La. Admin. Code tit. 22 § I-315

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section I-315 - Telephone Use and Policy on Monitoring of Calls

A. Purpose-to state the secretary's policy regarding the use of telephones by offenders and the monitoring of offender telephone calls at all adult institutions.

B. Applicability-Deputy Secretary, Chief of Operations, Regional Wardens and Wardens. Each warden is responsible for ensuring that appropriate unit written policy and procedures are in place to comply with the provisions of this regulation and for implementing and notifying all affected persons of its contents.

C. Policy. It is the secretary's policy that uniform telephone procedures, including the ability to monitor and/or record offender telephone calls to preserve the security and orderly management of the institution and to protect public safety, shall be adhered to at all institutions. Each institution shall offer offenders (including the hearing and/or speech impaired) reasonable access to telephone communication without overtaxing the institution's ability to properly maintain security and to avoid abuse of this privilege on the part of any offender. Offenders with hearing and/or speech disabilities and offenders who wish to communicate with parties who have such disabilities shall be given access to appropriate auxiliary aids and services. It is further the secretary's policy to encourage offenders to maintain telephone communications while incarcerated in order to maintain family connections that will promote unification upon release.

D. Procedures

1. General

a. Each offender shall be assigned a personal identification number (PIN) which must be used when placing outgoing telephone calls. The PIN shall be the offender's DOC number.

b. Each offender may provide his assigned institution a master list of up to 20 frequently called telephone numbers inclusive of all family, personal, and legal calls. Each offender's outgoing telephone calls shall be limited to those telephone numbers he has placed on his master list. Changes may be made to the master list at the discretion of the warden or designee, but no less than once each quarter. These changes may be entered by the contractor or by appropriately trained institutional staff. No offender shall place the telephone number of the family of another offender on his master list except for verified members of his own family.

c. For new offenders, PIN and master list numbers shall be entered into the telephone system upon intake at the reception and diagnostic centers.

d. All offender telephone calls made through use of the offender telephone system shall be recorded and are subject to monitoring. This may include calls made to attorneys using the offender telephone system. (See Clause D.6.a.iii for additional information.)

e. A visible sign by each offender telephone shall place offenders on notice that all calls shall be recorded and are subject to monitoring.

f. A recorded message shall notify all parties that all calls shall be recorded and are subject to monitoring and that the call originated from a correctional facility.

g. Use of the offender telephone system shall constitute consent by all parties to the recording and/or monitoring of the call.

h. Upon the request of a telephone subscriber, the institution shall block a telephone number and prevent the subscriber from receiving calls from an offender housed in the facility. To accomplish a block of a particular number for all state facilities, the institution should contact the contractor to request that a universal block be put into place.

i. Offenders are allowed to make collect calls to cell phones. These calls must be set up as direct remit accounts with the department's phone service provider. This shall be done after approval is received from the department to add the cell number. Prepaid cell phones are not permitted to set up direct bill accounts. Cell phones must have a provider from a major wireless company i.e., AT and T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc.

j. Disciplinary sanctions may include certain restrictions on phone privileges; however, all offenders shall be allowed two collect calls per month. Loss of phone privileges shall only be a permissible sanction where the rule violation is directly related to the use of telephone privileges.

k. Any offender placed in segregation shall be allowed one phone call (either at the offender's expense or via a collect call) within 24 hours of placement into a segregation housing unit, including offenders who have lost their phone privileges as a separate disciplinary sanction.

2. Dormitory Housing (Minimum or Medium Custody)

a. Routine Personal or Family Calls. Collect telephone access shall be available on a relatively nonrestricted basis. The specific hours in the various living areas at the individual institutions shall be established by the warden of each institution. The warden or designee shall communicate the telephone schedule to the offender population. A time limit for call duration may be established; however, call duration shall not be limited to less than 15 minutes.

b. Emergency Personal or Family Calls. Requests for access outside of normally scheduled hours may be made through the Warden's designee (dormitory officer, shift supervisor or other appropriate staff). The staff person to whom the request is made shall determine if an emergency phone call is warranted and shall make a written record of their determination. No maximum frequency for this type call shall be established, as the severity and duration of emergencies may vary.

c. Legal Calls. The warden shall establish a schedule for legal calls. Generally, offenders shall be able to place legal calls during the lunch period non-working hours, or after the afternoon count (when normal office hours are in effect for attorneys.) The warden shall establish an alternate procedure if this is not adequate.

3. Cellblock Housing (Maximum Custody)

a. Routine Personal or Family Calls. Collect telephone access is generally located in the cellblock lobby. (In those situations where the telephone is on the tier, the offender may be allowed access during the shower or exercise period.) Posted policy may limit routine personal calls for offenders assigned to cellblocks in the event that lobby placement restricts offender access. Access may vary by offender classification status. A time limit for call duration may be established; however, call duration shall not be limited to less than 15 minutes.

b. Emergency Personal or Family Calls. In all subclasses of maximum custody, the offender is required to request consideration for this type call from the warden's designee (shift supervisor, unit major, or program staff). The staff person to whom the request is made shall determine if an emergency phone call is warranted and shall make a written record of their determination. No frequency for this type call shall be established as the severity and duration of the emergency may vary.

c. Legal Calls. The warden shall establish a procedure for placing legal calls on a reasonable basis during an attorney's normal office hours. Each housing unit shall maintain a telephone log for the purpose of monitoring the number of legal calls made by offenders on a weekly basis. All legal calls shall be logged with the attorney's full name, bar number, telephone number called, date, time, and whether completed.

