Kan. Admin. Regs. § 123-12-601

Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 49, December 5, 2024

Section 123-12-601 - Mail

(a) Definitions.

(1)

(A) "Legal mail" means mail affecting the offender's right of access to the courts or legal counsel. This term shall include letters between the offender and any lawyer, a judge, a clerk of a court, or any intern or employee of a law firm, legal clinic, or other legal services organization providing legal services to offenders.

(B) "Official mail" means any mail between an offender and an official of the state or federal government who has the authority to control, or to obtain or conduct an investigation of, the custody or conditions of confinement of the offender.

(C) "Privileged mail" means any mail between the offender and the offender's physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, or other licensed mental health therapist.

(2)

(A) "Censor" means to remove or change any part or all of the correspondence or literature.

(B) "Inspect" means to open, shake out, look through, feel, or otherwise check for contraband without reading or censoring. This term shall include any cursory reading necessary to verify that mail is legal or official in nature as permitted by paragraph (f)(3).

(C) "Read" means to read the contents of correspondence or literature to ascertain the content.

(b) General provisions.

(1) Each offender shall comply with the mail procedures and restrictions established by the applicable facility order. Failure to comply with mail procedures or restrictions, or circumventing or attempting to circumvent mail procedures or restrictions by any means, shall be prohibited. The delivery of mail through an employee, volunteer, teacher, or any other person who is not authorized to perform functions related to the established mail-handling system shall be prohibited.

(2) Items identified as contraband shall be dealt with as provided in subsection (d) and then either returned to the sender, at the offender's expense, or destroyed, at the offender's option. All items that are illegal under Kansas or federal law shall be seized and held as evidence for other law enforcement officers.

(3) All incoming mail shall identify the offender recipient by name and offender identification number.

(4) Each violation of mail regulations of the juvenile justice authority, facility orders, or the laws of Kansas or the United States may result in additional mail restrictions upon the offender that are sufficient to prevent the continuation or reoccurrence of the violation.

(5) All funds sent to offenders shall be in the form of a money order, a cashier's check, or a certified check.

(6) Any incoming or outgoing mail other than legal, official, or privileged mail may be inspected or read at any time.

(7) Incoming mail addressed solely to a specified offender and not otherwise subject to censorship shall be delivered regardless of whether the mail is sent free of charge or at a reduced rate. All incoming mail shall nonetheless bear the sender's name and address on the envelope, or this mail shall not be delivered and shall be subject to censorship in accordance with subsection (d).

(8) Any outgoing first-class letters may be sent to as many people and to whomever the offender chooses, subject to the restrictions in this regulation.

(9) Outgoing offender mail shall bear the full official name, offender number, and address of the sender, and the name and address of the intended recipient. No other words, drawings, or messages shall be placed on the outside of the envelope or package by an offender except words describing the mail as being legal, official, or privileged, or words intended to aid postal officials in delivery of the item. Outgoing offender mail shall be stamped by the institution to indicate that it was mailed from a juvenile correctional facility and that it has not been censored.

(10) No offender shall correspond with any person who has filed a written objection to the correspondence with the superintendent of the facility.

(A) The offender shall be notified of the objection in writing when it is received, but shall not be required to be informed of the exact contents of the objection.

(B) In the instance of unwanted correspondence to a minor, the objection shall be filed by the parent or guardian of the minor.

(C) Orders shall be developed by the superintendent of each facility to prevent further correspondence from being sent to those who have filed an objection.

(D) This regulation shall not prevent an offender from writing to the offender's natural or adoptive child, unless the child was the victim of the crime for which the offender is incarcerated, the person having legal custody of the child files a written objection with the superintendent, and the offender has not obtained a court order permitting this written communication with the child.

(c) Legal, official, and privileged mail.

(1) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (f)(3), outgoing privileged, official, or legal mail sent by any offender shall be opened and read only upon authorization of the superintendent for good cause shown. However, if any offender threatens or terrorizes any person through this mail, any subsequent mail, including official or legal mail, from the offender to the person threatened or terrorized may, at the request of that person, be read and censored for a time period and to the extent necessary to remedy the abuse.

(2) Incoming mail clearly identified as legal, official, or privileged mail shall be opened only in the offender's presence. This mail shall be inspected for contraband but shall not be read or censored, unless authorized by the superintendent based upon a documented previous abuse of the right or other good cause.

(d) Censorship grounds and procedures.

