Current through all regulations passed and filed through March 18, 2024
(A) Mail in the form of first class letters
or electronic mail addressed to an inmate shall not be withheld except as
provided in this rule. There shall be no limitation on the number of first
class letters that an inmate may receive nor the number of persons with whom an
inmate may correspond.
(B)
Inspection of incoming mail:
(1) All mail,
including electronic mail, other than legal mail, shall be opened and may be
read or copied in the institution mail office and inspected for the presence of
contraband, unauthorized forms of funds, and other threats to the security and
safety of the institution. The written portion of the mail shall then be
promptly delivered to the inmate, unless withheld in accordance with paragraph
(G) of this rule.
(2) "Legal mail"
is mail addressed to an inmate clearly bearing the return address of an
attorney-at-law, a public service law office, a law school legal clinic, court
of law, or the correctional institution inspection committee
that is marked with a valid control number provided by
the department. It may be opened and inspected for contraband only in the
presence of the inmate-addressee. "Legal mail" does not include postcards from
a court of law that indicates fees and/or fines owed by the inmate-addressee.
If mail is received from any of the groups listed
without a valid control number, then it may be treated as a regular, non-legal
mail, as set forth in paragraph (B)(1) of this rule.
(3) Electronic mail is offered to inmates as
an additional means of communication. Electronic mail received is not suitable
for confidential legal communications or legal mail. Inmates shall be
instructed not to use electronic mail for confidential legal communications.
"Legal mail" shall be restricted to the traditional mail format. Electronic
mail cannot be accepted while an inmate is in special management
housing.
(C) The
managing officer or his designee shall determine the disposition of contraband
pursuant to rule
5120-9-55 of the
Administrative Code. The contraband may be returned to the sender, confiscated
as evidence, held for the benefit of the inmate-addressee, or otherwise
disposed of in a manner consistent with the law.
(D) All funds mailed to inmates shall be
processed in accordance with rule
5120-5-02 of the
Administrative Code.
(E) A letter
or electronic message that is incorrectly addressed may be returned to the
sender after a reasonable effort to ascertain the identity of the addressee has
failed.
(F) Telegrams and
electronic mail may be reviewed prior to delivery.
(G) Mail, including electronic mail, that
presents a threat to the security and safety of the institution, its staff or
inmates, may be withheld from the inmate-addressee. No material or
correspondence will be considered to present such a threat solely on the basis
of its appeal to a particular ethnic, political, racial or religious group. To
constitute such a threat, the correspondence must meet at least one of the
following criteria:
(1) The correspondence
incites, aids, or abets criminal activity or violations of departmental rules,
such as, but not limited to, rioting, extortion, illegal drug use or conveyance
of contraband.
(2) The
correspondence incites, aids, or abets physical violence against others, such
as, but not limited to, instructions in making, using, or converting
weapons.
(3) The correspondence
incites, aids, or abets escapes, such as, but not limited to, instructions on
picking locks or digging tunnels.
(4) The correspondence is in code or
cipher.
(H) Procedures
for withholding correspondence are as follows:
(1) The initial decision to withhold the
correspondence will be made by the officer charged with inspecting it, with the
concurrence of the mail room supervisor.
(2) The inmate-addressee and the author of
the correspondence will be notified, in writing, that the correspondence was
withheld. The notification will:
(a) Identify
the inmate-addressee by name and number.
(b) Identify the author by name and
address.
(c) Include a description
of the correspondence by date or otherwise.
(d) Include a brief statement of the reason
the correspondence is being withheld.
(e) Inform the author of the procedure for
appeal, including the time for appeal.
(f) Identify the person to whom the decision
to withhold the correspondence is to be appealed.
(3) The notification will be sent to the
author and the inmate-addressee within seven calendar days of the decision to
withhold, unless the managing officer determines that the notification will
interfere with the conduct of a pending investigation.
(4) Decisions to withhold mail, including
electronic mail, may be appealed in writing by the author to the managing
officer or his designee within fifteen calendar days of the date of the mailing
of the notification. The appeal should explain why the correspondence does not
present a threat to the security and safety of the institution, its staff or
inmates.
(5) The written appeal and
the correspondence will be considered by the managing officer or designee who
shall determine whether the correspondence will be withheld or delivered to the
inmate.
(6) Any correspondence
withheld from an inmate-addressee will be retained during the pendency of the
appeal or for the time in which an appeal may be filed.
(7) If it is determined on appeal that the
correspondence does not present a threat to the safety and security of the
institution, its staff or inmates, the correspondence will be immediately
delivered to the inmate-addressee.
(8) If it is determined on appeal that the
correspondence presents a threat to the safety and security of the institution,
its staff or inmates, or, if no appeal is taken, the mail may be returned to
the author, held as evidence for criminal prosecution or a disciplinary
proceeding, or destroyed.
(I) Mail, including printed electronic mail,
in the possession of an inmate may, when approved by the managing officer or
his designee, be seized, read, and copied where a reasonable belief exists that
it may contain evidence of a violation of federal or state law or departmental
rules. If a staff member reasonably believes there is a present risk of
destruction of such mail, it may be seized and forwarded to the managing
officer or his designee for review.
(J) Advertising mail, commonly known as "junk
mail" and advertising in the form of electronic mail, commonly known as "spam,"
which include, but are not necessarily limited to promotional offers, drawings,
sweepstakes, lotteries and other promotional campaigns, which proposes a
commercial transaction and which taken as a whole, is not a personal
communication uniquely composed for a specific individual, may be withheld from
the addressee. Junk mail may be returned to the sender if return postage is
guaranteed, or it may be destroyed at the institution if not. No notice or
other process need be provided to the addressee or the addresser in such
circumstances, any other provision in this or any other rule of the
Administrative Code notwithstanding. The only exception to this paragraph shall
be for catalogues for mail-order purchases, as approved by the office of
prisons, provided that the contents of the catalogue are subject to the
screening criteria for printed materials in rule
5120-9-19 of
the Administrative Code.