§ 802. Correspondence of inmates

(a) Any authorized employee of any correctional facility shall have the right to inspect all correspondence by or to inmates of the facility. The employee shall have the right to withhold and prevent the transmission of material intended to be sent through the mails by or to an inmate if the material is contraband as defined by the rules of the facility or constitutes a clear and present danger to the security of the facility.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, any correspondence from an inmate to any public official of the State or of the United States shall not be impeded in its transmission, nor shall it be inspected, opened, copied, duplicated, photographed, or examined in any way.

(c) An inmate shall not correspond through the mail with another inmate committed to the custody and supervision of the Department of Corrections, whether in the same facility or in a different facility, except as follows:

(1) To communicate with immediate family members who are inmates also in the custody and supervision of the Department of Corrections, subject to the prior approval of the superintendent or the superintendent's designee.

(2) To communicate with other inmates where the inmate's classification or treatment team deems the correspondence in the best interests of both parties.

(3) To communicate with another inmate regarding legal matters, so long as the superintendent or his or her designee knows the second inmate customarily offers legal advice to other inmates.

(4) To correspond with other inmates, so long as the correspondence has been approved by the superintendent or the superintendent's designee at his or her sole discretion.

(d) Negative contact list.

(1) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, an inmate incarcerated at a Department of Corrections facility shall not correspond through the mail with any individual on the Department of Corrections' negative contact list.

(2) An individual may be added to the negative contact list by notifying the Department of Corrections in writing that he or she does not wish to receive any correspondence through the mail from a particular inmate.

(3) A parent or authorized legal guardian of a minor may add the minor child to the negative contact list of any inmate who is not the parent of the child by notifying the Department of Corrections in writing that he or she does not wish the minor child to receive any correspondence through the mail from a particular inmate. If the inmate is a parent of the minor, the inmate shall have the right to have contact with the minor, unless the inmate is prohibited by court order from contacting the child. (Added 1971, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 20; amended 2007, No. 64, § 3.)