Code of Massachusetts Regulations
103 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION
Title 103 CMR 481.00 - Inmate Mail
Section 481.05 - Definitions

Attorney Verification System (AVS). System consisting of numerical codes and/or individualized stickers, which is utilized to verify legitimate privileged mail.

Commissioner. The chief executive officer of the Department of Correction.

Court Official. A judge, court or an employee of a court of the United States or of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, or an attorney employed by a state or federal governmental agency.

Deputy Superintendent. A deputy administrative officer of a state correctional institution.

Excess Pages. Excess pages include any portion extracted, photocopied, or clipped from a nonprivileged publication, provided, however, that an inmate may receive a maximum of five pages per day, except Sundays and postal holidays, of a portion extracted, photocopied, or clipped from such items as an attachment to non-privileged personal mail. Nothing in Excess Pages shall be construed to limit the number of pages attached to, or enclosed with, privileged mail.

Indigent Inmate. Upon request for waiver of fees or cost, an inmate may be declared indigent if:

(a) At the time of the request, the inmate has, in all accounts to which the inmate has access, a total amount less than or equal to $10.00 plus the cost or fees sought to be waived; and

(b) At no time for the 60 days immediately preceding said request, have the inmate's accounts contained more than $10.00 plus the cost or fees sought to be waived. (e.g. request to waiver $5.00 on July 1, 2015; indigent if, at no time since May 1, 2015, total in accounts has been more than $15.00).

In addition to 103 CMR 481.05: Indigent Inmate (a) or (b), the Superintendent may in the Superintendent's discretion, designate an inmate as indigent if the inmate has less than $2.00 in their account at the time of the request, or in other circumstances as the Superintendent deems appropriate.

Inmate. For the purposes of 103 CMR 481.00 only, an individual, whether in pretrial, unsentenced, or sentenced status, who is confined in a correctional institution, including those individuals admitted for evaluation or commitment to the Bridgewater State Hospital, and at the Massachusetts Treatment Center.

Mail. The term "mail" in this policy refers to correspondence, packages, or other physical mailings sent via the United States Postal System, or other authorized carrier.

Mail Officer. The employee at a correctional institution whose duties include the processing of mail.

Nudity. A pictorial depiction where genitalia, buttocks or breasts of individuals identifying as female are exposed. Publications containing nudity illustrative of medical, educational, or anthropological content may be excluded from this definition.

Privileged Mail Logbook. A logbook utilized to document the inmate's receipt of privileged mail.

Publication. Any non-privileged book, booklet, pamphlet, magazine, periodical, newsletter, newspaper, or self-published document, published by any individual, organization, company, or corporation, or governmental entity, which is generally available to the public through any means or media in printed or electronic form.

Sexually Explicit. A pictorial depiction of actual or simulated sexual acts, including sexual intercourse, anal or oral sex, or masturbation or material which promotes itself based upon such depictions on a routine or regular basis or in individual one-time issues.

Superintendent. The chief administrative officer of a state correctional institution.