New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 10A - CORRECTIONS › Chapter 31 - ADULT COUNTY CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 10A:31-1.3 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Administrative segregation" means removal of an inmate from the general population of a correctional facility to a Close Custody Unit because of one or more disciplinary infractions.
"Adult county correctional facility" means any place, under the jurisdiction of a county, where adult persons convicted or accused of crimes are confined.
"Adult county correctional facility Administrator" or "Administrator" when used in this chapter means a Sheriff, Warden or any other person who serves as the chief executive officer of an adult county correctional facility.
"Body cavity search" means the visual inspection or manual search of a person's anal or vaginal cavity.
"Body imaging scanning equipment" means equipment that utilizes a low-dose conventional x-ray transmission to produce an anatomical image of the inmate capable of identifying external and internal contraband.
"Business day(s)" means any single day or consecutive days during which most businesses operate, Monday through Friday, excluding weekends or legal holidays.
"Calendar day(s)" means any single day or consecutive days, January 1 through December 31.
"Central control" or "center control" means the unit that coordinates the security and communication functions within a correctional facility.
"Classification Committee" means a group of staff members who have been designated to make decisions related to the needs of inmates from the time of admission until the time of release.
"Close Custody Unit" means an area within a correctional facility designated for assigning inmates who are removed from the general population for disciplinary or administrative reasons.
"Contact visit" means a visit between an inmate and a visitor where there is no barrier, such as, but not limited to, a window or wall between the inmate and visitor.
"Contraband" means:
1. Any item, article or material found in the possession of, or under the control of, an inmate that is not authorized for retention or receipt;
2. Any item, article, or material found within the adult county correctional facility or on facility grounds that has not been issued by the facility or authorized as permissible for retention or receipt;
3. Any item, article or material found in the possession of, or under the control of, staff or visitors within the adult county correctional facility or on facility grounds that is not authorized for receipt, retention or importation;
4. Any item, article or material that is authorized for receipt, retention or importation by inmates, staff or visitors but that is found in an excessive amount or that has been altered from its original form. An amount shall be considered excessive if it exceeds stated adult county correctional facility limits or exceeds reasonable safety, security, sanitary, or space considerations; and/or
5. Any article that may be harmful or presents a threat to the security and orderly operation of an adult county correctional facility. Items of contraband shall include, but shall not be limited to:
i. Guns and firearms of any type;
ii. Ammunition;
iii. Explosives;
iv. Knives, tools and other implements not provided in accordance with adult county correctional facility regulations;
v. Hazardous or poisonous chemicals and gases;
vi. Unauthorized drugs and medications;
vii. Medicines dispensed or approved by staff at the adult county correctional facility but not consumed or utilized in the manner prescribed;
viii. Intoxicants, including, but not limited to, liquor or alcoholic beverages;
ix. Where prohibited, currency and stamps; and
x. Where prohibited, electronic communication devices.
"County work release" means a program that permits selected inmates, committed by the municipal or county court to an adult county correctional facility, to be in the community during specified periods to engage in remunerative employment, to attend vocational training and to attend to family needs (see 30:8-44 ).
"Crime" means an indictable offense or equivalent in another state.
"Custodian of a government record" or "record custodian" means any individual officially designated by formal action of the county governing body or agency director in accordance with the Open Public Records Act.
"Custody staff" except as otherwise provided, means Custody Supervisors, Senior Correction Officers and Correction Officer recruits who have been sworn as peace officers.
"Deadly force" means force that a custody staff member uses with the purpose of causing, or that the custody staff member knows will create a substantial risk of causing, death or serious bodily harm.
"Detainer" means a warrant or formal authorization to hold an inmate for prosecution or detention by a Federal, state or local law enforcement agency or the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Detainers may include, but are not limited to:
1. Adjudicated criminal charges for which sentence has been imposed;
2. Criminal charges resulting from indictment, for which there is no final disposition (open charges);
3. Warrants for violation of parole or probation; and
4. Immigration detainers.
"Disciplinary Board" means a custody supervisor and two non-custody staff members who have been designated by the adult county correctional facility Administrator to hear and adjudicate inmate violations of facility rules.
"Disciplinary Detention" means the removal of an inmate from the general population to a short term close custody unit because of a violation of facility rules.
"Electronic communication device" means a device or related equipment or peripheral that is capable of electronically receiving, transmitting or storing a message, image or data. Examples of such electronic devices include, but are not limited to, all types and sizes of a computer, telephone, two-way radio, camera or video/audio player/recorder, fax machine, pager or beeper, personal data assistant, hand-held e-mail system, or any other device containing a means of internet access or receiving, transmitting or storing information electronically by means of audio, visual or recorded data.
