Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night may stop nor hamper the delivery of mail, but come March 1, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department is going to change what type of mail can be delivered to or sent out by inmates.

In an effort to save time and to cut down on contraband, only standard-sized postcards will be allowed unless it is legal or "privileged" mail, said Tom Erickson, sheriff’s department spokesman.

"There have been some counties in Texas and Arizona that have gone to this type of system and they have seen less contraband coming in and out of the facilities and it is taking less time to sort the mail," he said. "By going to postcards versus envelopes with paper in them, and whatever else, it will dramatically cut down the time it takes to inspect and sort the mail and cut down the contraband in them.

"I’m sure there are ways to get types of contraband in postcards, but there’s just not the room with those compared to envelopes."

Postcards must be standard. That means no cardstock, index cards, blank cards, or photographs, and they must be no larger than 5 by 7 inches. All postcards will have their stamps removed and discarded prior to delivery to the inmate and they must have a readable return address.

Legal mail between inmates and attorneys will not be affected by the change.

"The one thing that we are saving is time," Erickson said. "When mail comes into the facility it is X-rayed to make sure there are no bombs, knives or guns, and once that is done, it goes to a civilian employee who goes through every piece of mail to make sure there is no contraband and then sorts the mail.

"It’s very time-consuming. We check everything. She goes through the mail every day; that’s inspecting the mail coming in and going out of the facility. If we take something out of the envelope, it has to be documented.