How TDCJ's Digital Mail System Works — what your loved one actually receives

If you mail letters, greeting cards, or photos to someone at the McConnell Unit, what they actually receive looks different from traditional mail. As of September 6, 2023, the McConnell Unit (along with all other TDCJ units) switched to TDCJ's digital mail platform. That means most personal mail gets processed digitally before your loved one ever sees it.

1. Send your personal mail to the TDCJ Digital Mail Processing Center - letters, greeting cards, and photos are routed there for processing.
2. Mail is sorted and prepared for scanning - the Processing Center handles the intake before anything is delivered to the unit.
3. Your pages and photos are scanned (including color scans for photos) - the images are captured digitally.
4. Scans are uploaded to the inmate’s tablet - your loved one views the scanned version on their secure tablet, not the original paper item.

Once the scans reach the tablet, your loved one can save those messages and photos to the device. Saved items stay available, so they can revisit what you sent anytime rather than losing it after a single viewing.

If your loved one has a tablet, they'll receive your mail as scanned files after it's sorted and processed at the Digital Mail Processing Center. Photos and messages are scanned in color, and they can save everything you send for ongoing access.

No tablet? Your loved one won't get the digital version. Instead, they'll receive black-and-white printed copies of their correspondence.

Exceptions Special Handling

• ✓ Legal mail (send directly to the McConnell Unit)
• ✓ Media mail (send directly to the McConnell Unit)
• ✓ Books, magazines, packages, and other subscriptions from verified publishers (send directly to the McConnell Unit)
• ✓ Documents that require an inmate signature (send directly to the McConnell Unit)

For questions about the digital mail platform itself, including trouble viewing scans on a tablet, contact Securus Customer Service at (800) 844-6591.