HUMBOLDT COUNTY, Calif. — A major change is coming to how people send personal mail to inmates at the Humboldt County Correctional Facility, as jail officials move to a digital system they say is aimed at keeping drugs and other contraband out of the jail.

Capt. Duane Christian said the facility is changing its mail process “to ensure that no contraband enters the facility,” adding it is intended “to protect the welfare of those incarcerated.”

Christian said the jail has had “other instances where drugs have gotten into the facility, suspected to be through the mail system,” and noted the risks have increased “especially with the introduction of fentanyl,” which he said, “can be fatal.”

Under the new system, people sending personal mail will no longer mail it directly to the jail. Instead, it will go to a mail processing company, where it will be digitized and made available to inmates on tablets.

“They process the mail, they digitize it, and then that same mail, including pictures, drawings, anything of that sort, will be available on the tablets that are provided to the inmates,” Christian said. He said inmates will receive “a digital copy of exactly what the family member or friend had had mailed.”