Appendix: Mail scanning policies by state, 2026

This appendix describes the mail scanning policies of state and federal prison systems. It contains useful information on when mail scanning was implemented, where the processing actually takes place, and who conducts it. For more information, please see our mail scanning toolkit.

*As we noted previously, our information about mail scanning in Alaska and Kentucky comes from people directly impacted by mail scanning policies, and not from Department of Corrections websites or news coverage.
State/Jurisdiction Status of mail scanning Method Where Who conducts Effective date of mail scanning policy or contract Legal mail
Alabama Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities Central Processing Facility ICSolutions 10/25 Handled at facility
Alaska* Scanning incoming personal mail at one or a few facilities Unknown
Arizona Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities Central Processing Facility Texas Securus 12/25 Handled at facility
Arkansas Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities Central Processing Facility Florida Unknown 9/25 Handled at facility
California No mail scanning in effect
Colorado Scanning incoming personal mail at one or a few facilities At Facility Colorado Internal Unclear Handled at facility
Connecticut No mail scanning in effect
Delaware Scanning incoming personal mail at one or a few facilities Central Processing Facility Nevada Pigeonly 4/22 Handled at facility
Federal Bureau of Prisons Scanning incoming personal mail at most facilities At Facility Various None (internal) Various Legal mail must be vetted by Special Investigative Services. Mail is opend in front of the person, who receives the photocopy of the envelope and contents.
Florida Scanning incoming personal mail at one or a few facilities Central Processing Facility Florida J-Pay ; Smart Communications 1/22 Pursuant to the amended rule, attorneys must register and obtain a unique tracking number for legal mail sent to inmates. Inmate legal mail postmarked on or after September 15, 2025, that does not include an Attorney Registration Number (ARN) and a unique Legal Mail Tracking Number (LMTN), as defined in Rule 33-210.102, Florida Administrative Code, will be returned to the sender unopened. Inmate legal mail sent without an ARN or a unique LMTN on or before September 14, 2025, will be processed by mailroom staff.
Georgia No mail scanning in effect
Hawaii No mail scanning in effect
Idaho No mail scanning in effect
Illinois Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities At Facility Illinois Internal 10/25 Pending Multifactor authentication for legal mail.
Indiana Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities At Facility Indiana None 7/20 “Legal mail or privileged correspondence shall be copied and distributed according to the approved facility directive. The incarcerated individual shall only receive the contents of the mailing container along with a photocopy of the parcel showing sender’s name, return address, and postmark date. The mailing container and packing material shall be destroyed daily.”
Iowa Scanning incoming personal mail at one or a few facilities Central Processing Facility Nevada Pigeonly 7/20 Handled at facility
Kansas No mail scanning in effect
Kentucky* Scanning incoming personal mail at one or a few facilities Unknown Unknown
Louisiana No mail scanning in effect
Maine No mail scanning in effect At Facility Maine Internal 9/18 “Policy 21.2 Prisoner Mail VI. Procedures Procedure D: Outgoing and Incoming Privileged Mail 16. “Incoming privileged mail shall be handled in the same manner as incoming general mail, except that it shall not be opened without the prisoner being present, it shall not be photocopied, and staff shall not remove stamps, address labels, or the envelope.”“”
Maryland No mail scanning in effect
Massachusetts Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities At Facility Massachusetts Internal 11/22 “(4) In order to prevent fraudulent privileged mail from entering DOC facilities, the DOC may implement an Attorney Verification System (AVS). If an AVS is established, the Department shall create internal procedures, that at a minimum, consist of the following:

(a) Any attorney wishing to send privileged mail must attempt to participate in the AVS;
(b) Forms/applications to participate in the AVS must be completed in their entirety;
(c) Procedures to process mail from an attorney who does not attempt to comply with the AVS, or if the Department is not able to verify the privileged mail through the AVS;
(d) Incoming privileged mail may not be opened by a Department employee except in the presence of the addressee inmate and for the purpose of receiving and receipting of any funds enclosed for the inmate and/or ascertaining that its contents are free of contraband.”
Michigan Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities At Facility Michigan Regular mail, internal; TextBehind verification for legal mail 10/20 “Legal mail: All attorneys and their representatives must be registered and verified through TextBehind and include a QR code on all envelopes containing legal mail. All legal mail must prominently display a QR code issued by TextBehind. MDOC Mail Room staff shall verify the QR code against the registered sender. To avoid inadvertently breaching any attorney-client privilege, any legal mail without a valid QR code or that has an unscannable QR code shall be returned to the sender unopened.”
Minnesota Scanning incoming personal mail at one or a few facilities Central Processing Facility Maryland TextBehind 10/22 “Incoming mail that meets the definition of attorney-client privileged mail must have
1. a QR code from TextBehind and must contain the attorney’s name in the destination or return address along with terms such as “attorney at law” or “law offices” on the a. iii. iv. v. envelope. Attorney-client privileged mail without a verified QR code or improperly addressed will be returned to sender.

