SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — State representatives handed a bill Thursday to make sure individuals within the Department of Corrections should not charged unreasonable fees for sending mail. The legislation additionally requires extra transparency surrounding the IDOC mail scanning course of.
Rep. Rita Mayfield (D-Waukegan) stated it will be important that households can keep related with their family members, and the state mustn’t make that course of more durable.
Her bill may guarantee dedicated individuals and their correspondents should not charged any charge, surcharge, or price for mail or scanning providers that exceed the standard postage rate.
“Basically, we’re just codifying into law the current practice of IDOC which is just to charge the market rate of a stamp,” Mayfield stated. “So if a stamp is 25 cents on the outside, it’s 25 cents on the inside.”
Advocates stated the division can be banned from producing any income from communication between households and family members.
The laws additionally requires annual reporting on the charges individuals pay for mail and the way the division spends the cash.
House Bill 4235 handed unanimously out of the House and now strikes to the Senate for additional consideration.
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