Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
(a) No limit
shall be established regarding the number of persons who may correspond with a ward
by mail.
(b) Wards and their
correspondents are personally responsible for the content of each item of mail that
each sends into or out of a Youth Authority facility. Any violation of laws
governing mail may be referred to postal authorities and to appropriate criminal
authorities for prosecution. Violations of law or the regulations set forth in this
section may result in the temporary suspension or denial of correspondence between
the persons involved.
(c) Wards in
separate Youth Authority facilities or wards and inmates in other correctional
facilities may correspond with each other with prior approval, which will not be
unreasonably or arbitrarily denied, of the superintendent, warden or person in
charge of each correctional facility. The approval to correspond shall remain in
effect even though one or both of the wards or inmates is transferred to another
facility. The approval to correspond may be forfeited due to disciplinary violations
involving the correspondence or the security needs of the facility. Any such
revocation or restriction shall be communicated to both the wards or inmates and
administrators of the assigned facilities.
(d) Any exchange of written or printed material
between wards of separate or segregated sections of the same Youth Authority
facility shall require prior approval of the superintendent, which will not be
unreasonably or arbitrarily denied.
(e)
There are three types of ward mail: nonreviewable; reviewable; and packages.
(1) Nonreviewable mail shall not be opened or read
by institutional staff but may be inspected by other means to determine the presence
of physical contraband in the envolope. Nonreviewable mail is correspondence sent to
or received from:
(A) A federal, state or local
court.
(B) An elected federal, state, or
local public official.
(C) An attorney
at law listed on active status and in good standing with a state bar
association.
(D) The Director of the
Youth Authority.
(E) A member of the
Youthful Offender Parole Board.
(F) A
deputy director.
(G) A
superintendent.
(H) A regional
administrator of parole.
(2)
Nonreviewable mail may be opened and inspected for cause only and only by the ward
addressee in the presence of a supervisory staff member.
(A) Cause includes the reasonable belief that the
letter is not addressed to or is not from an official or office listed in subsection
(1) or when other means of inspection indicates the presence of physical contraband
in the envelope.
(B) Upon determining
that the envelope contains physical contraband or that there is a misrepresentation
of the sender's or addressee's identity, the letter and any enclosures may be
examined and read in its entirety to determine an appropriate course of action. If
there is an indication of a violation of law or an intent to violate the law, the
matter may be referred to the appropriate criminal authorities for possible
prosecution.
(3) All other
mail not defined as nonreviewable in subsection (1) is reviewable mail. Reviewable
mail may be opened, inspected, and read in entirety or in part by designated
employees of the facility before it is mailed for or delivered to a ward.
(4) Wards shall be allowed to send packages out of
the facility to their correspondents. All outgoing packages, with the excpetion of
packages addressed to an official or office listed in subsection (1), shall be
inspected by appropriate employees before the package is sealed and mailed. Wards
shall not be allowed to receive packages, with the exception of packages sent by an
official or office listed in subsection (1). All other incoming packages shall be
returned to the sender.
(5) Any item of
mail or package, which meets one or more of the following conditions, may be
withheld. The superintendent shall notify both the sender and the intended receiver
within 48 hours that an item of mail or package has been withheld; the reasons for
the action; and subsequent determinations or actions regarding the item of mail or
package.
(A) It contains contraband as defined by
Section 30945.
(B) It advocates the direct furtherance of a
specific criminal act.
(C) It advocates
or encourages racial or ethnic hatred and violence.
(D) It advocates or encourages specific acts of
violence or physical harm to a person.
(E) It promotes furtherance of institution gang
activities that may fall under any of the above categories.
(6) Mail in a language other than English may be
subject to a delay for translation of its contents by staff. When such delay exceeds
the normal mail processing by five business days the ward shall be notified in
writing of the delay; the reason for the delay; and subsequent determinations or
actions regarding the item of mail.
(f) Wards shall be informed of the correspondence
policy during their orientation to a Youth Authority facility.
1. Change without
regulatory effect adopting article 4 (sections
30421-30422) and renumbering title 15,
section 4695 to title 9, section
30421, including amendment of subsection
(e)(5)(A), filed 2-13-2020 pursuant to section
100, title 1, California Code of
Regulations (Register 2020, No. 7).
Note: Authority cited: Section
1712,
Welfare and Institutions Code. Reference: Sections
1001,
1002,
1004
and
1752,
Welfare and Institutions Code; and Procunier v. Martinez,
416 U.S.
396.
