Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 22 - CORRECTIONS, CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT › Part I - Corrections › Chapter 7 - Youth Services › Subchapter A - Administration › Section I-711 - Student Visiting and Correspondence (Youth Services) [Formerly Section 321]

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. Purpose. To
				  establish the secretary's policy regarding student visiting and correspondence
				  at all juvenile institutions and facilities within the Department of Public
				  Safety and Corrections.
B. To Whom
				  This Regulation Applies. This regulation is applicable to all superintendents
				  of juvenile operational units of the Department of Public Safety and
				  Corrections, Corrections Services.
C. General.
				  R.S.
				  15:833 provides that the Secretary of the
				  Department of Public Safety and Corrections may authorize visits and
				  correspondence under reasonable conditions, between students and approved
				  friends, relatives, and other persons. It is the secretary's policy that
				  uniform visiting and correspondence procedures be established and adhered to at
				  all units, and that visiting and correspondence be under reasonable conditions
				  and in keeping with the most recent court decisions relating to visiting and
				  correspondence in correctional institutions. It is also the secretary's policy
				  that visiting at the institution and correspondence between students and
				  friends be encouraged and supported.
D. Correspondence
1. Letters. Students shall be allowed to send
				  and receive letters from all persons including persons in other institutions.
				  There shall be no restriction on the number of correspondents, number of
				  letters written, the length of any letter, or the language in which a letter
				  may be written. Before sending or receiving letters, students will be required
				  to sign a copy of the attached form. Student mail, both outgoing and incoming,
				  shall be handled without delay and on a daily basis.
a. Inspection of Outgoing Letters. All
				  outgoing letters are to be posted unsealed and inspected for contraband.
				  Exception: Outgoing legal or official mail (see Clauses i-viii) may be posted
				  sealed and may not be opened except with a search warrant:
i. identifiable courts;
ii. identifiable prosecuting
				  attorneys;
iii. identifiable
				  probation and parole officers;
iv.
				  identifiable state and federal departments, agencies, and their
				  officials;
v. identifiable
				  attorneys;
vi. identifiable members
				  of the press;
vii. secretary,
				  deputy secretary and/or assistant secretary of the Department of Public Safety
				  and Corrections; and
viii. for
				  purposes of this exception,
identifiable
means that the
				  official or legal capacity of the addressee is listed on the envelope: John
				  Doe, Assistant District Attorney; John Doe, City Desk Editor, John Doe, Judge;
				  John Doe, Secretary of Labor, etc. Additionally, the name, official or legal
				  capacity, and address of the addressee must be verifiable. If the name,
				  address, and official or legal capacity cannot be verified, designated
				  institutional personnel shall state in writing the means employed to verify the
				  information and the fact that it could not be determined to be correct and
				  true. Upon the determination that this mail is not identifiable official or
				  legal mail, said mail shall be treated as all other outgoing mail, and shall be
				  opened and inspected for contraband.