RALEIGH—To make prisons safer and more secure, the North Carolina prison system is changing the way offenders receive mail.
, An official website of the State of North Carolina, Prison System Upgrades Offender Mail Security. At the end of this 45 day period the photos will be securely destroyed. "Prisons has worked with TextBehind since February 2020 to process mail for offenders in our four female facilities. My husband is hours away from me and our kids, but this app keep us well connected. There is many reasons I ENJOY this app! OCI Annual Report. and that the data you submit is exempt from Do Not Sell My Personal Information requests. Will inmates continue to receive monthly account transaction statements? Choose the Send a Personalized Letter option. To learn more, view our full privacy policy. If you are an attorney or employee of a law firm and must send legal mail to an offender, contact the prison for instructions. The DOC requires all photo books sent to inmates must have a soft cover and are limited to a maximum of 26pages and a size not to exceed 8x11 inches. The new mail process will also prevent drugs from entering the prisons in the form of paper coated in fentanyl, K2, Suboxone or other dangerous drugs. CCI Annual Report. Prison drug smugglers often coat paper with liquid forms of fentanyl, Suboxone, K2, LSD and other deadly drugs. I sent mail to an inmate through Smart Communications; however, the inmate never received the mail. No, the DOC requires all photo books be soft-cover. Original photographs should not be sent to Smart Communications or any State Correctional Institution. Lexipol. The DOC issues Control Numbers to Attorneys who represent a DOC inmate as well as court and select non-attorney/court entities. No exceptions. What mail will not be processed by Smart Communications? The mail will then be printed and delivered to the inmate by the facility mailroom. 1 0 obj A separate secondary authentication number will be emailed to each Attorney Control Number holder each week. Here's how TextBehind works: 1. All publications remain subject to review by the IPRC and must comply with theDC-ADM 803. Executive Leadership. Please emailRA-CRMailProcedures@pa.gov for more information about the DOC's procedures with Official Documents. General Incoming Correspondence, "This is a constant battle, fought daily. It will then be printed at the institution by the SCI mailroom staff and delivered to the inmate. Reduction in smuggling will occur because TextBehind provides copies of mail to offenders, not the originals. Phoenix, MD 21131. c. Any mail that is not addressed this way will be returned to the sender. Additionally, our P.O. But it is a step Prisons had to take so that our facilities remain safe and secure environments for our staff, for the offenders in our custody and for the general public," said Brad Deen, communications officer for Prisons at NCDPS. Starting Oct. 18, mail to inmates in a state prison must be sent directly to TextBehind. Who can I reach out to? % Yes. BBB File Opened: 3/13/2015. useful content. The SPC processes the following materials: *Specific religious items from approved vendors noted in the Religious Articles Catalog and ordered by inmates will be shipped to the respective SCI directly, not the Security Processing Center. Does the DOC accept hard-cover photo books? Personal Mail sent to the new address will be scanned and delivered electronically in the same . Use of this website constitutes your acceptance Messages from the Secretary . Any other forms of general incoming correspondence, like letters, pictures, greeting cards, children's drawings etc., that are included with an official document sent to Smart Communications will be forwarded along with the official document to Central office and then to the coordinating SCI's Business office. text behind inmate mail Menu. People wishing to send offenders letters, greeting cards and uploaded photos and artwork can do so using the app. How do I obtain the secondary Authentication Number? In fact, in the year after the female facilities began using TextBehind, disciplinary infractions for substance possession and use by offenders dropped by 50 percent. Do not include the following items in a letter, or the letter will be returned to sender: No. All publications need to be sent to the DOCs Security Processing Center. TextBehind connects you with every inmate across America using text messages with photos, custom greeting cards and electronic money orders. This new system is expected to reduce mail delivery times to next-day delivery, once received by TextBehind. The electronic document will then be made available to the facility mailroom for printing. of our standard terms and conditions. Under the new system inmates will receive copies of the letters sent to them. When the electronic mail reaches the facility, staff can approve, deny or forward mail. Publications, If a photo book contains at least one prohibited photo, the entire photo book will be denied. The original documents are then destroyed. Materials andtexts for religious correspondence courses. All photos must comply with the DOCs content criteria, and What happens to my photographs when they arrive at Smart Communications? If the inmate does not wish to appeal they can forward a cash slip with an addressed envelope to the mailroom within 15 working days from the denial to have the publication mailed out of the facility. The Robesonian Yes. The DOC accepts photo books. Street Address: All scanned mail is uploaded to a database that is organized/sorted by inmate. 