SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — The Illinois Department of Corrections was grilled by the top committee of state lawmakers Tuesday over an emergency rule that allowed the agency to temporarily scan prisoner mail. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle believe IDOC abused the emergency rule process last month when there have been issues with drugs entering prisons for over a year.
IDOC implemented its mail scanning emergency rule on Aug. 14 to prevent drugs from entering facilities.
Democrats and Republicans know that the department needs to keep prisoners and staff safe after drug incidents that left dozens of people hospitalized. However, some are concerned that there is no evidence or information to prove that there is currently an emergency that should block people from receiving physical mail.
"If this is an emergency, you had the complete authority to stop the mail from going in to protect these people, and you didn't do that," said Rep. Dave Vella (D-Rockford). "It says to me that this is not an emergency. Although I do believe that there are people in danger and that if mail is coming in laced with chemicals, it's going to kill somebody."
The agency told lawmakers that other states have seen successful drops in contraband after implementing similar policies.
IDOC officials said they did not receive budget appropriations for this system, as the state has a zero-cost contract with the tablet provider. The department said that the vendor makes their money back through selling other content, like entertainment for the tablets.
"Frankly speaking, if this is a safety issue, I don't know why you are allowing them to make money on ancillary things that have nothing to do with the safety of both your employees and the people who are incarcerated," said Rep. Steve Reick (R-Woodstock).
IDOC has had the tablets on hand since June, but the agency only recently trained staff on the scanning policy and tested the equipment last week.
"There were numbers of people that were injured, and hurt, and hospitalized in some cases, and nothing was done then," said Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado (D-Chicago). "We're a year later, and now it's an emergency? That just strikes me as disingenuous."
The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules voted unanimously to object to this emergency rule. The rule will stay in place for now, but lawmakers stressed they will closely watch the drafting of any permanent rule for prison mail.
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law last month to require the department to collect and publicize data on contraband found in prisons. Sponsors believe that the law will provide transparency around emergency medical responses, hospitalizations and drug overdoses.
IDOC will be required to start collecting this data July 1, 2026, and publish the information on or before Aug. 1 of each year. The law also requires the department to make public any substance use disorder treatment or educational materials provided to incarcerated people, or others who have used contraband drugs, to ensure they are receiving adequate treatment and education on substance use issues.
"In order to prevent tragic overdose deaths, we need to better understand where contraband drugs are coming from instead of enacting policies without evidence demonstrating it will be effective in stopping the proliferation of banned goods," said Sen. Graciela Guzmán (D-Chicago).
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