HOUSTON – A recent investigation by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office highlights an ongoing effort to cut down on contraband smuggled into jails and prisons via paper correspondence. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the county is in the final stages of setting up a digital mail system in the jail.
Houston attorney Ronald Lewis, 77, was recently charged with bringing paper soaked in synthetic marijuana and ecstasy into the jail. He is charged with two felonies of bringing a prohibited substance into a correctional facility. Lewis’ attorney has not yet returned a call to KPRC 2 for comment.
Gonzalez said the case is part of the ongoing struggle to keep drugs out of the jail. The sheriff couldn’t give a specific date but said a digital mail system will soon be in place.
“Our team is finalizing those final steps with our vendor, we hope to get that in place soon and that will help alleviate a lot of it,” Gonzalez said during a news conference Monday.
According to the Sheriff’s Chief of Staff Jason Spencer, County Commissioners approved the contract for this system in May. Securus, which already runs the jail’s phones, will provide inmates with secure tablets to view mail scanned into the system.
Spencer said the tablets, for a fee and under certain restrictions, will also give inmates access to video and text chats with loved ones, and access to a legal and entertainment library. Securus has implemented a similar system at the Fort Bend County jail.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice also moved to a digital mail system at all prison units as of Sept. 6.
In the interim, Gonzalez said three drug-sniffing dogs have been brought into the jail and staff are photocopying incoming mail and certain legal correspondence and giving inmates the copies rather than the original paper.
Harris County data shows there are currently 9,269 inmates in the jail with an average 194-day length of stay.