Code of Maine Rules › 03 - DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS › 201 - DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS/GENERAL › Chapter 11 - POLICY AND PROCEDURE MANUAL - ADULT AND JUVENILE › Subsection 201-11-2.12 - PRISONER AND RESIDENT ACCOUNTS

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
I.
AUTHORITY
The Commissioner of Corrections adopts this policy pursuant
				  to the authority contained in
				  34-A M.R.S.A.
				  Section3039.
II.
APPLICABILITY
All Maine Department of Corrections Facilities
III.
POLICY
It is the policy of the Department of Corrections to
				  effectively manage prisoner and resident accounts and to require those
				  prisoners who receive wages or stipends for work to participate in a savings
				  plan in preparation for release and to use for other authorized
				  purposes.
IV.
DEFINITIONS
None
V.
CONTENTS
Procedure A: General
Procedure B: Deposits
Procedure C: Withdrawals and Obligations
Procedure D: Documentation and Fees
Procedure E: Requirements for Investments
Procedure F: Prisoner Savings Plan
VI.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Collection Priority List
VII.
PROCEDURES
Procedure A: General
1. The Commissioner, or designee, shall
				ensure that there is maintained the Department Prisoner or Resident Trust
				Account consisting of all of the monies contained in the individual prisoner
				and resident facility accounts.
2.
				At each facility, the Chief Administrative Officer, or designee, shall ensure
				that for each prisoner or resident there is established an individual general
				account at the facility to allow the prisoner or resident to engage in
				authorized monetary transactions.
3. At each facility, the Chief Administrative
				Officer, or designee, shall ensure that for each prisoner or resident there is
				also established an individual phone account at the facility to allow each
				prisoner or resident to make authorized phone calls.
4. All prisoner and resident funds held by
				the Department are to be safeguarded and accounted for in accordance with
				generally accepted accounting principles.
5. Funds received shall be posted to the
				prisoner's or resident's general account, unless the funds are clearly
				designated by the sender for paying for telephone calls, in which case they
				shall be posted to the prisoner's or resident's phone account.
6. A prisoner or resident may transfer funds
				from his or her general account (except for funds in a prisoner's personal
				savings escrow account) to his or her phone account, but a prisoner or resident
				is not allowed to transfer funds from his or her phone account to his or her
				general account.
7. Except as set
				out in Procedure B, all transactions affecting the prisoner's or resident's
				general or phone account shall be posted to the prisoner or resident accounting
				system within three (3) working days after receipt in the facility Business
				Office.
8. Notwithstanding the
				above, in the event that a transaction has been invalidated or there is
				reasonable suspicion that a transaction will be invalidated as fraudulent, for
				lack of sufficient funds, or for any other reason, the Chief Administrative
				Officer, or designee, may take any appropriate action to prevent the processing
				of invalid transactions.
9. No
				financial transactions are allowed between prisoners or residents, prisoners or
				residents and staff, or prisoners or residents and volunteers or student
				interns. No financial transactions are allowed between a prisoner or resident
				and the family or friend of another prisoner or resident, except with the
				approval of the Chief Administrative Officer and, if applicable, the Chief
				Administrative Officer of the other facility.
10. No financial transactions are allowed
				between a prisoner or resident and a person with whom the prisoner or resident
				has been prohibited from having contact as a result of any Department policy
				unless there is a court order permitting the transaction (e.g., child support
				order).
11. A prisoner or resident
				may be prohibited from sending funds to or receiving funds from any other
				person by the Chief Administrative Officer, or designee, when there is
				reasonable suspicion that the financial transactions would facilitate criminal
				or juvenile criminal activity or violation of facility rules or would create a
				risk to the safety of persons, security, or orderly management of the
				facility.
12. Having a criminal or
				a juvenile criminal record shall not, in and of itself, constitute a barrier to
				financial transactions with a prisoner or resident, but the nature and the
				circumstances of the offense may provide the reasonable suspicion for
				prohibiting financial transactions.
13. Being a former staff member, volunteer,
				or student intern shall not, in and of itself, constitute a barrier to
				financial transactions with a prisoner or resident.
