Workers report benefits of mail scanning at Illinois prisons as state
faces rules deadline
[November 05, 2025]
By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – As Illinois prison workers testify about the
benefits of electronic mail scanning, Illinois Department of Corrections
officials say they are pushing to keep the practice from lapsing.
The Illinois General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules
granted IDOC an emergency rule to implement electronic mail scanning in
an effort to keep contraband from entering IDOC facilities.
IDOC Director Latoya Hughes told JCAR members last month that the
scanning began in September. The 150-day emergency rule lapses in
January, and IDOC could lose the authority to continue electronic mail
scanning if a permanent rule is not approved by December.
IDOC Attorney Robert Steele was asked Tuesday what would happen if the
rule lapses before a permanent rule is approved.
“The department, of course, we are putting together measures if
necessary to prepare for such, but as it was stated during that hearing,
the department is pushing forward to make sure that we can get the
permanent rule across the finish line,” Steele said.
State Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, said at the end of JCAR’s October
meeting that IDOC’s rule-making authority would be on the agenda for the
next meeting Nov. 18.
Spain’s comment came after he and other lawmakers expressed frustration
with Hughes over delays in the implementation of mail scanning.
Despite the bipartisan frustration and other IDOC issues, the Illinois
Senate last week approved Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s nomination of Hughes to
serve as director after spending more than two years in the acting
director role.
At Tuesday’s hearing, people who work at Illinois correctional
facilities testified about the impact of mail scanning since its
implementation.
Tenielle Fitzjarrald, president of AFSCME Local 3600 and a counselor at
Lawrence Correctional Center in Sumner, said she felt safe before the
recent, exploding presence of drugs at the facility.
Fitzjarrald said she and her fellow union members are relieved that
electronic mail scanning is in place.
“The haze and the smoke present in the housing units has already been
reduced substantially. It is a relief to not leave work with a headache
every day,” Fitzjarrald said.
Correctional officer Nick Mclaughlin said Graham Correctional Center in
Hillsboro was mostly calm when he started working there 12 years ago.
“Assaults on staff were rare and overdoses and exposures were also
rare,” Mclaughlin said.
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Mclaughlin said things have changed dramatically in recent years due
to the increased presence of drugs.
“With mail being a known point of entry, exposures to unknown
substances and assaults increased and became regular occurrences,”
Mclaughlin said.
Mclaughlin said a recent mass exposure left 22 employees
hospitalized and mail scanning has made the environment safer for
staff and incarcerated individuals.
“Now that the mail scan has been implemented, incidents involving
intoxicated individuals are down to one to two times a week rather
than a daily occurrence,” Mclaughlin said.
Inmate advocates expressed concerns about electronic mail processing
and pointed to a lack of data supporting its impact.
Restore Justice Illinois Executive Director Wendell Robinson said
there is no evidence that the proposed permanent rule will be
effective in stopping contraband from entering IDOC facilities.
“In some states, drug use and overdoses have increased after
implementation of mail scanning policies,” Robinson said.
Robinson said drug problems worsened in Pennsylvania prisons after
mail scanning was introduced.
Ashton Klekamp, policy and research director for the Education
Justice Project at the University of Illinois, detailed the benefits
of higher education for inmates and said the proposed rule
amendments would restrict mail and publications for incarcerated
individuals.
“If implemented, they would create substantial new barriers to
education,” Klekamp said.
Nicole Schult of the Uptown People’s Law Center said she opposed
mail scanning and expressed concerns that legal mail might not
remain confidential.
Ben Ruddell, American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois director of
criminal justice policy, said IDOC has not supplied any empirical
data to support its position that electronic mail processing has
been a success in other jurisdictions.
Ruddell said courts have recognized that people in prison have
property interests.
“The proposed rule potentially violates the property rights of
incarcerated people and undermines rehabilitation by cutting people
off from precious tangible items sent by family, friends and loved
ones,” Ruddell said.
Ruddell said the rule also raises First Amendment concerns.
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