"Facility" means an adult county correctional facility.
"Firearm" means any hand gun, rifle, shotgun, machine gun, automatic or semi-automatic rifle, or any gun, device or instrument in the nature of a weapon from which may be fired or ejected any solid projectable ball, slug, pellet, missile, bullet, or any gas, vapor or other noxious thing, by means of a cartridge or shell or by the action of an explosive or the ignition of flammable or explosive substances. Firearm shall also include, without limitation, any firearm, which is in the nature of an air gun, spring gun or pistol or other weapon of a similar nature in which the propelling force is a spring, elastic band, carbon dioxide, compressed or other gas or vapor, air or compressed air, or is ignited by compressed air, and ejecting a bullet or missile smaller than three-eighths of an inch in diameter, with sufficient force to injure a person (see 2C:39-1 ).
"Foreign national" means any person who is not a citizen or permanent alien resident (green card holder) of the United States and who is a foreign visitor or illegal alien.
"General population" means the common body of inmates not assigned to a Close Custody Unit.
"Government record" or "record" means any paper, written or printed book, document, drawing, map, plan, photograph, microfilm, data processed or image processed document, information stored or maintained electronically or by sound-recording or in a similar device, or any copy thereof, that has been made, maintained or kept on file in the course of official business by any officer, commission, agency or authority of the State or of any political subdivision thereof, including subordinate boards thereof, or that has been received in the course of official business by any such officer, commission, agency, or authority of the State or of any political subdivision thereof, including subordinate boards thereof. The terms shall not include inter-agency or intra-agency advisory, consultative, or deliberative material. A government record shall not include information which is deemed to be confidential in accordance with 47:1A-1 et seq.
"Handbook on Discipline" means a publication that is provided to inmates which contains the inmate's rights and responsibilities, the acts and activities which are prohibited, and the disciplinary procedures and sanctions imposed.
"Hearing officer" means an individual designated by and required to report to an official outside of the adult county correctional facility administration to hear and adjudicate inmate violations of prohibited acts.
"Imminent danger" means threatened harmful actions or outcomes that may occur during an encounter absent action by the custody staff member. The period of time involved is dependent on the circumstances and facts evident in each situation and is not the same in all situations. The threatened harm does not have to be instantaneous, for example, imminent danger may be present even if an individual is not at that instant pointing a weapon at the custody staff member, but is carrying a weapon and running for cover.
"Indigent inmate" means an inmate who has no funds in his or her account and is not able to earn inmate wages due to prolonged illness or any other uncontrollable circumstances, and who has been verified as having no outside source from which to obtain funds.
"Internal Affairs unit" means the unit responsible for conducting investigations at the discretion of the adult county correctional facility Administrator.
"Involuntary protective custody" means confinement in Protective Custody which was not requested by the inmate.
"Lawfully confined" means custodially confined in a detention facility, adult county correctional facility or other facility of the Department of Corrections.
"Legal correspondence" means the exchange of documents between an inmate and:
1. An attorney of this State or any other state when properly identified as such on the outside of the envelope;
2. Offices of the Federal or State Public Defender;
3. The Office of the Attorney General;
4. Federal, State, county and municipal courts;
5. Federal, State, county and municipal court judges;
6. Offices of legal services;
7. Legal assistance clinics managed by accredited law schools of this or any other state;
8. The Administrative Office of the Courts;
9. Offices of the Federal, State or county prosecutor;
10. Other Federal, State, county or municipal governmental agencies;
11. The Office of Administrative Law; and
12. A foreign consul.
"Legitimate public official" means the following:
1. An elected or appointed national, state or municipal government official; or
2. A director of a national, state or municipal government agency.
"Licensed medical professional" means an appropriately licensed health care provider who is a physician, registered nurse, nurse practitioner or physician assistant.
"Mechanical restraints" means restraining devices such as, but not limited to, handcuffs, flex cuffs, leg irons, and belly chains.
"Multiple occupancy sleeping unit" means an area, room, or cell housing no less than two and no more than 64 inmates.
"Non-contact visit" means a visit between an inmate and a visitor where there is a physical barrier, such as, but not limited to, a window or wall between the inmate and the visitor. Non-contact visits shall not involve the use of non-security cameras, closed circuit TV, and similar technology to effect the visit.
"Non-deadly force" means force that is not likely to cause death or serious bodily harm.