Procedure B: Deposits
1. All funds received in the form of checks,
				cashier's checks or money orders payable to a prisoner or resident shall be
				stamped "For Deposit Only" and shall be deposited into the Department's
				Prisoner or Resident Trust Account. The prisoner's or resident's signature is
				not required.
2. If a check,
				cashier's check or money order is received payable to two prisoners or
				residents, it shall be returned to the payer, unless it is a government agency
				check, in which case it shall be deposited as outlined above, except that half
				of the amount shall be credited to each payee, unless designated otherwise by
				the government agency.
3. If a
				check, cashier's check or money order is received payable to a prisoner or
				resident "or" another person who is not a prisoner or resident, it shall be
				returned to the payer, unless it is a government agency check, in which case it
				shall be deposited as outlined above.
4. If a check, cashier's check or money order
				is received payable to a prisoner or resident "and" another person who is not a
				prisoner or resident, it shall be returned to the payer, unless it is a
				government agency check, in which case it shall be forwarded to the other
				person and the prisoner or resident shall be notified of the action. If that
				person cannot be located, it shall be returned to the payer and the prisoner or
				resident shall be notified of the action.
5. All funds received in the form of U.S.
				Postal money orders, cashier's checks from a Maine bank, and money orders from
				a Maine bank, shall be posted to a prisoner's or resident's general or phone
				account within three (3) working days after receipt in the facility Business
				Office but shall be placed on hold for a period of fourteen (14) calendar days
				from the date of posting.
6. All
				funds received in the form of government agency checks (including tribal
				government checks) and work release payroll checks shall be posted to a
				prisoner's or resident's general account within three (3) working days after
				receipt in the facility Business Office but shall be placed on hold for a
				period of fourteen (14) calendar days from the date of posting.
7. All funds that are direct deposited shall
				be posted to a prisoner's or resident's general account within three (3)
				working days after receipt in the facility Business Office and shall not be
				placed on hold, except for work release payroll direct deposits, which shall be
				placed on hold until the prisoner or resident forwards the pay stub to the
				facility Business Office.
8. All
				funds that are direct deposited through a web-based credit card system shall be
				posted to a prisoner's or resident's general or phone account within three (3)
				working days after receipt in the facility Business Office and shall not be
				placed on hold.
9. All other funds
				from outside sources shall be posted to a prisoner's or resident's general or
				phone account within three (3) working days after receipt in the facility
				Business Office but shall be placed on hold for a period of fourteen (14)
				calendar days from the date of posting.
10. Notwithstanding the above, the facility
				Chief Administrative Officer, or designee, may determine to place a hold on
				funds or to extend the period for which funds are placed on hold or may
				determine to not allow the deposit of funds to a prisoner's or resident's
				account at all upon reasonable suspicion that a check is not backed up by
				sufficient check, cashier's check or money order has been forged funds; a; or
				the funds have been obtained through or would be used to facilitate fraud,
				extortion, drug trafficking, or other illegal activity, or for any other reason
				relating to safety, security, or orderly management of the facility approved by
				the Commissioner, or designee.
11.
				Cash, other than cash brought by the prisoner or resident to the facility at
				admission, shall not be posted to a prisoner's or resident's account and shall
				be handled in accordance with Department policy.
12. Cash brought to the facility by the
				prisoner or resident at admission shall be posted to the prisoner's or
				resident's general account.
13.
				All other funds received shall be posted to a prisoner's or resident's general
				account unless the sender specifically earmarks the funds for deposit into the
				prisoner's or resident's phone account.
14. One hundred percent (100%) of all funds
				which are either not placed on hold or for which the time period for being
				placed on hold has expired shall be applied to the current balance in the
				prisoner's or resident's general account or phone account, as applicable,
				unless the Chief Administrative Officer, or designee, has determined to not
				allow the deposit of the funds as set out above.
15. Any interest accrued as a result of the
				deposit of funds in the Department's Prisoner or Resident Trust Account shall
				first be used to defray the expense of that account and the remainder shall be
				deposited into the Prisoner or Resident Benefit Fund.