5. They do not come in through the outside mail or a third party. Letter with what others are saying about TextBehind, Click Are inmates limited to the number of books they may receive? All photographs sent to an inmate must contain a full return address with a first and last name of the sender on the envelope. Please enable scripts and reload this page. You must write out the inmates name and their opus number. baltimore city correctional center. Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Photo Books, To learn more, view our full privacy policy. The application is mailed to the inmate, but it does not need to be an original document. trademarks of TextBehind, Inc. 3rd party logos and service links are for reference only. Why is the address for photographs from outside vendors different from photographs sent from a home address? The DOCs Division of Adult Institutions Administrator Sarah Cooper said the increased drug activitys caused Wisconsins prisons to change how it receives mail. Wisconsin DOC changes how inmates receive mail following drug incidents, 1 person in custody, arrest warrants issued after burglary at Smoking Gun store, Chetek man to star in Outdoor Channel documentary. Can photographs sent to Smart Communications be returned to the sender once its' been processed? Forsyth County Detention Center Inmate Mail. At the facility, each photo will be inspected to ensure the photos comply with DOC policy specifically, photographs containing obscenity, explicit sexual material or nudity, as outlined in Section 2 of theDC-ADM 803, Inmate Mail and Incoming Publications Procedures Manualare prohibited. "It is unfortunate that the actions of a relative few have created a situation in which offenders will no longer be able to touch the original of a paper letter, a handwritten greeting card or their kids' artwork. Starting Dec. 6, people will send personal mail to inmates to TextBehind. <> Original Transactional Documentation are documents in which the inmate needs to sign and return the original to the sender (i.e. TextBehind will use a scanner to make digital files of the contents of the mailing including cards, photos or artwork. Inmates are allowed to send out up to 18 visiting applications. Drugs are thrown over the fences, hidden in the mail, brought in by staff or smuggled in during visitation. Upon arriving at the facility mailroom the mail will be denied and confiscated. DAC(and taxpayers) will not pay for anything, not even the paper copies. All rights reserved. I accidentally sent publications to the Smart Communications address, not the SPC address, what will happen to my publications? fill out a control number request form to receive their respective control number. 6. TextBehind will make copies of the contents letters, greeting cards, photos, artwork, etc. Please emailRA-CRMailProcedures@pa.govfor more information about the DOC's procedures with Original Transactional Documentation. Yes. Do not use initials. Original Transactional Documentation must be mailed to the attention of the facility Business Office at the institution where the inmate is housed and must identify the inmate by name and number. Upon this denial if the inmate wishes to appeal they have 15 working days to notify the Facility Manager in writing, in accordance with theDC-ADM 804 Inmate Grievance Systempolicy. The DOC recommends using the following address formatfor photos that are ordered from an outside vendor: Inmate Name, Inmate NumberPO Box 33028St Petersburg, Florida 33733. Unlimited inmate reply letters will be electronically delivered right to your smart phone and email address wherever you are in the world. Senders of mail who register withSmart Communicationscan receive alerts when mail arrives at Smart Communication and when it is delivered to or rejected by the DOC. Copyright 2023 The Security Processing Center (SPC) operates at a strict 2-3 week turnaround time. 541-301-8460 text behind inmate mail Licensed and Insured text behind inmate mail Serving Medford, Jacksonville and beyond! Please provide the following information in your email: I have more questions about sending Official Documents to an inmate. Caution: Do not send originals of important papers, documents or photos that cannot be replaced. If the inmate does not wish to appeal they can forward a cash slip with an addressed envelope to the mailroom within 15 working days from the denial to have the publication mailed out of the facility to friend or family member. Since the company earns its revenue through app fees, DPS and North Carolina will pay nothing for the service not even for copies. The authentication number will be sent to the email address specified in the Request Form. At the facility, each photo book will be inspected to ensure the photos comply with DOC policy specifically, photographs containing obscenity, explicit sexual material or nudity, as outlined in the policy, are prohibited. Look for a box or option labeled Home Page (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari) or On Startup (Chrome). Will the general incoming correspondence mail procedures delay the parole process? Upon receipt of the offenders approved study or correspondence course, the mailroom will search and inspect, then give the item(s) to the facility chaplain, religious coordinator or designated staff for prompt and personal distribution to the offender. Besides hiding contraband in prison mail, smugglers have learned to make the mail itself into a drug. ASQ is a tool developed by the Analysis, Programming, and Policy Section of the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice. Although the person ordering the publication enters the full and correct address information photo vendors frequently cut the inmates name/inmate number out of the label. venrock portfolio. Customize the letter and submit. Per policy, inmates are not permitted to hold official documents in their cells for security reasons. Why will the general incoming correspondence included with an official document be destroyed? Any mailing containing more than 25 photos will be denied in its entirety by the facility mailroom. What should I do? DACwants its prisons to be as safe and secure as possible for staff and offenders. Inmates will continue to write to the Board of Pardons and pay the fee for an Application for Commutation. Upon arriving at Smart Communications the mail containing photographs will be opened and scanned into an electronic document. A reasonable effort will then be made by the DOC mailrooms to ensure that incoming inmate mail is delivered to the inmate within 48 hours from the time the mail is delivered to the prison. So far so good! At the institution, each photo book will be inspected by the mailroom to ensure the photos comply with DOC policy. Anything we can do to cut that off makes our prisons a safer, more secure place to live and work. Book donation organizations will process donated books to individual inmates as they have done in the past (prior to the lockdown). The inmates State Identification (SID) number; The inmates facility acronym (see below) ; and. Prison systems across the country have transitioned to digital mail over the past few years, including West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Wyoming, Colorado and Arkansas. I have had no issues with using the app. If the inmate does not wish to appeal they can forward a cash slip with an addressed envelope to the mailroom within 15 working days from the denial to have the publication mailed out of the facility. Alternatively, all legal mail, case files, supporting documents and court documents must be sent to the prison facility directly by an attorney or legal organization. State Government websites value user privacy. Smart Communications/PADOCJoe Jones/AB1234SCI Camp HillPO Box 33028St Petersburg FL 33733. Yes. Besides hiding contraband in prison mail, smugglers have learned to make the mail itself into a drug. <>/Metadata 214 0 R/ViewerPreferences 215 0 R>> A return name and address must appear on the envelope. Safety is the main reason. Publications sent to the Smart Communications address will be returned to the sender. Box 247 Phoenix, MD 21131. b. 901 greenmount avenue baltimore, maryland 21202. cmcf. Advocating for the Humane Treatment of People in North Carolina Prisons. Published: Nov. 3, 2021 at 7:11 PM PDT. You should reach out to the prison mailroom. Alternatively, all legal mail, case files, supporting documents and court documents must be sent to the prison facility directly by an attorney or legal organization. transferring a vehicle title, etc.) Are there limitations as to what books an inmate can order? 2. "The safety and security of our prisons are always foremost," Commissioner of Prisons Todd Ishee said. Photographs are limited to 25 per mailing. identifies important training information, interacts with each other and All books and magazines must be addressed to the SPC at the above address. TextBehind - Inmate Text Messaging is an Android Social app developed by TextBehind, Inc and published on the Google play store. Instead of writing to the offender at their prison, one must address mail to TextBehind's facility in Maryland in this manner: Offender Name and Opus Number. All official documents must be mailed using this format: Business Office Inmate Name/Inmate Number Address Line 1 City, State Zip Code, Smart Communications/ PADOCInmate Name, Inmate NumberP.O. Once the book is processed and approved by the mailroom it will be delivered to the inmate. TextBehind states they will process these within one business day. Smart Communications cannot process any materials that are bound or open like a book, and all materials they receive which are bound will be rejected. Official Documents, which include but are not limited to: Donated Books from established book donation companies, Bulk religious material need approval from SCI chaplain, Religious Correspondence Course materials, Donated Religious material need approval from SCI chaplain, Donated Library books need approval from SCI Librarian. And one from the North Carolina website: "For those who prefer writing on paper, the most obvious change to the process involves a new mailing address. jack holt hailsham,