Oversight panel objects to new Illinois prison mail policy
[September 17, 2025]
By Peter Hancock
A legislative oversight panel formally objected Tuesday to a new
administrative rule that temporarily allows the Illinois Department of
Corrections to withhold mail from incarcerated people and instead
deliver electronically scanned copies of correspondence they receive
from the outside.
That objection does not block the rule from remaining in effect through
January. But it sent a clear message to the department that it will need
to make significant changes — and listen to feedback from incarcerated
people’s families, attorneys and other interested stakeholders — if it
wants to make the rule permanent.
“I think what you’re hearing from this committee on a bicameral and
bipartisan basis is that there is a belief you are doing this wrong,”
state Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, chair of the Joint Committee on
Administrative Rules, told IDOC staff during a committee meeting in
Chicago. “We respect that you have a very difficult job, and we want to
give you leeway to do it in securing facilities on behalf of staff and
the inmates. But the process is really important.”
IDOC filed what are known as “emergency rules” on Aug. 14, saying they
were necessary “to provide for the safety and security of committed
persons, staff, and the public.” Specifically, the department said the
rules were intended to prevent contraband such as drugs, weapons and
cellphones from being smuggled into prisons through the mail.
Since January 2024, according to IDOC, there have been 669 suspected
overdoses among incarcerated people in the prison system and 409 staff
exposures to drugs. Officials say one of the main sources of drugs
getting into facilities is through letters or magazines that are sprayed
or soaked with intoxicating or hazardous substances.
Emergency use questioned
But several members of the committee questioned why the department was
using its emergency rulemaking authority now if it has known for a long
time about drugs being smuggled into facilities through the mail.
To prevent that from happening, IDOC said it has begun providing
incarcerated people with tablet computers that can be used to read
scanned images of their mail. The tablets also come loaded with
entertainment packages and communications systems that incarcerated
people can access by paying fees.
But while incarcerated people have access to the entertainment and
communications features of those tablets, IDOC officials confirmed
Tuesday that they have not yet started using them to deliver mail, and
that they have not yet implemented the system for scanning mail.
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State Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, is pictured at a committee
hearing in Chicago in July 2023. (Capitol News Illinois file photo
by Andrew Adams)
Officials told the committee that the tablets were purchased on a
“zero-cost contract,” meaning the vendor does not charge the state for
the devices but instead makes its profit selling their entertainment and
communication services.
“The most important thing that you guys do is to make sure your guards
are safe and make sure the inmates are safe,” said Rep. Dave Vella,
D-Rockford. “So if people are bringing contraband through the mail, you
need to stop that from happening first. First and foremost.”
One official responded that the process of introducing the tablet system
into the prisons has taken time, including staff training, but that IDOC
is now ready to begin scanning mail.
That did not satisfy Rep. Curtis Tarver II, D-Chicago, who argued that
IDOC did not need to enact administrative rules to halt mail delivery if
it believed mail was being used to smuggle drugs into the prison system.
He also questioned why incarcerated people were being given access to
entertainment and communication features of the tablet first, if the
primary purpose of those devices was to prevent drug smuggling.
“This is all very concerning to me,” he said. “We need to really, really
keep our arms around what you all are trying to do. I don’t trust you,
to be very frank. I don’t trust the fact that you all have had the
opportunity to implement this and you haven’t.”
State law gives agencies authority to enact administrative rules on an
emergency basis and put them into effect immediately. But those rules
can only stay in force for 150 days, after which they must either expire
or be replaced by permanent rules. Enacting permanent rules, however, is
a lengthier process that involves holding public hearings and taking
public comment.
IDOC submitted proposed permanent rules on Sept. 9. Those are expected
to be the subject of further discussion at the oversight committee’s
next meeting, scheduled for Oct. 14 in Springfield.
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