4. Incoming Calls

a. Routine Personal or Family calls. Messages are not accepted or relayed on a routine basis for any offender.

b. Legal Calls. Offenders may be given notice that their attorney has requested contact. Complete verification that the requested contact is the offender's attorney is required prior to processing. If minimum or medium custody, the offender may call from the dormitory during lunch or after work. If maximum custody, the offender may be allowed to call during their attorney's "normal office hours" at a time which does not interfere with the orderly operation of the unit.

5. Emergency Messages/Important Telephone Calls Based upon Faith-Based Programs and Services

a. Emergency messages concerning a serious illness, injury, death, or other family crisis, etc. shall be delivered to an offender by the chaplain or other person designated by the warden. Exceptions to this paragraph shall only be granted by the warden or designee.

b. Notification to an offender's emergency contact (or other appropriate person as the situation warrants) of an offender's serious illness, injury, or death shall be made in a timely manner by the chaplain or other person designated by the warden.

c. Chaplains are allowed discretion to make telephone calls for offenders for the purposes of dealing with emergency matters.

6. Monitoring

a. Offenders shall be put on notice of the following:

i. telephone calls in housing areas shall be recorded and are subject to monitoring. Use of telephones constitutes consent to recordation and monitoring;

ii. a recorded message shall notify all parties that all calls shall be recorded and are subject to monitoring and that the call originated from a correctional facility;

iii. telephone calls to the offender's designated attorney(s) shall be recorded, but shall not be routinely monitored. However, such calls may be monitored upon the warden's determination of good cause, such as where a security need exists. Prior to examination of the content of the conversation with the attorney, the authorized staff member requesting examination must submit in writing the factors supporting good cause to the warden for approval. The warden's determination of good cause shall be documented with written reasons. Only after written approval has been received shall the conversation be examined. Only investigators approved by the chief of operations shall be allowed to monitor the calls.

b. The telephone system typically terminates a call at the end of the authorized period (generally 15 minutes); however, the warden or designee may authorize calls of a longer duration as circumstances warrant. Persons using the telecommunication device for the deaf (TDD) system shall be allowed one-hour telephone calls.

c. Offenders shall not be allowed access to home telephone numbers of staff members, nor be allowed to contact any staff member of the department (including volunteers, contract workers, etc.) by any means, whether through call forwarding, texting, web-based communication, or other similar communication platforms or systems.

d. Only authorized personnel (i.e., those who have been assigned a login/password) approved by the warden or designee may monitor offender telephone calls. Only investigators authorized by the chief of operations may monitor an offender's calls to his attorney. Information gained from monitoring calls which affects the security of the institution or threatens the protection of the public shall be communicated to the warden and other law enforcement agencies.

e. Offenders being processed for intake through the reception and diagnostic centers shall be required to give consent in writing, acknowledging that they are aware that their telephone calls shall be recorded and are subject to monitoring. A copy of this consent shall be placed in the offender's master record.

f. Each institution's orientation manual shall include the information contained in this regulation as a means to notify the offender population of its contents and verbal notification shall be given during the orientation program. A sign shall be posted at each offender telephone which states the following information.

ATTENTION

This telephone has been electronically programmed to monitor and/or record telephone calls. By using this telephone, you consent to the monitoring and/or recording of your conversation. Telephone calls to your designated attorney(s) will not be routinely monitored.

Department of Public Safety and Corrections Department Regulation No. OP-C-8

7. Remote Call Forwarding

a. The offender population shall be put on notice that all third-party telephone calls, including remote call forwarding (RCF) calls, are strictly prohibited and such activity shall result in appropriate disciplinary action.

i. RCF is a mechanism by which offenders may employ a local telephone number that automatically forwards the telephone call to a pre-selected number generally located out of the local calling area code or long distance. RCF is comparable to an automated 3-way call.

ii. RCF is also known as automated call forwarding or private branch exchange (PBX) call forwarding. Use of this automated and remote mechanism represents significant security risks for several reasons, including because the telephone call terminated number (the end destination of the call) cannot be readily identified or verified. This number is not a traditional telephone number located at a residence, business or other such location, but merely a number within the telephone switching equipment local to the facility where the offender is housed.

iii. RCF initiated calls to an unidentified terminated number can be easily forwarded to unauthorized telephones. This forwarding is done through the normal 3 way call hook ups. This negates the security mechanisms achieved by the requirement of approved telephone lists, including safeguards to prevent calls to victims and blocked or restricted numbers or to prevent other unauthorized call activities.

b. Wardens shall develop a monitoring system to analyze the frequency of local calls. High frequency may indicate RCF utilization. When RCF calls are discovered, a system-wide block of the number shall be initiated pursuant to Subparagraph D.1.i of this Section.

La. Admin. Code tit. 22, § I-315

Promulgated by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Corrections Services, LR 29:360 (March 2003), amended LR 29:2849 (December 2003), LR 35:87 (January 2009), LR 37:599 (February 2011), Amended LR 461395 (10/1/2020), Amended LR 482157 (8/1/2022).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 15:829.