A new postal mail policy for prisoners in the Hall County Jail was implemented this week, an effort the sheriff's office says uses technology to improve safety and security at no additional cost.
The new program is provided by Securus Technologies, the telecommunications services provider for the jail.
The process is simple, according to a news release from the sheriff's office: Instead of addressing inmate postal mail to the jail, senders are being asked to address it to the Securus Digital Mail Center. Employees there will digitally scan the mail, making it available for inmates to securely view on the telecommunications kiosks in each housing unit at the jail.
The cost for the program is absorbed through inmate telephone commissions and is not passed along to the Sheriff’s Office, according to the release. The other main benefits of the new policy are two-fold: a reduction of time spent reviewing, receiving and delivering inmate mail and elimination of contraband, because standard physical inmate mail no longer enters the facility
The release points out that paper, including mail, can be soaked in fentanyl and any other drug that can be liquefied.
“Several facilities elsewhere have encountered mail laced with drugs, such as fentanyl, which sickened the staff and inmates,” says Jail Division Captain Jeff Shoemaker said. “This mail process is a proactive response to ensure the health and safety of the staff and inmates of the jail.
The new program is also expected to result in quicker delivery of mail to prisoners.
Although the standard inmate mail policy is changing, legal mail, money orders, and packages will still be accepted at the jail. Publications directly sent from a publisher, distributor or authorized retailer are also still being accepted.
