Policy Text
Correctional Services P age 1 of 3 8/07 (REV 7/13)
MJ/RCCC
OPERATIONS ORDER
Law Library
The purpose of this Order is to outline procedures for providin g access to legal
materials in the Law Libraries at the Main Jail and the Rio Cosumnes Correctional
Center (RCCC).
I. Policy
The Law Libraries in each facility are available to any prisone r requesting access to
legal materials, however Pro Per status prisoners shall have pr iority to the Law Library.
Custody staff will provide assistance to prisoners in accessing up to date legal research
material and/or accessing the courts. II. Law Libraries
A. The Main Jail and RCCC maintain a law library that operates during
normal business days and hours. After hour access is generall y not
allowed unless a court or der specifies otherwise.
B. The libraries contain legal mat erials, legal reference work, law books,
forms, and paper.
1. The Main Jail Law Library is staffed by a sworn and non-sworn
employee.
2. The RCCC Law Library is staffed by a sworn employee.
C. When replacement and/or new l aw books are needed, the law li brarian will
consult with the legal affairs division before submitting a wri tten request to
the division budget coordinator.
III. Access to Law Libra ries and Legal Material
A. Pro Per status prisoners will have priority access to the la w libraries, and
will generally be housed at the Main Jail . (Order 8/08, In Propria)
B. Prisoners wanting access to the law library to conduct legal research must
submit an “Inmate Message Req uest” form to the Law Librarian.
Correctional Services P age 2 of 3 8/07 (REV 7/13)
MJ/RCCC C. Prisoners may request legal materials, copies, writ forms, a nd legal books
from the Law Librarian by submi tting an Inmate Message Request. Each
request will be limited to no more than five books. Up to 25 c opies of legal
material may be allowed per pr isoner per week. This number may b e
limited due to staff availabilit y and budgetary restraints.
D. Prisoners will be supervised while using the law library and generally will
not be allowed to remove any ite ms from the law library without approval
from the law library staff due to the difficulty of keeping tra ck of the items.
1. If an item is removed, it will be appropriately checked out, with the
staff member recording the prisoners identifying information. It will
be the responsibility of the pris oner to return the item within the
prescribed deadline.
E. Prisoners, other than Pro Per status prisoners, may normally utilize the
law library for one (1) hour per week per prisoner. Prisoners requiring
more time may request additional time, subject to availability.
F. Civil detainees, including Se xually Violent Predator Act (SV PA) detainees,
will be allowed to utilize the La w Library more frequently than general
population inmates. This access will be subject to availability , amount of
requests and staffing concerns. Pr o Per status inmates will hav e priority
over all other inmates and classifications.
1. All access by civil detainees shall be documented in the uni t log
book.
G. At the Main Jail no more than six (6) prisoners will be allowed to browse
the law library at one time, unle ss classification is an issue.
H. At RCCC , the number of prisoners allowe d in the law library at any one
time will be subject to staff a vailability and prisoner classif ication.
I. Legal materials that are damaged or lost by a prisoner may r esult in a
disciplinary report and/or crimi nal charges and restriction fro m further
access to the law library. The prisoner may be required to pay f o r t h e
damages.
J. Prisoners having complaints regarding the law library, acces s t o th e l aw
library, or legal materials may submit a grievance through the normal
grievance process.
IV. Notary Services
A. The law librarian at either facility will arrange for notary services if the
facility is unable to provide this service.
Correctional Services P age 3 of 3 8/07 (REV 7/13)
MJ/RCCC 1. The Main Jail charges $10.00 per notarized signature in
compliance with Government Code 8211 if the service is performe d
by custody staff.
2. Notary publics may charge an ad ditional fee for travel dista nce and
time.
3. Prisoners not having money on his/her account, including Pro Per
status prisoners, shall have the service performed and the prisoners account shall be debited.
Appendices: None
Related Orders: Operations Orders: 7/02, Grievances; 8/08, In Propria Persona
(Pro Per)
References: Government Code 8211 – Fees for Notary