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DOC describes tablet messaging rules; company filters flagged then mailroom staff review
Summary
Department officials said incoming messages are screened by vendor word lists, flagged at three levels, then reviewed by facility mailroom staff; the department can adjust the flagged-word list and can block victims' phone numbers on facility phones.
The Department of Corrections told lawmakers its tablet messaging and video-visit system applies automated keyword screening followed by manual review at the facility mailroom.
Katie Donath, the department’s in-house tablet specialist, described a three-tier screening system: "there's, like, a red level. And anytime a message comes in containing any words in the red level, those are automatically held to be screened and reviewed. There's another set of words that are yellow, we call them yellow, that are flagged, and then we have a green that they can go." Donath said the mailroom staff at each facility manually reads flagged messages to determine whether they should be forwarded.
Committee members asked how many messages are screened and how many staff perform the reviews. Donath said she would provide counts of messages per facility and staffing levels; she described staffing models that varied by facility — for example, one mailroom staff at the Montana Women's Prison with a backup, "more" staff at the Montana State Prison and a dedicated staffer at Pine Hills with additional backups.
Members asked whether the tablet vendor configures automatic approvals. Donath said some messages pass automatic checks and are delivered without manual review; when legislators asked who controls those defaults she said the company operates the auto-approval defaults but the department controls the word list and can ask the company to adjust it.
The committee also discussed victim protections. Department staff said incarcerated people may send invitations for video visits or messages but the recipient must consent. Separately, the department said it can block any victim’s phone number on the facility telephone system on request.
Why it matters: The process balances automated filtering to handle message volume and manual review to evaluate context. Lawmakers asked for message volumes, numbers reviewed per facility and staffing levels to assess whether mailrooms can keep up with automated flagging.
The department agreed to provide counts of messages sent and reviewed by facility, staffing numbers for mailroom reviewers, and a breakdown of how many messages are auto-approved by the vendor versus manually reviewed.
