In an effort to combat drugs and other contraband entering state prisons, the Minnesota Department of Corrections is launching a new mail management system through a private provider in Maryland.

The state’s new half-million dollar contract with TextBehind comes after a multi-day lockdown at the Stillwater prison in September, where nine corrections employees were treated for exposure to synthetic marijuana, according to the corrections department.

While agency officials are still investigating the incident, they believe it was email soaked in K2 and then smoked inside the prison.

Commissioner Paul Schnell told 5 INVESTIGATES his agency is seeing an increase in similar cases — with about two dozen workers being treated for drug exposure this year — and has called for emergency action.

Currently, corrections employees scan incoming mail and make copies for people incarcerated in some of the state’s facilities.

“This creates incredible efficiencies for us, and right now we’re spending considerable time and considerable money,” Schnell said. “In some cases, we’ve looked at toner costs on a single unit reaching almost $20,000 per month.

“So when we started to add, look at the business side of this, this vendor proposition, we actually think in the long run, it’s going to save money and it’s really going to make it safer because that table never comes into the unit. “, he added.

RELATED: Multiple investigations into illegal drug smuggling at Stillwater prison opened

The new system, which goes live Friday, asks family and friends to email the TextBehind facility, which is about 20 miles north of Baltimore. The company will process the mail and ship copies back to Minnesota correctional facilities.

TextBehind also has a free mobile app for loved ones to stay in touch with incarcerated people.

The change will also affect how incarcerated people communicate with lawyers and others who use legal mail. Now, lawyers and similar senders will have to be verified through the TextBehind system with DOC.

“This initiative goes beyond safety,” Schnell said in a statement. “It represents our commitment to modernizing corrections for the benefit of staff, incarcerated people and their families.”

RELATED: Minnesota DOC addresses safety issues at Stillwater jail

In 2022, the non-profit, nonpartisan Prison Policy Initiative estimated that at least 14 other states were scanning emails — including at least two more that use TextBehind. A year earlier, Wisconsin corrections officials announced a partnership with TextBehind after reporting a similar increase in drugs coming in the mail.

The Prison Policy Initiative warns of a “chilling effect” created by email scanning, as people do not want their communication scanned into a searchable database. Schnell also anticipated some pushback after hearing similar complaints about not owning the actual, physical email.

“The goal of safety has to overcome these concerns,” Schnell said. “And I think people understand that it’s a challenge, it’s difficult, but here we are.”