How IDOC’s Mail Scanning System Works (and What It Means for Your Letters to Someone at Kewanee)

When non-privileged mail arrives, IDOC mailroom staff scan the front and back of the envelope, plus everything inside - letters, greeting cards, photographs - all in color. Those scans become PDF images uploaded to the recipient's Bulletin Board, where they can download and view them on their tablet. So what your loved one actually receives is a scanned PDF of what you sent, not the original paper.

Publications work differently. They're excluded from the scanning process entirely and won't show up on the Bulletin Board as a scanned document.

Official government documents mailed from a government entity also aren’t scanned or photocopied. That includes items like birth certificates and Social Security cards.

Prohibited Reasons

• ✓ Padded envelopes (including ones padded with gray diamond dust) or corrugated cardboard boxes sent from family and friends
• ✓ Mail with stains or discoloration (for example: perfume, lipstick, oily substances, unusual stains, or bodily fluids)
• ✓ Hardback books sent through the mail from family and friends

• ✓ Crayon, glitter, beads, added texture, or other craft materials on the paper
• ✓ Cloth, leather, ribbon, feathers, yarn, hair, white-out, paint, glue, magnets, decals, dried flowers, or cologne included with the mail
• ✓ Return-address stickers or labels, stickers or tape on the correspondence, or mail sent without a return address

Privileged and legal mail follows different rules - but only if it's clearly identified. The envelope must be marked "privileged" or "legal" and show the sender's name, title, and address.

Rather than going through routine scanning, privileged mail is opened by staff while the recipient is present. They check for contraband and verify the sender's identity.

Practical Tips

• ✓ Use a plain, standard envelope (avoid padded envelopes and don’t send corrugated cardboard boxes from family and friends)
• ✓ Write a clear return address directly on the envelope (don’t use return-address stickers/labels, don’t add stickers or tape, and don’t leave the return address off)
• ✓ Keep the paper clean and plain (no glitter, crayon, beads, added texture, or other craft materials)
• ✓ Avoid anything that could stain or discolor the mail (including perfume/cologne, lipstick marks, oily substances, or any unusual stains)
• ✓ Don’t mail hardback books from family and friends
• ✓ Remember what they’ll actually see is a color-scanned PDF on their tablet via the Bulletin Board, not the original paper copy
• ✓ If you’re sending publications, know they’re excluded from scanning/photocopying and won’t be uploaded to the Bulletin Board as a scanned document