Procedure C: Withdrawals and Obligations
1. The facility Chief Administrative Officer,
				or designee, may determine to not allow the withdrawal of funds from a
				prisoner's or resident's account upon reasonable suspicion that the request for
				withdrawal has been forged or the request for withdrawal or the funds have been
				obtained through or would be used to facilitate fraud, extortion, drug
				trafficking, or other illegal activity, or for any other reason relating to
				safety, security, or orderly management of the facility approved by the
				Commissioner, or designee.
2.
				Facility business staff shall make a reasonable effort to prevent the incurring
				of debt by prisoners or residents, i.e., if a prisoner or resident does not
				have sufficient funds to cover an elective withdrawal (canteen, etc.), the
				withdrawal shall not be allowed. This does not preclude the incurring of any of
				the obligations on the Collection Priority List, Attachment A.
3. Facility business staff shall post
				non-elective withdrawals as obligations and shall prioritize and collect
				payments toward obligations in accordance with the Collection Priority List.
4. Funds received in the form of a
				benefits check from the Veterans Administration may only be used to pay toward
				those obligations so noted on the Collection Priority List, unless the prisoner
				or resident specifically requests the funds, or a portion thereof, be applied
				to another obligation.
5. Upon
				release from institutional confinement, all funds in the prisoner's or
				resident's phone account shall be transferred to the prisoner's or resident's
				general account, and, after the deduction of obligations, the funds remaining
				in the general account shall be returned to the prisoner or resident, with any
				subsequent funds received forwarded weekly for up to ninety (90) days, after
				which the funds shall be returned to the sender.
6. Upon release to a jail, a correctional
				facility in another jurisdiction, or a psychiatric hospital, all funds in the
				prisoner's or resident's phone account shall be transferred to the prisoner's
				or resident's general account, and, after the deduction of obligations, the
				funds remaining in the general account shall be forwarded to the receiving
				facility, with any subsequent funds received forwarded weekly for up to ninety
				(90) days, after which the funds shall be returned to the sender.
7. Upon transfer to a jail, a correctional
				facility in another jurisdiction, or a psychiatric hospital, all funds in the
				prisoner's or resident's phone account shall remain in the prisoner's or
				resident's phone account at the sending facility, unless the receiving facility
				agrees to ensure that the funds will be used only for phone calls by the
				prisoner or resident, and, if so, the phone account funds shall be sent to the
				receiving facility with any subsequent funds received forwarded weekly until
				the prisoner or resident is returned to the Department.
8. Upon transfer to a jail, a correctional
				facility in another jurisdiction, or to a psychiatric hospital, all funds in
				the prisoner's or resident's general account (except for funds in a prisoner's
				personal savings escrow account) shall be sent to the receiving facility, with
				any subsequent funds received forwarded weekly until the prisoner or resident
				is returned to the Department. The Commissioner, or designee, shall take
				appropriate steps to ensure that the receiving facility continues to make
				deductions for obligations.
9. When
				a prisoner or resident is transferred to a Department facility from a jail, a
				correctional facility in another jurisdiction, or a psychiatric hospital and is
				then returned to the sending facility, all funds in the prisoner's or
				resident's phone and general account shall be sent to the sending
				facility.
10. Upon death, funds
				remaining in the prisoner's or resident's general and phone accounts shall be
				handled in accordance with Title 34-A Section 3040-A and the applicable
				Department policy.
11. Thirty-one
				(31) days after a prisoner or resident is discharged from Department custody,
				an obligation may be identified as an uncollectible prisoner or resident debt
				and referred to the collection agency designated by the State Controller for
				collection.
12. Prisoner or
				resident debt turned over for collection may be cancelled as uncollectible upon
				approval from the Controller.
13.
				The following obligations shall be reinstated and prioritized in accordance
				with the Collection Priority List, (Attachment A) when a prisoner or resident
				is returned to institutional confinement in a Department facility:
a. court-ordered restitution;
b. court-ordered penalties, fines (including
				Victim Compensation Fund assessments), surcharges;
c. ongoing child support;
d. order to Enforce Payment after
				Default;
e. court-ordered filing
				fees - federal;
f. court-ordered
				filing fees - state;
g.
				court-ordered attorney's fees;
h.
				back taxes;
i. alimony;
j. facility restitution (through disciplinary
				process); or
k.  monetary sanctions
				(through adult disciplinary process).
