Chapter 03. Incarcerated Individual Mail

“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Correction.

“Contraband” has the meaning stated in Criminal Law Article, §9-410, Annotated Code of Maryland.

“Correctional facility” has the meaning stated in Correctional Services Article, §1-101, Annotated Code of Maryland.

“Director” means the Director of Patuxent Institution.

General Mail.

“Hostile work environment” means a workplace where discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, or insult are so severe or pervasive that the conditions of an individual’s employment are altered to the point of creating an abusive working environment.

Indigent Incarcerated Individual.

“Initial package” means a package of purchased retail items or goods delivered to an incarcerated individual within 90 days of an incarcerated individual’s admission to the correctional facility.

“Legal mail” means mail that is either addressed by an incarcerated individual to, or received on official stationery from, any of the following individuals or agencies:

“Mail” means general and legal mail.

“Managing official” has the meaning stated in Correctional Services Article, §1-101, Annotated Code of Maryland.

Package.

“Property officer” means a Department employee responsible for receiving and controlling an incarcerated individual’s belongings in accordance with established incarcerated individual personal property procedures.

“Retail” means the sale of an item or good to an individual in a small quantity that the individual uses for personal consumption and not for resale.

“Sexually explicit” means a pictorial, written, or verbal depiction of actual or simulated sexual behavior, including:

Upon delivery to the mailroom, incoming mail shall be date stamped with the date it was received at the correctional facility.

Legal mail may not be held for more than 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays, except when it contains contraband.

Legal mail shall be inspected and delivered as set forth in Regulation .08 of this chapter.

Incoming general mail that is conducive to photocopying may not be held for more than 72 hours, excluding weekends and holidays, except when it contains contraband.

To facilitate effective search procedures and to reduce the amount of controlled dangerous substances and other contraband containing injurious materials, general mail coming into a correctional facility that is not conducive to photocopying or scanning, such as a magazine or newspaper, may not be held for more than 80 hours, excluding weekends and holidays, except when it contains contraband.

Describes escape plans, devices, or paraphernalia;

Describes the construction or use of weapons, ammunition, bombs, incendiary devices, or other means of inflicting bodily harm;

Describes procedures for brewing alcoholic beverages or the manufacture of drugs;

Is written in code;

Is sexually explicit;

Depicts a nude person under the age of 18;

If not withheld, may create a hostile work environment for employees who are required to inspect, view, read, or overhear the reading of mail during the normal course of their duties;

Describes theory, design, or manufacture of prison security systems or equipment, including prison communication systems or equipment;

Instructs an incarcerated individual in the commission of violations of Department regulations that may produce a breach of security or order in the correctional facility;

Advocates or instructs in the formation of incarcerated individual unions;

May be contaminated with controlled dangerous substances, or substances such as paint, crayon, marker, ink, glitter, cloth, string, tape, glue, epoxy, metal, plastic, wood, stickers, scents, or stain that may obscure detection of CDS; or

Poses a direct and immediate danger of violence or physical harm to a person or persons, based upon the current circumstances within the correctional facility.

Mail to or from an Incarcerated Individual’s Attorney. The Department may establish a pilot program to verify that mail marked by the sender as legal mail sent by, or on behalf of, an attorney to an incarcerated individual meets the definition of legal mail as stated in Regulation .01 of this chapter.

General Mail.

Develop pilot projects in cooperation with representatives of recognized advocacy organizations dedicated to ensuring the wellbeing and fair treatment of incarcerated individuals; and

Provide adequate notice of a pilot program through the Maryland Register and the Department’s public website so that an interested individual has a reasonable opportunity to be informed.

Ensure that the reasons for the inspection and results of the inspection are documented; and

Withhold outgoing general mail only when it is:

Include an incarcerated individual’s name and identification number on the outside of the envelope; and

Ensure that the general mail envelope:

Correctional staff shall open incoming general mail before delivery to an incarcerated individual, and inspect it only for:

Correctional staff shall follow established procedures for handling money orders, cash, stamps, checks, and contraband received in the mail.

Inspected incoming general mail shall be delivered as set forth in Regulation .02F of this chapter.

Following inspection, incoming general mail at a pilot site shall be reproduced by photocopy or electronic scan, to include:

Disposition and destruction of original general mail after photocopying or electronic scanning shall be handled as set forth in Regulation .03A of this chapter.

The package does not contain contraband;

Ownership of the purchased or received property, good, or retail item is properly established and documented; and

The incoming property does not exceed the established limits of an incarcerated individual’s personal property allowance.

Refused and returned to sender; or

If reasonable cause exists to believe that the mail has been sent for a fraudulent or criminal purpose, forwarded to the Department’s Intelligence and Investigative Division.