When delivering attorney-client privileged mail to an incarcerated person, staff must:
i. Scan the QR code to verify its legitimacy; and
ii. In the presence of the incarcerated person, staff must test the envelope and contents for contraband (if possible). Skim the contents to ensure that it is legal in nature. Provide the envelope and contents to the offender. If the item contains contraband, staff must write an incident report and enter the envelope and contents into evidence. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/draft-mike.html”
Mississippi Scanning incoming personal mail at one or a few facilities Unknown Unknown
Missouri Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities Securus 7/22 Handled at facility
Montana Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities Central Processing Facility Maryland TextBehind 12/24 Handled at facility
Nebraska Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities Central Processing Facility Maryland TextBehind 12/21 Normally at facility. However, “Incoming privileged mail photocopy procedures for the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution, Reception and Treatment Center and Nebraska State Penitentiary. Additional facilities may be designated to photocopy incoming mail at the discretion of the deputy director-prisons operations pursuant to Title 68, Chapter 3.
As an additional measure to prevent contraband or illicit substances from entering the facility, the steps listed below will occur, including the use of photocopying and shredding.”
Nevada No mail scanning in effect
New Hampshire No mail scanning in effect At Facility New Hampshire Internal 10/21 Handled at facility
New Jersey Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities Central Processing Facility Nevada Pigeonly 2024 Handled at facility
New Mexico Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities Central Processing Facility Florida Smart Communications 12/21 Handled at facility
New York Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities At Facility New York Internal 8/21 Currently scan legal mail for drugs via RaySecur. Are atttempting to pass legislation to digitize all legal mail.
North Carolina Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities Central Processing Facility Maryland TextBehind 10/21 Handled at facility
North Dakota Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities Central Processing Facility Florida Securus 6/21 Handled at facility
Ohio Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities Central Processing Facility Ohio Internal 2/22 https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/drc.ohio.gov/Forms/Visit_Attorney%20Info%202021.pdf
Oklahoma No mail scanning in effect Central Processing Facility Texas Securus 2/24 Handled at facility
Oregon No mail scanning in effect Upcoming plans to implement scanning
Pennsylvania Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities Central Processing Facility Florida Smart Communications 9/18 “Any attorney, court, or non-attorney/court entity wishing to send privileged correspondence must fill out a control number request form(opens in a new tab).

Numbers will only be issued to attorneys who represent inmates or to verified court/court entities. Attorneys not representing inmates or other organizations that do not meet the criteria of a verified court/court entity can use Smart Communications for all correspondence.

Envelope must be properly addressed and contain the following: Attorney or court control number associated with the law office.
Secondary authentication number/time code issued for that week (for attorneys only)

The attorney control number, court control number, other control number, and/or secondary authentication number should only appear on the outside front of the envelope.”
Rhode Island No mail scanning in effect
South Carolina No mail scanning in effect
South Dakota Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities At Facility South Dakota Internal 11/22 Handled at facility
Tennessee Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities Central Processing Facility Maryland TextBehind 11/25 Handled at facility
Texas Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities Central Processing Facility Texas Securus 9/23 Handled at facility
Utah No mail scanning in effect Central Processing Facility Utah Internal 1/25 Handled at facility
Vermont No mail scanning in effect
Virginia Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities Central Processing Facility Virginia Internal 4/17 Legal mail sent to VADOC’s Centralized Mail Distribution Center, scanned for illicit substances, then delivered via USPS Priority mail the same business day. https://vadoc.virginia.gov/general-public/legal-correspondence/
Washington No mail scanning in effect
West Virginia Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities Central Processing Facility Maryland TextBehind 2017 Handled at facility
Wisconsin Scanning incoming personal mail at all facilities Central Processing Facility Maryland TextBehind 12/21 Handled at facility
Wyoming No mail scanning in effect

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