Procedure D: Documentation and Fees
1. Facility business staff shall notify each
				prisoner or resident in writing monthly of all transactions related to his or
				her general or phone account by providing a copy of an account statement
				showing the previous month's transactions. Staff shall not provide any
				additional copies of this monthly statement.
2. Facility business staff shall also notify
				the prisoner or resident in writing as soon as reasonably possible of any
				transactions being charged to his or her general or phone account to correct an
				administrative error. This notification shall inform the prisoner or resident
				of the nature of the charge, the amount to be withheld, either fixed or as a
				percentage, and over what period of time the collection is to be
				extended.
3. Any request from a
				prisoner or resident for research on his or her general or phone account shall
				be submitted, in writing, to the facility Business Office, with the prisoner's
				or resident's signature affixed. Any research on account transactions and
				supporting documentation shall be limited to records dated within three (3)
				fiscal years from the date of the request.
4. A service charge of fifty-cents (50¢)
				shall be assessed for any research requested by a prisoner or resident, in
				addition to any copying charge. This fee shall be waived if the account was
				found to be in error due to circumstances beyond the control of the prisoner or
				resident submitting the request.
5.
				A prisoner or resident requesting a certified account statement from the
				facility business office for filing with a court shall write on the request
				"Certified Account Statement for Court." A request so marked shall be fulfilled
				by the facility business office within three (3) business days of its receipt
				by the business office.
6. A
				prisoner or resident requesting a certified account statement from the facility
				business office for filing with a court shall be assessed a service charge of
				fifty-cents (50¢), in addition to the copying charge, unless the prisoner
				or resident is without the funds to pay the charges. A prisoner or resident may
				receive no more than two (2) free copies of a certified account statement per
				month unless the prisoner or resident provides sufficient documentation that he
				or she has filed the free certified account statements already received that
				month with a court.
7. Only
				facility business staff may provide copies of account statements or other
				financial information relating to a prisoner's or resident's general or phone
				account.
8. A prisoner or resident
				account from which more than three (3) checks per week are issued shall be
				assessed a service charge of fifty-cents (50¢) per check.
Procedure E: Requirements for Investments
1. A prisoner or resident shall be allowed to
				withdraw funds from his or her general account at the facility (except that any
				withdrawal of funds under this provision shall not result in a balance of less
				than $1,000 in the prisoner's personal savings escrow account) to deposit into
				his or her interest bearing personal savings account at a bank. Any interest
				earned on a personal savings account at a bank shall accrue to the prisoner or
				resident.
2. A prisoner or resident
				may remove his or her money from his or her general account at the facility
				(except that any removal of funds under this provision shall not result in a
				balance of less than $1,000 in the prisoner's personal savings escrow account)
				or from his or her personal savings account at a bank and place it in any type
				of investment that he or she chooses. The prisoner or resident shall be allowed
				to make a particular investment unless a substantial reason justifies
				otherwise.
3. Department staff
				shall not be involved in prisoner or resident investment activities, except to
				facilitate withdrawal of funds from the prisoner's or resident's general
				account at the facility as allowed above.
4. All prisoner or resident financial
				statements, including from bank savings accounts, or investments, shall be
				forwarded to the facility Business Office and a copy shall be kept in the
				prisoner's or resident's account file.
5. Upon request of the prisoner or resident,
				the facility Business Manager shall keep any investment documentation (stocks,
				bonds, etc.) in the facility safe and shall have the information properly
				recorded.
Procedure F: Prisoner Savings Plan
1. Any facility prisoner who earns a wage,
				salary, or stipend for work performed in any job in a facility or the community
				shall be subject to a requirement to save a percentage of those earnings in a
				personal savings escrow account at the facility, unless exempted from this
				requirement as set out below.
2. A
				prisoner's personal savings escrow account is a part of his or her general
				account.
3. The minimum percentage
				that shall be collected by the facility business staff for a prisoner's
				personal savings escrow account shall be 10% of earnings, except as set out
				below.
4. The Chief Administrative
				Officer, or designee, may waive or reduce the minimum percentage when more than
				80% of a prisoner's earnings are already being collected for other obligations.