It shall be delivered to the incarcerated individual to whom it is addressed by:

Mailroom staff shall log receipt and disposition of the legal mail in accordance with facility procedures for logging incarcerated individual legal mail which, at a minimum, records:

Mailroom staff shall make a photocopy of the envelope containing the legal mail; and

Mailroom and correctional staff delivering the legal mail to an incarcerated individual shall:

An increased and substantiated risk for the introduction of contraband to the correctional facility;

Placement of an undue burden upon mailroom staff to inspect and process an incarcerated individual’s mail within the allotted time frames; and

If delivered, the volume of received mail would cause an incarcerated individual to exceed the limits of an incarcerated individual’s personal property allowance.

Staff shall provide an incarcerated individual and, if applicable, the sender with two copies of a written notification that describes the limitations to be placed on the volume of an incarcerated individual’s general mail, and set forth the reasons for the limitations in detail.

The notification constitutes a written report signed by the managing official of the decision to limit the volume of an incarcerated individual’s general mail and shall include:

Staff shall provide the written notification to an incarcerated individual and the sender, if applicable, within 48 hours of the managing official placing the limitation on an incarcerated individual’s general mail volume.

Staff shall advise an incarcerated individual and, if applicable, the sender that a written appeal may be filed within 10 business days from the date an incarcerated individual is notified of the managing official’s decision to limit the incarcerated individual’s volume of mail.

The notification provides a section for the incarcerated individual or sender to appeal the decision.

If an incarcerated individual for whom a volume limit has been set is sent an amount of general mail that exceeds the permissible volume and the excess portion can be reasonably severed then staff shall give the incarcerated individual to whom the item is addressed the choice of:

An incarcerated individual may choose to dispose of the excess portion of general mail by:

If the sender has not previously been notified of the managing official’s decision to limit the volume of the incarcerated individual’s mail, the incarcerated individual or the sender, or both, may appeal to the managing official as set forth in §F of this regulation.

If an incarcerated individual or sender objects to the limitation, the incarcerated individual or sender, or both, may, not more than 10 business days after receipt of managing official’s written decision under §D(5) of this regulation, file an appeal with the managing official.

Pending the outcome of the appeal process through the incarcerated individual grievance process, correctional staff shall securely store the excess volume of mail.

The managing official shall respond to an incarcerated individual and sender’s appeal within 5 business days of receipt of the appeal.

If a managing official fails to respond to an appeal within 5 business days, the incarcerated individual or the sender, or both, may appeal to the Commissioner or Director, as applicable.

Staff shall send a written notification to the incarcerated individual and, if applicable, the sender that includes:

Not more than 5 business days after receiving the managing official’s response to the appeal or the failure of the managing official to respond to an appeal, the incarcerated individual or sender, or both, may send a written appeal of the managing official’s decision, or failure to respond, to the Commissioner or Director, as applicable, and state the reasons for the appeal.

As a whole if the mail in its entirety is subject to rejection; or

In part if only a portion or a particular section or item within the mail is subject to rejection.

Staff shall provide an incarcerated individual and the sender with two copies of a written notification that describes the contraband information or materials that are being withheld, and set forth the reason for withholding the mail in detail.

The notification constitutes a written report of the managing official’s decision to withhold the contraband information or materials in a piece of mail, and the notification shall include:

Staff shall provide the written notification to an incarcerated individual within 48 hours after the managing official’s decision to withhold contraband information or materials from an incarcerated individual.

The written notification provides a section for the sender or incarcerated individual to appeal the managing official’s decision.

Returning the mail as a whole;

Receiving the acceptable portion and disposing of the rejected portion by:

Disposing of the mail as a whole by selecting one of the methods listed under §E(2)of this regulation; or

Appealing to the managing official.

If the rejected portion of the mail cannot be severed, can be severed, or if the mail is being withheld in its entirety, and the incarcerated individual to whom the mail is addressed chooses to appeal, staff shall advise an incarcerated individual and, if applicable, the sender that a written appeal may be filed within 10 business days from the date an incarcerated individual is notified of the managing official’s decision to limit the incarcerated individual’s volume of mail.

Pending the outcome of the appeal process, correctional staff shall securely store the withheld mail.

The managing official shall respond within 5 business days to an incarcerated individual or sender’s appeal.

If a managing official fails to respond to an appeal within 5 business days of receipt, the incarcerated individual or the sender, or both, may send a written appeal of the withholding decision to the Commissioner or Director, as applicable.

Staff shall send a written notification to the incarcerated individual and, if applicable, the sender that includes:

Sending the mail at an incarcerated individual’s expense to the sender or to any addressee an incarcerated individual chooses; or

Disposing of the mail in a manner specified by an incarcerated individual and approved by the managing official.

Risk assessment;

A plan to protect staff and other individuals from hazards that may be delivered in the mail;

Standard operating procedures;

Security screening procedures;

Training of mailroom staff;

Testing and preparedness responses to emergency situations;

Threat management; and

Annual reviews of a correctional facility’s mail security plan.