CHICAGO — The nearly 30,000 people incarcerated in Illinois prisons may begin having their mail scanned and subjected to other security measures following reports that those incarcerated and staff members who work in state prisons were in danger of being exposed to harmful chemicals from illegal drugs and other substances being smuggled into the facilities.

The stricter security rules, which are being implemented for the next five months on an emergency basis, were quietly imposed a few weeks ago by the Illinois Department of Corrections. They allow, but do not mandate, IDOC to implement a process to electronically scan and digitize incoming mail and print it for a person incarcerated or send it to them electronically. The head of IDOC also would have the authority to exclude incoming mail from the process.

Authorized through the state’s bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, the new measures went into effect Aug. 14 and come amid a protracted push by Republican lawmakers in the General Assembly’s superminority and a union representing IDOC employees raising concerns that the department was failing to protect workers and people behind bars against drugs such as fentanyl and other substances apparently being sent covertly through the department’s mail.

But the new measures are being questioned by prison reform advocates as an invasion of privacy and a move that’s being made without all the facts.

“Denial of original mail might not seem like a big deal to people who aren’t all that familiar with what it means to be incarcerated,” said Jennifer Vollen-Katz, executive director at the prison watchdog John Howard Association. But “for those who’ve experienced it, it’s quite meaningful.”

According to a JCAR notice, the new rules are “proposed as emergency as IDOC reasonably finds that lack of modification constitutes a threat and direct impact to the correctional system and public interest.” The notice added that IDOC “is committed to enhancing the integrity of safety and security within the correctional system, which strengthens safety of the general public.”

Seeing the rules published was frustrating, Vollen-Katz said, as she didn’t think the situation warranted being described as an emergency. She noted that legislation Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law last month requires data collection on contraband in prisons, and she questioned why IDOC would release rules on the issue without first seeing the data.

But state Sen. Terri Bryant, a Republican from downstate Murphysboro and a former IDOC employee who has been a vocal critic about reports of contaminated mail, said this week that her office was reviewing the proposed rules and, if she decides she’s in favor of them, she will recommend that other Republicans on JCAR vote to make the rules permanent.

“We have some friends still floating around in the department. I’d like to know how the security staff feels about the rules. I’d want to know what the actual mailroom staff feels about it,” Bryant said. “I’ve been a strong proponent of electronic scanning of the mail.”

Last year, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 compiled a report with testimonials from anonymous IDOC employees complaining about the prevalence of illegal drugs and other substances found in the prisons, along with limited data about drug use in the facilities.

“Employees at every security level within the state prison system have reported a widespread explosion in the use of synthetic drugs, including K2/synthetic marijuana, as well as the smoking of paper covered in wasp/roach spray such as Raid and Off,” the report said. “Interviews and individual incident reports show that the mail, including legal mail, is the predominant method by which these drugs are acquired.”

The September 2024 report also indicated that IDOC had begun shifting to digitally scanning mail for incarcerated individuals to read on electronic tablets but the report acknowledged how that would take “many months” to implement. Despite those efforts, AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall said the emergency rules were still necessary for IDOC to establish a mail distribution method for those who are incarcerated.

“Our union has called for mail scanning as a means of reducing the flow of harmful substances and other illicit contraband into state prisons,” Lindall said in an emailed response to the new emergency rules. “IDOC has worked with us toward this goal, and for the security of state facilities and the well-being of AFSCME members, we’re glad it’s moving forward.”

So far, it’s unclear when JCAR will hear debate on whether to make the emergency rules permanent. But such a discussion could be scheduled in the next couple of months.

The emergency rule changes also allow IDOC to initiate an authentication and verification security policy for so-called privileged mail, which includes mail being sent by attorneys representing incarcerated people. Also, IDOC must require other mail to “be clearly marked with the name and address of the sender,” according to the changes.

Publications such as newspapers, magazines and books must only be received through a prison’s mailroom, the changes say. But this provision is not meant to prevent publications “already included in the personal property of an individual in custody from entering through transfers between Department facilities.”

People incarcerated are also not allowed to receive newspapers, magazines, books or other publications that are “damaged or altered,” which could contain notes or other writings, according to the rule changes.

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