What Happens to Your Physical Letter After You Mail It to Rock Island County Jail

Rock Island County switched to an electronic inmate mailing system through ViaPath/Text Behind. As of July 1, 2024, all personal mail goes to a vendor P.O. Box instead of the jail directly. There, it gets scanned and delivered digitally to inmates through the facility's tablet system. Your letter, postcard, greeting card, photos, or drawings won't be handed over as paper in the housing unit. Your loved one receives the scanned electronic version after it's been processed for the tablet.

• ✓ Write the full facility name and the state on the envelope
• ✓ Include the inmate’s full name and unique identifier
• ✓ Put your full name and physical return address in the top left of the envelope

Scanned mail doesn't show up automatically. Facility staff review every piece of electronic mail and approve it before your loved one can read it in the app.

Once your letter arrives at the P.O. Box and gets scanned, the physical paper is kept temporarily. After 30 days, the original is shredded and destroyed. If you're sending something you'd want back later, that 30-day window matters. After that, the original paper is gone for good.

If your loved one wants the actual physical letter, they need to act fast. They must submit an inmate request to Rock Island County Jail staff within 21 days of receiving the electronic version. Staff approval is required, so once that deadline passes, there's no way to retrieve the original.

1. Send your personal mail as usual - it is received at the P.O. Box, scanned, and delivered electronically to the inmate’s tablet system.
2. Have the inmate watch for the electronic delivery - the 21-day request window is tied to when the electronic mail is delivered.
3. Submit an inmate request within 21 days - the inmate must request the physical piece from jail staff, and staff must approve it.
4. Understand the 30-day limit on the original paper - the physical copy is shredded and destroyed after 30 days onsite at the P.O. Box, so requests need to happen early enough to beat that timeline.

5

• ✓ Avoid sending irreplaceable originals if you cannot afford to lose the paper copy, since physical mail is shredded and destroyed after 30 days onsite at the P.O. Box
• ✓ Remind your loved one about the 21-day deadline to submit an inmate request if they want the physical piece
• ✓ Do not send legal mail to the new P.O. Box address, it must be sent directly to the facility or it will be returned to sender and not forwarded
• ✓ Photos will be scanned, but they are still subject to facility approval and can be denied for nude or inappropriate content
• ✓ Budget-wise, this process only costs you the price of a U.S. postage stamp