				The waiver or reduction shall be terminated when other collections fall to 80%
				or below.
5. A prisoner may
				request that more than the minimum percentage be deposited into his or her
				personal savings escrow account.
6.
				Once the amount in his or her personal savings escrow account reaches $1,000, a
				prisoner may request that there be no further deposits made into that account
				by notifying the facility Business Office in writing.
7. A prisoner may fulfill the obligation with
				respect to his or her personal savings escrow account by requesting that $1,000
				be withheld from his or her general account and applied to his or her personal
				savings escrow account in a lump sum.
8. A prisoner may request the withholding
				from his or her general account of an amount less than the $1,000 lump sum with
				the understanding that the requirement to save a percentage of earnings shall
				continue until the $1,000 threshold is reached. The minimum of each withholding
				amount is $10.00.
9. A prisoner who
				is not earning a wage, salary, or stipend may request that the facility
				establish a personal savings escrow account and withhold amounts from his or
				her general account funds for deposit into his or her personal savings escrow
				account. The minimum of each withholding amount is $10.00.
10. Any prisoner may accumulate more than
				$1,000 in his or her personal savings escrow account.
11. Monies held in a prisoner's personal
				savings escrow account above $1,000 may be disbursed prior to a prisoner's
				discharge from Department custody upon the prisoner's written request to the
				facility Business Office for a transfer of funds from his or her personal
				savings escrow account. A prisoner may make a request for disbursement only
				once per quarter. The disbursement of monies under this provision shall not
				result in a balance of less than $1,000 in the prisoner's personal savings
				escrow account. Monies disbursed under this provision are not required to be
				paid back.
12. In addition to the
				above, monies held in a prisoner's personal savings escrow account, regardless
				of balance, may be disbursed prior to a prisoner's discharge from Department
				custody upon the prisoner's written request to the facility Chief
				Administrative Officer, or designee, provided it is for a documented
				educational or family need as determined by the Chief Administrative Officer,
				or designee.
13. Monies shall also
				be disbursed from a prisoner's personal savings escrow account if required for
				an obligation which must be collected from the prisoner's personal savings
				account as set out on the Collection Priority List.
14. Monies disbursed from a prisoner's
				personal savings escrow account for a documented educational or family need or
				disbursed from the account due to an obligation which must be collected from
				the prisoner's personal savings account as set out on the Collection Priority
				List shall be paid back up to the minimum requirement of $1,000 by collecting
				from the prisoner a minimum percentage of 10% of all future earnings, except
				for prisoners who have established a voluntary personal savings escrow
				account.
15. A prisoner may opt out
				of the requirement to save a percentage of his or her earnings in a personal
				savings escrow account or may have any funds already saved disbursed upon the
				prisoner's written request to the Chief Administrative Officer, or designee, if
				he or she has no realistic expectation of release because he or she is serving
				a life sentence without parole or a sentence that would put the prisoner's age
				at 75 years or older at his or her earliest possible release date or because he
				or she has been determined by the facility physician to be terminally ill and
				unlikely to be alive at his or her earliest possible release date.
16. Upon release from institutional
				confinement, any funds in the prisoner's personal savings escrow account shall
				be returned to the prisoner. Upon release to a jail, a correctional facility in
				another jurisdiction, or a psychiatric hospital, all funds in the prisoner's
				personal savings escrow account shall be forwarded to the receiving facility.
				Upon transfer to a jail, a correctional facility in another jurisdiction, or a
				psychiatric hospital, all funds in the prisoner's personal savings escrow
				account shall remain at the sending facility and may only be disbursed by a
				prisoner making a written request to the appropriate staff at the sending
				facility as set out above or if required due to an obligation which must be
				collected from the prisoner's personal savings account as set out on the
				Collection Priority List. When a prisoner is transferred to a Department
				facility from a jail, a correctional facility in another jurisdiction, or a
				psychiatric hospital and is then returned to the sending facility, all funds in
				the prisoner's personal savings escrow account shall be sent to the sending
				facility. Upon death, any funds in this account shall be handled the same as
				other funds in the prisoner's general account.