Florida Administrative Code › 33 - DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS › 33 - Departmental › Chapter 33-501 - EDUCATION › Section 33-501.301 - Law Libraries

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
(1) In order to
				ensure that each inmate in the custody of the department has adequate access to
				the courts and to legal materials necessary for the preparation of legal
				documents, the department shall provide law libraries and related services as
				described in this section and in Rules
				 33-210.102 and
				 33-501.302, F.A.C.
(2) Definitions.
(a) Central office library services: the
				library services section in the Bureau of Education in the department's central
				office headquarters.
(b) Deadline:
				any requirement imposed by law, court rule, or court order that imposes a
				maximum time limit on the filing of legal documents with the court.
(c) Illiterate: academic competence below the
				9th grade level, as measured by the Test of Adult Basic Education as provided
				in Rule  6A-6.014, F.A.C.
(d) Incompetence or incompetent: oral or
				written statements or conduct that demonstrates to departmental staff that an
				inmate law clerk does not have ability or knowledge to research and use the law
				library collection, to provide inmates with accurate information on the law and
				civil or criminal procedure, or to assist inmates in the preparation of legal
				documents or legal mail.
(e) Inmate
				law clerk: any inmate whom an institution has assigned to work in a law library
				in departmental inmate work assignment code L04. Inmate law clerks have
				successfully completed the department's law clerk training program, or have
				equivalent legal training, and have "LEGAL" or "LAW" certificate entries
				recorded in the department's offender database.
(f) Inmate law clerk trainee: any inmate whom
				an institution has assigned to work in a law library in departmental inmate
				work assignment code L03. Inmates must meet all of the qualifications
				established in paragraph (7)(d), to be assigned as a law clerk
				trainee.
(g) Inmate library clerk:
				any inmate whom an institution has assigned to work in the law library in
				departmental work assignment code L01.
(h) Interstate Corrections Compact: an
				interstate agreement that permits the state of Florida to transfer custody of
				Florida inmates to other state correctional systems in accordance with Sections
				941.55-.57, F.S.
(i) Law library
				collection: print and digital/non-print publications that include the following
				information: the Florida Constitution and Florida Statutes; the U.S.
				Constitution and U.S. Code; Florida court decisions; U.S. Supreme Court,
				federal circuit court, and federal district court decisions; Florida and
				federal practice digests; forms manuals; and secondary source materials
				providing research guidance in the areas of federal habeas corpus, Florida
				post-conviction and post-sentence remedies, and prisoner's rights. Law library
				collection shall also include current copies of departmental rules and
				regulations as provided in paragraph (5)(b).
(j) Law library supervisor: a library program
				specialist, librarian specialist, library technical assistant, and, whenever
				these positions are vacant, any other employee whom the warden or designee
				appoints to oversee operation of the institution's law library
				program.
(k) Legal assistance:
				those services that the law library program or inmate law clerks provide to the
				inmate population. They include: providing inmates access to law library
				materials; assisting inmates in conducting legal research; assisting inmates
				with the preparation of legal documents and legal mail and administrative
				actions filed with the Florida Commission on Offender Review or the Florida
				Bar; assisting inmates with the preparation of grievances filed with the
				Department of Corrections; providing inmates with access to grievance and court
				forms; providing indigent inmates with access to legal writing supplies
				pursuant to Rule  33-210.102, F.A.C.; and
				providing copying services to inmates pursuant to Rule
				 33-501.302, F.A.C.
(l) Library services administrator: the
				departmental employee in the Bureau of Education who is responsible for
				statewide coordination of library and law library services.
(m) Official state holiday: any day that the
				governor or the legislature of the state of Florida designates a state
				holiday.
(n) Open population
				inmates: inmates housed in general population at an institution or unit with a
				law library and any inmates housed at satellite correctional facilities if law
				libraries are not located there.
(o) Personal legal papers: legal documents,
				legal correspondence, research notes, and transcripts relating to ongoing civil
				or criminal litigation where the inmate is a named plaintiff or
				defendant.
(p) Primary source
				material: legal research materials that constitute the law or have the force of
				law. These include constitutions, statutes, treaties, administrative rules,
				court rules, and court decisions.
(q) Priority access: the act of providing an
				inmate with exceptional access to the law library collection, inmate law
				clerks, interlibrary loan services, or to copying services.
(r) Research items: photocopies of cases,
				statutes, tables of contents, sections, or chapters from other reference titles
				in the institution's law library collection that are loaned to inmates for
				legal research purposes. These do not include the inmate's personal legal
				papers, pleadings, or transcripts.
(s) Satellite correctional facilities: a
				medium or minimum custody correctional facility, such as an annex, work camp,
				road prison, forestry camp, or drug treatment center. Satellite correctional
				facilities do not include work release centers.
(t) Working day: any weekday, i.e., Monday to
				Friday, except when the day is an official state holiday.