How Mail Works Now for People at Hill: Scanning Policy and What You Can’t Send
If you mail a letter or card to someone at Hill Correctional Center, expect it to arrive as a scanned PDF on their Bulletin Board (tablet), not as the original paper you sent. Here's how the process works and what gets rejected.
Hill uses IDOC's scanning process for incoming mail. Mailroom staff scan your envelope in color (front and back), then scan everything inside: letters, greeting cards, and photographs. Those scans become PDF images uploaded to the person's Bulletin Board, where they can view and download them on their tablet.
Note: Standard mail is delivered as scanned PDFs on the Bulletin Board. The person you're writing to won't receive your original paper letter or card.
Photos are the exception. Original photographs mailed directly from a photo printing vendor (with the vendor's watermark or logo) are delivered as physical prints, as long as they're otherwise authorized. If you want a photo to arrive as an actual print instead of a scan, this vendor-direct route is your best option.
One clear rule for publications: hardback books are not allowed through incoming mail at Hill. If you're sending reading material, stick to paperbacks.
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- ✓ Padded envelopes (including envelopes padded with gray “diamond dust”) and corrugated cardboard boxes mailed from family and friends
- ✓ Mail with stains or discoloration, including perfume, lipstick, oily substances, unusual stains, or bodily fluids
- ✓ Crayon, glitter, or other foreign or unknown substances on the paper
- ✓ Added texture or craft materials (for example: beads or other added materials)
- ✓ Items/materials such as cloth, leather, ribbon, feathers, yarn, hair, white-out, tape, paint, glue, magnets, decals, dried flowers, or cologne
- ✓ Return address stickers or labels
- ✓ Stickers or tape on the correspondence or package
- ✓ Mail without a return address
- ✓ Hardback books
Why this gets rejected: Anything that adds residue, unknown substances, or texture (perfume, lipstick marks, glitter, glue, layered decorations) triggers rejection under IDOC's safety restrictions.
Since mail is uploaded as PDF images to the Bulletin Board, tablet access matters. If your loved one says they can't see their documents, have them ask staff about their Bulletin Board access and how to view newly uploaded mail.
Sending something irreplaceable? A one-of-a-kind letter, a child's original drawing, photos you can't replace? Keep the original at home and mail a copy, since standard correspondence is scanned and delivered electronically. For photos you want delivered as physical prints, have them mailed directly from a photo printing vendor with the vendor watermark or logo.
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