates, death certificates, or affidavits. Avoid placing original third-party documents in your mail unless they fit that narrow "official document" category. Why? Those originals may contain drugs.

Think chain of custody. Never hand your envelope to a third party - including the client's family - to mail. Seal it yourself (or have trusted staff do it), then drop it directly into the mail. No delays, no handoffs, no gaps where someone could tamper with the contents.

Checklist

• ✓ Confirm you’re complying with the Legal Mail Portal agreement by taking reasonable precautions to keep contraband out of anything you send.
• ✓ Mail documents you generated yourself (or through trusted staff) whenever possible.
• ✓ If you didn’t generate the document, only include it if it’s an official trusted-source document (for example: birth certificate, death certificate, affidavit, or something similar).
• ✓ Do not include original third-party documents unless they fit the official-document exception (the concern is that an original may contain drugs).
• ✓ Do not hand the envelope to a third party (including the client’s family) to mail.
• ✓ Seal the envelope yourself (or have trusted staff seal it).
• ✓ Put the sealed envelope directly into the mail stream without delay.