Penmate Inmate Support Guides

What Happens to Your Original Letters After They're Scanned, and After an Inmate Is Released

Sending letters to someone in ADCRR? Once mail gets digitized, the paper originals don't stick around forever. Here's what happens to both the physical letters and the digital copies, plus how to get originals back if you need them.

• 2 min read Verified from official sources

Your letter isn't destroyed right after scanning. ADCRR's contracted provider holds onto the paper original for 90 days before disposing of it. That storage window matters if you want to request the original back.

Processing happens quickly on the front end. Securus, ADCRR's contracted partner, aims to scan incoming mail and make it digitally available within 3 business days of receipt. The timelines below start once the mail has been received and scanned.

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  • ✓ Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with your correspondence if you want the original physical mail returned after scanning.

Digitized mail doesn't stay available forever after release. When someone leaves ADCRR custody, they'll receive login credentials for a secure public website where they can access their digital mail. They have 90 days to download those files. After that, everything gets deleted.

  1. Plan for scanning within a few days - Securus will take all reasonable steps to process, scan, and make mail digitally available within 3 business days of receipt.
  2. Track the originals window - Once a letter is scanned, the original physical mail is stored by ADCRR’s contracted provider for 90 days before it is professionally disposed of.
  3. Watch the post-release download deadline - After release, digitized mail is available through a secure public website, and the former inmate has up to 90 days to download the files before they are deleted.

Note: Two separate 90-day windows apply here. One covers how long the paper original is stored after scanning. The other is how long a released person has to download their digitized mail before deletion.

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