By Cole Waterman
mlive.com
MIDLAND, Mich. — If you live in Midland County and want to send a letter to a loved one in the local jail, your missive is now going to have to make a 1,200-mile trip before its recipient views it.
Effective Monday, Feb. 9, the jail at 101 Fast Ice Drive is no longer accepting personal inmate mail. All personal mail should now be addressed as follows:
Inmate Name and ID #
Midland County Jail
PO Box 21267
Tampa, FL 33622
The mail is received by Securus Digital Mail Center, where mail will be digitally scanned and made available to inmates via eMessaging tablets. There is no cost to the inmates to read their mail on the tablets, though they can buy optional add-ons like photographs, videograms, and the like, said Jail Administrator Capt. Amy Randall.
The policy change aims to increase safety for inmates and staff, Randall said. Inmates have been getting more clever in their means of smuggling contraband through mail, and having their mail sent to a third-party vendor mitigates that, Randall said.
Using a third-party vendor also frees up a corrections officer in the jail from having to sift through inmate mail, Randall said. Any mail that is flagged for content must be reviewed and approved by a supervisor, she added.
Additional details senders should be aware of:
- Photos and drawings are accepted for scanning if they meet size and content requirements
- Items larger than 8.5” x 11” and non-paper items will not be scanned
- Packages, certified mail, checks, and money orders are not accepted
- Mail that cannot be scanned will be returned to the sender
- To have original mail returned after scanning, include a self-addressed, stamped envelope
- All physical mail is destroyed 90 days after scanning
Legal mail, or mail from attorneys, should still be sent to the jail, addressed to the inmate. Legal mail sent to the Florida PO Box will be returned unopened.
The jail in neighboring Bay County adopted a similar policy in recent months, with all personal inmate mail sent to Smart Communications in Seminole, Florida.
“It’s genius,” said Bay County Sheriff Troy R. Cunningham of the program’s efficacy. “We don’t have contraband coming into the jail as much.”
The Saginaw County Jail still accepts inmates’ personal mail to be sent direct to the facility at 311 S. Harrison St. in Saginaw.
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