Illinois corrections officials say they are on schedule for prison mail scan rule

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Illinois Department of Corrections officials are promising to have a permanent rule on electronic mail scanning drafted by the first week of December.

IDOC’s 150-day emergency rule to implement mail scanning expires in January. To avoid a lapse, the agency needs a permanent rule to be reviewed by the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules next month.

The department implemented electronic mail scanning in September, after lawmakers sought to address a reported surge of contraband entering corrections facilities in Illinois.

At Tuesday’s JCAR meeting in Chicago, Department of Corrections Chief Compliance Officer Michael Crum said IDOC is engaged in conversations with stakeholders and advocacy groups.

“As we collect the public comments, we are expeditiously working on the department’s responses and simultaneously putting together our appendix for the permanent rule filing,” Crum said.

With the public comment period ending Nov. 24, state Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, asked Crum when the committee could expect second notice filing for permanent rule making.

“We do anticipate to have our internal draft completed that same week, so it would be submitted to the committee the first week of December, as early as possible, hoping for Dec. 3,” Crum answered.

The next JCAR meeting is scheduled Dec. 17 in Chicago.

On Tuesday, IDOC Assistant Deputy Chief Legal Counsel Robert Steele answered a question from state Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, about feedback from public defenders and the legal community.

“Those comments were largely geared towards the operational aspects of the multi-factor authentication system, namely being able to batch, and given the amount of mail produced by individuals, being able to provide an opportunity to more efficiently do that, so we’re looking at those operational aspects of the system,” Steele said.

At a public hearing last month, IDOC workers reported benefits they were seeing from mail scanning while inmate advocates expressed opposition.

Crum said IDOC made amendments to proposed rule language based on input from Restore Justice. The organization provided The Center Square with a statement in response.

“We have met with the Department of Corrections and communicated significant concerns regarding the proposed mail scanning rules. Since then, we have not received updated language, nor have we been informed of any forthcoming changes,” the statement read.

Restore Justice expressed hope that the final rules strike a balance that upholds the dignity and humanity of people who are incarcerated, safeguards their ability to communicate with loved ones and protects the privacy of their personal and legal correspondence.

Tuesday’s JCAR meeting came just three days after a report that six inmates overdosed after being exposed to illegal drugs inside Pinckneyville Correctional Center.

Darren Bailey’s gubernatorial campaign issued a statement in response.

“Let’s be clear: this is what happens when a governor is more focused on political games than public safety. Under J.B. Pritzker, the Department of Corrections has become a leadership vacuum. Drugs making their way into a state prison is not an accident – it’s a symptom of an administration that has lost control,” Bailey’s lieutenant governor candidate Aaron Del Mar stated.

JCAR members expressed their frustration with then-Acting IDOC Director Latoya Hughes at the panel’s Oct. 14 meeting.

State Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-Chicago, told Hughes he would not lie and say he was happy with how things have gone.

“You’ve always been a woman of your word. I appreciate that, but I will tell you that there are not very many more opportunities to not get it right,” Tarver said.

Two weeks later, more than two years after Hughes’ initial appointment, the Illinois Senate confirmed Hughes as IDOC director.

Pritzker’s appointment message said Hughes would receive a state taxpayer-funded salary of $220,500 per year.