What Illinois's New Mail Scanning Policy Means for Your Letters to Western Illinois
If you write to someone at Western Illinois Correctional Center, here's the biggest change: regular (non-privileged) mail is now scanned and/or photocopied. What your loved one reads is typically a digital or paper copy, not the original you sent.
This is already in effect. Illinois Department of Corrections facilities, including Western Illinois Correctional Center, now scan and/or photocopy all incoming non-privileged mail. If you're sending personal letters, cards, or photos, they go through this scanning/photocopy process right now. This isn't a future change you have time to prepare for.
The mailroom scans both the front and back of the envelope, plus each item inside, all in color. That covers letters, greeting cards, and photographs. Everything is captured page by page so it can be delivered to the incarcerated person through IDOC's system.
Note: Privileged and legal mail is treated differently. It will not be scanned or photocopied under this policy.
Western Illinois Correctional Center's facility page lists these mail and publications changes as effective immediately and points families to an IDOC one-page overview for more detail. If your loved one's mail looks different than it used to, this policy update is why.
Once staff scan non-privileged mail, PDF images of the documents are uploaded to the individual's Bulletin Board. The person in custody gets a notification that new scanned documents are available and can download and view them on their tablet.
If the person you're writing to doesn't have access to a tablet for any reason, they'll receive paper photocopies of their mail instead. Either way, the message still gets delivered.
With this policy now in effect at IDOC facilities, including Western Illinois Correctional Center, plan for your loved one to read a scanned or photocopied version of what you send. The original paper letter likely won't be the version they hold onto.
- Expect a digital copy for most people - non-privileged mail is scanned, uploaded as PDF images to the individual’s Bulletin Board, and they get a notification to view it on their tablet.
- Know the paper fallback exists - if the individual does not have tablet access, they receive paper photocopies of their mail.
There's also a separate publications change with a specific date. Starting September 30, 2025, books, magazines, and newspapers will only be accepted if they're mailed directly from the publisher to the individual. After that date, visitors can no longer drop off books, magazines, or other publications at the facility for a specific person in custody.
- ✓ Publishers
- ✓ Book clubs
- ✓ Bookstores
- ✓ Online retailers (for example, Amazon, Walmart)
- ✓ Other book, magazine, or newspaper distributors
- ✓ Religious organizations or ministries
- ✓ Educational institutions
- ✓ Units of government conducting mail-order business or otherwise delivering publications to readers
Photos have a specific exception when they come straight from a photo printing company. Original photographs mailed directly from a photo printing vendor (including ones with a watermark or logo) will be delivered to the recipient, unless the photographs are otherwise unauthorized. So if you order prints and have the vendor mail them directly, those should get through.
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