Policy Text
Correctional Services Page 1 of 8 6/15 (REV 12/17)
MJ/RCCC
OPERATIONS ORDER
Inmate Correspondence
The purpose of this Order is to standardize procedures for hand ling incoming and
outgoing inmate correspondence (mail) at the Main Jail and the Rio Cosumnes
Correctional Center (RCCC) in accordance with the requirem ents set forth in Title 15,
Article 6, Section 1063 and Arti cle 7, Section 1083 of the Cali fornia Code of
Regulations.
I. Policy
The Main Jail and RCCC shall not impose any limitations on the volume of lawful mail,
which an inmate may send or recei ve, except where there is clea r and convincing
evidence to justify limitations for reasons of public safety or facility security. All
incoming and outgoing correspondenc e shall be inspected and mai l, other than legal
correspondence, may be read.
II. General Procedures
A. The Inmate Orientation Handbook informs inmates that he/she has no
expectation of privacy for ot her than confident ial corresponden ce.
Additionally, the handbook may conta in any or all of the conten ts of
section “B” below.
B. All personal correspondence shal l be inspected and it is the practice of the
Sacramento County Correctional staff to read and scan inmate ma il before
delivery to maintain security. The purpose for this review is to seek out
and prevent delivery of the following:
1. Contraband which poses a thr eat to the security and safety o f
custody staff and the facility. For purposes of this order, contraband is minimally defined as:
a. Paperclips/staples, stationary, metal/plastic objects, drugs ,
weapons, labels/stickers/stamp s, tape, lottery tickets,
perfume/powder/glitter/lipstick, watermarks or stains, paint/crayons/markers, def aced or altered postcards,
homemade postcards, Polaro id type photographs with a
cardboard backing, photographs larger than commercially
developed standard size (4” X 6”), material related to gangs
or hate crime, logos , tattoo patterns, m oney, personal/payroll
checks, pornographic materials, and third party mail (letters
forwarded from one inmate to an other by an outside person.)
Correctional Services Page 2 of 8 6/15 (REV 12/17)
MJ/RCCC 2. Communications which involve escape plans or other matters
which threaten the security or safety of any criminal justice f acility.
3. Communications which involve threatened physical or
psychological reprisals against witnesses, crime victims, or ot her
persons within or outsi de of the facilities.
4. Any solicitation of unlawful activity, includi ng, but not li mited to, the
introduction of contraband into the jail or other criminal just ice
facility.
5. Pornographic materials (as def ined by Penal Code, State or
Federal decision law.)
6. Any sealed documents such as, one sealed envelope within
another and intended for re-m ailing by the recipient.
C. Packages and/or boxes of any kind containing any goods other than
published materials shall not be ac cepted for inmates (e.g., TV , radio,
hygiene items, etc.) This includes property sent from other in stitutions.
D. Any correspondence meeting t he above descriptions or any mat erial that
appears to be obscene or tends to incite murder, arson, riot, v iolent
racism, or any other form of vi olence, crimes against children, unlawful
lottery or gambling, the manufac ture or use of weapons, narcoti cs, or
explosives or otherwise comprom ises the security of the facilit y is subject
to rejection and may either be re tained as evidence, placed in the inmate’s
property or marked “Return to Se nder”. Any such rejection deci sion may
be appealed through the normal grievance process.
1. Any staff member who feels an item of correspondence should be
rejected should complete a log book entry and not ify a supervis or.
If an item of corres pondence is rejected or removed for any of the
described reasons, custody staf f shall notify t he inmate addres see
in writing by completing a “Ma il Rejection Notification” form.
Housing unit staff shall have the inmate sign the “Mail Rejecti on
Notification” form. The inmate will retain the original form, and a
copy will be forwarded to divis ion Administration to be entered into
the CommandPoint RMS database. The copy will then be placed in
the inmate’s custody file.
2. If the item of correspondenc e being rejected was sent from a
publisher or book club as def ined in Operations Order 6/16
(Publications), a sworn superviso r shall write a letter on depa rtment
letterhead explaining the refusa l to deliver the mail, the reas ons for
rejecting the mail, and the appeal process as detailed in Opera tions
Order 6/16, Publications.
a. Staff members shall not refus e to deliver correspondence or
documents sent by any publish er or book club based on the
Correctional Services Page 3 of 8 6/15 (REV 12/17)
MJ/RCCC ground that the correspondence or documents contain
staples or mailing labels. Items such as staples or metal binding objects and labels wi th gummed