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ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) is now using a new mail delivery system meant to stop drugs and contraband from getting inside facilities.
What we know
DOC officials say they are implementing the change in order to secure jails and prisons in the state after multiple incidents involving narcotics that were smuggled in.
The mail delivery procedure involves scanning and printing mail addressed to an incarcerated person.
This will be done through a service called TextBehind, which states that it helps "inmates remain connected with the outside world, without placing the correctional officers at risk of handling contraband, primarily narcotics."
Items such as legal mail, money orders, personal checks, gift cards or cash will not be accepted and returned to the sender.
Officials say attorney-client privileged mail will be handled through TextBehind DOCS and starting Dec. 2, any attorney-client privileged mail sent directly to DOC facilities through the postal service will be returned to the sender.
Mail that involves criminal activity, threats, contains photos of staff, is coded material, contains unsanitary or bodily substances or sexually explicit material, will be denied.
Denied mail can be appealed by writing to the mail room supervisor.
How it works
The mail management system receives the mail through a P.O. box before processing the mail and sending it to the correctional facility for distribution.
The company states that each piece of mail will include a cover letter that summarizes the sender and recipient information, total number of pages, and scanned copies of the mail contents.
The service operates Monday through Friday.
The DOC states that anyone who wishes to send mail to an incarcerated person must include the following information on the envelope:
First Name / Last name, and OID
MCF-facility name, Minnesota (do not abbreviate Minnesota)
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131
Background
The DOC is taking these steps after multiple incidents involving controlled substances that made their way into correction facilities.
One of the incidents sent a prison into lockdown and nine prison staff members being hospitalized.
An incarcerated man's death earlier this year is also believed to be related to drug use.