Policy Text
CORRECTIONAL SERVICES Page 1 of 4 6/16 (REV 12/12)
MJ/RCCC
OPERATIONS ORDER
Publications
The purpose of this Order is to standardize the policy regardin g published materials
prisoners are allowed to possess at the Main Jail and at the Rio Cosumnes
Correctional Center (RCCC).
I. Policy
Prisoners will be allowed to hav e published materials such as n ewspapers, magazines,
periodicals, and soft cover books. These publications will be p rovided by recreation staff
or mailed directly to a prisoner from a publisher or book club.
II. Mailed and Donated Publications
A. Prepaid newspapers, paperback books, and periodical subscrip tions
mailed directly from the publishe r or book club (including Amaz on.com,
Barnes and Noble.com, etc.) to the facility through the United States
Postal Service or other parcel de livery service (UPS, FedEx, et c.) are
authorized as prisoner mail.
1. Published materials sent from individuals and from book stor es will
not be accepted. All publishers must be verifiable.
2. Hardbound books and publications with hardbound materials wi ll
not be accepted.
B. Donated publications will be left at the Public Counter at t he Main Jail , or
at the Gatehouse at RCCC . Recreation staff and/or custody staff will
inspect the publications per s ection III of this order, and the publications
will be placed into use for t he general prisoner population.
III. Inspection of Publications
A. Publications delivered to the facility as donations or to th e housing unit as
prisoner mail will be inspected before delivery and/or use.
1. Recreation staff will inspect donated publications for contr aband
and for unauthorized content as described below.
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MJ/RCCC 2. Housing unit custody staff at RCCC and mailroom staff at the Main
Jail are responsible for inspect ing the mailed publications for
contraband and for unauthorized content as described below.
3. Any contraband or unauthorized published materials will be
confiscated and may either be retained as evidence, placed on t he
inmate’s property, or returned to the sender. A report may be generated, if appropriate, and the material may be processed as
evidence.
B. Staff members shall not refuse to deliver publications, corr espondence, or
documents sent by any publisher or book club based on the groun d that
the publications, correspondence or documents contain staples o r mailing
labels. Items such as staples or metal binding objects and lab els with
gummed seals shall be rem oved prior to delivery.
C. Inserts to include compact discs, perfume samples, makeup sa mples, or
other samples shall be remov ed prior to delivery.
D. Published material is unauthoriz ed if it has content includi ng, but not
limited to, the following:
1. Pornographic or sexua lly obscene material.
2. Material depicting bestialit y, pedophilia, or sexually viole nt material.
3. Material of a character to inc ite murder, arson, riot, racis m, or any
form of violence.
4. Material concerning unlawful g ambling or unlawful lotteries.
5. Material glorifyi ng drugs or crime.
6. Material depicting the manufacturing of weapons.
7. Maps, travel brochures, wa ll calendars or wall posters.
E. Published material which is fo und to have contraband or unau thorized
material will be confiscated, and a sworn supervisor will be no tified to
confirm the inappropriate material or content.
1. If published material is rejected for any of the described r easons,
custody staff shall notify the prisoner addressee in writing by
completing a “Mail Rejection Notification” form naming the publication confiscated and the reason for the unacceptability of the
material. Custody staff shall have the prisoner sign the “Mail Rejection Notification” form. The prisoner will retain the ori ginal
form, and a copy will be forwarded to division administration t o be
entered into the CommandPoint RMS database. The copy will then
be placed in the prisoner’s custody file.
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MJ/RCCC 2. If published material sent from a publisher or book club is rejected
for any of the described reasons, a sworn supervisor shall writ e a
letter on department letterhead explaining the refusal to deliv er the
mail, the reasons for rejecting the mail, and the appeal proces s.
The supervisor should include a statement in the letter directi ng the
publisher to the sacsheriff.com website for additional informat ion
regarding inmate mail and correspondence.
a. The publisher or book club s h a l l b e a d v i s e d t h a t t h e m a i l
rejection shall become final fifteen (15) days after the date o f
the notice, unless a review by the Jail Commander is requested. The written request for review must be postmarked within fifteen (15) days of the notice and mailed
to the Main Jail or RCCC administration. The Jail Commander or designee shall pr ovide the publisher or book
club with a written decision withi n ten (10) days of the receip t
of the request for review. The reviewer shall not be involved in the original decision to reject the mail.
3.