Your Letters Are Scanned: What IDOC’s New Mail Policy Means for Families
Sending letters, cards, or photos to someone in an Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) facility? They probably won't receive the paper originals anymore. Here's how non-privileged mail works now, what's excluded from scanning, and how to protect anything you can't afford to lose.
IDOC facilities now scan or photocopy all incoming non-privileged mail. The mailroom scans both sides of the envelope and every item inside - letters, greeting cards, photos - in color. Your loved one receives the scanned version, not your original paper.
Once scanned, IDOC converts the images to PDF files and uploads them to the incarcerated person's Bulletin Board on their tablet. Instead of a physical letter being handed to them, your message shows up as a digital document they can view on the device.
Exclusions
- ✓ Publications (like books and magazines)
- ✓ Photos sent directly from photo-printing service companies
- ✓ Official documents mailed from a government entity (including, but not limited to, birth certificates and Social Security cards)
- ✓ Correspondence from IDOC staff sent to an individual in custody
Two categories tend to surprise families. First, certain official documents - like birth certificates or Social Security cards - aren't scanned when mailed directly from a government entity. Second, letters from IDOC staff to someone in custody skip the scan-to-PDF process entirely. These don't follow the same path as regular family correspondence.
Warning: IDOC is unable to return original mail documents to the sender after the documents are scanned.
Sending something you might need back later? Don't mail your only original. IDOC's own guidance: mail a copy and keep the original, since nothing gets returned after scanning. This matters most for anything hard to replace - or anything you might need for your own records down the road.
Practical Tips
- ✓ Assume your non-privileged letters, greeting cards, and photographs will be color-scanned (including the front and back of the envelope)
- ✓ If you need an original back, send a copy and keep the original
- ✓ Don’t send your only irreplaceable original if you aren’t comfortable with it being scanned and not returned
- ✓ If you’re sending official documents (for example, a birth certificate or Social Security card), they’re excluded from scanning when mailed from a government entity
- ✓ If you want photos to arrive as originals rather than scans, photos sent directly from photo-printing service companies are not scanned or photocopied
- ✓ Publications (books and magazines) are not scanned or photocopied
Not sure if something counts as excluded mail? Maybe you're wondering whether a document qualifies as official government correspondence, or whether a letter counts as coming from IDOC staff. Contact the facility or IDOC before you send it. When in doubt, keep your originals and mail copies - don't risk losing something irreplaceable.
The bottom line: non-privileged mail - letters, cards, photos - gets scanned in color (envelope included) and uploaded as PDFs to the person's tablet. IDOC can't return originals after scanning, so send copies and keep the originals whenever you might need them later.
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