By Nathan Clark
mlive.com
LANSING, Mich. — All mail including confidential and legal mail for prisoners in Michigan will now be provided as a photocopy.
The Michigan Department of Corrections announced Monday, Dec. 8, that it is expanding its photocopying mail policy to crack down on contraband entering its prisons beginning Jan. 5.
The department previously instituted the practice of delivering photocopies of incoming standard mail several years ago in which prisoners would only receive the photocopies and the original documents were destroyed, MDOC Public Information Officer Jenni Riehle said.
The policy resulted in a significant decline in efforts to introduce drugs using drug contaminated paper, stickers and other items, she said.
But some individuals seeking to introduce illegal contraband then began using fake confidential special handling mail, the kind used by attorneys and various organizations, to continue their illegal efforts, Riehle said.
“Illicit drugs have fundamentally changed over recent years to include synthetic sprays and strips which are easily added to paper and concealed in mail,” MDOC Director Heidi E. Washington said. “These drugs pose a great risk to our staff and those living in our facilities. This is a commonsense policy that will reduce the chance of sickness and death by those who come in contact with these substances.”
The new policy will stop this practice by ensuring no original mail documents coming into a facility are provided to the recipients.
In 2024, MDOC began using TextBehind DOCS, a technology used to confirm the origin of confidential and legal mail through a reliable and free sender identity verification process.
The system will remain in place in addition to the new photocopying policy to provide multiple layers of security.
“Despite implementing technologies to better verify legal mail senders, we continue to see incidents where this mail is used as an avenue to introduce these dangerous substances to the population. This will add another safeguard to that process,” said state Rep. Bradley Slagh, R-Zeeland.
All legal mail will continue to meet confidentiality requirements. Each piece of mail will be opened and photocopied in its entirety, with the copies being directly handed to the recipient, Riehle said.
The original mail will be immediately shredded in front of the recipient and then disposed of in a secure location by MDOC staff.
Sending drugs to any MDOC facility is a felony and the department supports prosecution in every case.
Anyone sending mail to a Michigan prison is responsible for all items that they send. Individuals should never mail items or documents to a prison on behalf of another sender.
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