Hall County is changing its jail mail policy.
Beginning tomorrow, Feb. 11, 2020, the facility will no longer deliver paper letters to inmates. Instead, senders are asked to address their mail to Securus Digital Mail Center. The center will scan the mail and make it available for inmates to securely view on telecommunications kiosks at the jail.
The change is intended to improve facility safety and security by reducing potential contraband.
“Several facilities elsewhere have encountered mail laced with drugs, such as fentanyl, which sickened the staff and inmates,” Hall County Jail Division Captain Jeff Shoemaker says. “This mail process is a proactive response to ensure the health and safety of the staff and inmates of the jail.
The new jail mail program is provided by Securus Technologies which provides telecommunications services to the jail.
The cost for the program is absorbed through inmate telephone commissions. It is not passed along to the Sheriff’s Office, says HCSO spokesperson Derreck Booth.
Booth says the new system will do more than eliminate contraband, it also will reduce the time employees spend reviewing, receiving and delivering inmate mail. Inmates should also get their mail faster.
Although the standard inmate mail policy is changing, Booth says legal mail, money orders, and packages will still be accepted at the Hall County Jail. Publications directly sent from a publisher, distributor or authorized retailer are also still being accepted.
