Legal Mail at Henry County Jail: How Attorney Correspondence Is Handled

At Henry County Jail, “privileged” (also called legal) mail includes correspondence with legal counsel, the courts, government agencies, and elected officials. This category matters because it’s handled under stricter privacy rules than everyday mail.

The jail’s general mail policy is postcard-only, but legal/privileged mail is one of the listed exceptions. Two other exceptions are also allowed under the same policy: money orders and photographs. So if you’re sending something that needs to be in an envelope - like attorney correspondence or court paperwork - it falls under the privileged/legal mail process rather than the postcard rules.

Incoming privileged mail is not handled the same way as regular mail. At Henry County Jail, it’s opened only in the inmate’s presence, and the purpose of opening it is to inspect for contraband. That means staff can check that nothing prohibited is being brought into the facility through the mail, while still keeping the communication protected.

Once it’s confirmed the mail doesn’t contain contraband, privileged correspondence is treated as confidential. The jail’s policy states that privileged/legal mail will not be read or censored by staff members.

1. Send it as privileged/legal mail - mail to or from legal counsel, the courts, government agencies, or elected officials is treated as privileged.
2. Expect it to be opened in front of the inmate (incoming) - staff open incoming privileged mail only in the inmate’s presence.
3. Contraband check only - the inspection is for contraband, not for reviewing the message.
4. Confidentiality is protected - privileged/legal mail is not read or censored by staff.
5. Keep outgoing legal mail sealed by the inmate - outgoing privileged mail is sealed by the inmate under the jail’s policy.

General mail is treated very differently. Mail that’s “of a general nature” is inspected for contraband, and it may also be randomly read for information that could pose a threat to the safety or security of the facility. That’s the big dividing line: everyday correspondence can be screened more broadly, while privileged/legal mail is protected from being read or censored.

If mail is censored or seized, the jail’s policy says the inmate will be notified and given specific reason(s) for the action. If you’re trying to figure out why something didn’t make it through, that notice is the starting point for understanding what happened.