(1) Incoming or outgoing mail, other than legal, official, or privileged mail, may be censored only when there is reasonable belief in any of the following:

(A) There is a threat to institutional safety, order, or security.

(B) There is a threat to the safety and security of public officials or the general public.

(C) The mail is being used in furtherance of illegal activities.

(D) The mail is correspondence between offenders, including any former offender regardless of current custodial status, that has not been authorized according to subsection (e). Correspondence between offenders may be inspected or read at any time.

(E) The mail contains sexually explicit material, as defined and proscribed in K.A.R. 123-12-313.

(2) If any communication to or from an offender is censored, all of the following requirements shall be met:

(A) Each offender shall be given a written notice of the censorship and the reason for the censorship, without disclosing the censored material.

(B) Each offender shall be given the name and address of the sender of incoming mail, if known, or the addressee of outgoing mail and the date the item was received in the mail room. It shall be the responsibility of the offender to contact the sender of censored incoming mail or the addressee of censored outgoing mail, if the offender so desires.

(C) The author or addressee of the censored correspondence shall be given a reasonable opportunity to protest the decision.

(D) All protests shall be referred to a correctional facility official other than the person who originally disapproved the correspondence.

(e) Offender correspondence with other offenders. Offenders sentenced to commitment in a juvenile correctional facility shall not correspond with any person who is in the custody of or under the supervision of any state, federal, county, community corrections, or municipal law enforcement agency, or with any offender formerly committed to a juvenile correctional facility regardless of current custodial status, unless either of these conditions is met:

(1) The proposed correspondents are members of the same immediate family or are parties in the same legal action, or one of the persons is a party and the other person is a witness in the same legal action.

(2) Permission for the correspondence is granted due to exceptional circumstances. Verification and approval of offender correspondence shall be conducted pursuant to the internal management policies and procedures.

(f) Writing supplies and postage.

(1) Stationery shall be available for purchase from the offender canteen.

(2) Indigent offenders, as defined by the internal management policies and procedures, shall receive reasonable amounts of free writing paper, envelopes, and postage for first-class domestic mail weighing one ounce or less, not to exceed four letters per month or any other limits established by the commissioner or superintendent.

(3) All postage for legal and official mail shall be paid by the offender, unless the offender is indigent, as defined by the internal management policies and procedures. The cost of postage for legal or official mail paid by the facility on behalf of an indigent offender shall be deducted from the offender's funds, if available. Credit for postage for legal and official mail shall be extended to indigent offenders under the terms and conditions of the internal management policies and procedures. Outgoing legal or official mail sent with postage provided on credit shall be subject to inspection and cursory reading in the presence of the offender for the purpose of ascertaining that the mail is indeed legal or official mail, and the offender shall then be permitted to seal the envelope containing the mail.

(4) The facility shall not pay postage for offender groups or organizations.

(g) Publications.

(1) Offenders may receive books, newspapers, and periodicals as approved by the internal management policies and procedures or facility orders, except for offenders while assigned to an intake, reception, and diagnostic unit for evaluation purposes. All books, newspapers, and periodicals shall be purchased through special purchase orders. Only books, newspapers, and periodicals received directly from a publisher or a vendor shall be accepted. However, each offender shall be permitted to receive printed material, including newspaper and magazine clippings, if the material is included as part of a first-class letter that does not exceed one ounce in total weight.

(2) The procedures for censorship of mail listed in subsection (d) of this regulation shall be used for censorship of publications.

(3) No publication that meets either of the following conditions shall be allowed into the facility:

(A) Contains sexually explicit material, as described in K.A.R. 123-12-313, or is otherwise illegal, in whole or in part; or

(B) Meets, in whole or in part, the test for censorship of mail in subsection (d) of this regulation.

(4) Each offender shall have the option of having censored publications in their entirety either mailed out of the facility at the offender's expense or discarded.

(5) Before transferring between institutions or before being released on conditional release, the offender shall arrange for a change of address for newspapers and periodicals. Newspapers and periodicals shall not be forwarded for more than 30 days after the date of the transfer or release.

(h) Penalty. Each violation of this regulation shall be a class II offense.

This regulation shall be effective on and after April 8, 2005.

Kan. Admin. Regs. § 123-12-601

Authorized by and implementing K.S.A. 2004 Supp. 75-7024 and K.S.A. 76-3203; effective April 8, 2005.