Wisconsin Administrative Code
Department of Corrections
Chapter DOC 309 - Resources For Inmates
Section DOC 309.155 - Legal services

(1) POLICY. It is the policy of the department to permit inmates reasonable access to the judicial process and to legal materials, and to afford a reasonable opportunity to prepare legal documents. Such access serves important rehabilitative goals and ensures effective procedures for raising and resolving complaints about institution practices and policies.

(2) ACCESS TO COURTS. Inmates shall have access to courts and administrative agencies. Inmates' decisions to seek judicial or administrative relief shall not adversely affect their program, security classification or assignment to an institution.

(3) ACCESS TO LEGAL MATERIALS. Each institution, except correctional centers and the Wisconsin resource center, shall maintain a law library and make legal materials available to inmates at reasonable times and for reasonable periods. Special provisions shall be made to provide access to legal materials for inmates with a special legal need and for inmates with a special need, such as illiteracy. The department may employ the use of current technology in providing access to legal materials.

(4) ACCESS TO LEGAL ASSISTANCE. The department shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that adequate legal services are available to indigent inmates. These legal services need not be provided directly by the department, but may be provided by outside agencies. The legal services by these agencies may include services provided by lawyers, law students and aides supervised by lawyers and paraprofessionals.

(5) INMATE TO INMATE LEGAL SERVICES. Inmates may provide legal services to other inmates except that institutions may regulate the time and place of such legal services. Compensation of any kind for the provisions of such inmate to inmate legal services is prohibited. The department is not responsible for legal materials not provided by the department that are given to other inmates.