The Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center will stop accepting physical print materials for inmates as part of a new digital mail delivery system aimed at reducing contraband, officials announced.
The system replaces hand-delivered mail with scanned digital copies accessible via tablets, with scanning performed off-site by third-party service ViaPath Technologies. MDC staff will then review documents for violations of the inmate mail policy before digital delivery.
Legal mail, internal education materials and other approved documents will continue to be delivered physically, according to the announcement.
As of July 18, the facility will no longer accept physical books, magazines and other written literature. Inmates will access this material through a digital library on tablets instead.
The change affects MDC’s average daily population of about 1,200 inmates and their families throughout Bernalillo County.
“This is a crucial step forward in our ongoing efforts to improve the safety, security and efficiency of MDC operations,” Warden Kai Smith said in a press release. “By reducing the flow of physical mail and literature, we’re limiting opportunities for illicit materials to make their way into the facility while still ensuring that inmates have access to important personal and legal correspondence, as well as written literature.”
The new address for sending inmate mail should be in the following format:
Bernalillo County Metro Detention, NM
Inmate Name, MID #
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131
MDC has increased tablet distribution to approximately 1,000 devices, creating one tablet per cell at a ratio of about one tablet for every two inmates, according to the announcement.
The move follows a nationwide trend toward digital mail systems in correctional facilities. Texas prisons switched to digital mail in 2023 to reduce contraband, and federal legislation is pending to require digital mail scanning in all federal prisons following a 600% increase in inmate overdoses.
ViaPath Technologies, MDC’s tablet vendor, serves over 1.6 million inmates across 2,300 facilities nationwide. While tablets are provided at no cost to inmates, communication services carry fees, including $0.35 for emails and $1.00 for video attachments.
The digital transition is part of what officials describe as “an enhanced security and safety initiative aimed at reducing physical items that can conceal contraband.”Additional information about the digital transition will be provided as the project moves forward.
More details are available at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center website at bernco.gov/metropolitan-detention-center.