"Objective classification" means the standardized evaluation and custody assignment score of an inmate based on the following criteria:
1. Severity of current offense;
2. Prior assaultive offense history;
3. Escape history;
4. History of correctional facility violence;
5. Balance of term to be served to expiration of sentence (initial only);
6. Alcohol/drug abuse (initial only);
7. Current detainer/open charges;
8. Prior felony convictions (initial only);
9. Education (initial only);
10. Employment (initial only);
11. Age;
12. Number of disciplinary reports (reclassification only);
13. Most severe disciplinary infraction received (reclassification only);
14. Program participation (reclassification only);
15. Balance on parole eligibility date (reclassification only); and
16. System overrides.
"Offense other than a crime" means a non-indictable offense or equivalent in another state.
"On-the-Spot Correction" means the immediate imposition of a sanction upon an inmate for a minor rule violation.
"Open Public Records Act" or "OPRA" means 47:1A-1 et seq. as amended and supplemented.
"Pat search" means a thorough search of a fully-clothed inmate, including the clothing and personal property in the inmate's possession.
"Personal information" means an individual's first name or first initial and last name that is linked with any one or more of the following data elements:
1. Social Security number;
2. Driver's license number or State identification card number; or
3. Account number or credit or debit card number, in combination with any required security code, access code or password that would permit access to an individual's financial account.
Dissociated data that, if linked, would constitute personal information is personal information if the means to link the dissociated data were accessed in connection with access to the dissociated data. Personal information shall not include publicly available information that is lawfully made available to the general public from Federal, state or local government records, or widely distributed media (see 56:8-161 ).
"Prehearing detention" means the removal of an inmate from the general population pending an investigation and a hearing into an alleged violation of a rule.
"Probable cause" means reasonable ground(s) of suspicion, supported by circumstances sufficiently strong to warrant a cautious person to believe that criminal activity is taking place.
"Productive occupation" means any assignment exclusive of a work release assignment, which involves work carried on by the governing body or by any board, commission or institution that receives funding from the county.
"Protective custody" means confinement to a secure unit designated to restrict or limit an inmate's activities and contacts with others, in order to provide protection to the inmate from injury or harm actually threatened, or reasonably believed to exist based on events, investigative reports, reports from an informant(s) or other reliable sources of information.
"Publication" means a book, booklet, pamphlet, or similar document, or an issue of a magazine, periodical, newsletter, newspaper, plus such other materials addressed to a specific inmate such as advertising brochures, flyers, and catalogs.
"Reasonable belief" means an objective assessment based upon an evaluation of how a reasonable custody staff member with comparable training and experience would react to, or draw inferences from, the facts and circumstances confronted and known by the custody staff member at the scene.
"Reasonable suspicion" means a belief that an action is necessary based upon specific and articulable facts that, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably support a conclusion.
"Roving patrol" means observation of the outer perimeter of a facility by making rounds at intervals on foot or in a vehicle.
"Shift commander" means the custody staff member holding a supervisory rank who has been designated by the Administrator or designee as being responsible for the maintenance of security during a tour of duty in an adult county correctional facility.
"Strip search" means the removal or rearrangement of clothing to permit visual inspection of the person's undergarments, buttocks, anus, genitals, or breasts.
"Substantial risk" means any discharge of a firearm that entails some risk of an unintended outcome. A substantial risk exists when a custody staff member disregards a foreseeable likelihood that innocent persons will be endangered. An example of substantial risk is firing a weapon into a confined space (such as a room or vehicle) occupied by innocent persons that exposes those persons to a substantial risk of harm.
"Temporary Close Custody" means the non-punitive removal of an inmate from the inmate general population, or other assigned housing, with restriction to the inmate's cell or to a Close Custody Unit for a period not to exceed 72 hours, for special observation (other than healthcare needs) or investigation, unless information or evidence warrants an extension beyond 72 hours and the extension is approved by the appropriate supervisor.
"Unencumbered space" means usable space that is not hindered by furnishings or fixtures.
"Voluntary protective custody" means confinement in Protective Custody which was requested by the inmate.
"Weapon" means anything readily capable of lethal use or of inflicting serious bodily injury. The term includes, but is not limited to:
1. All firearms, even though not loaded or lacking a clip or other component to render them immediately operable;
2. All components that can be readily assembled into a weapon;
3. All gravity knives, switchblade knives, daggers, dirks, stilettos, or other dangerous knives, billies, blackjacks, bludgeons, metal knuckles, sandclubs, slingshots, cesti or similar leather bands studded with metal filings or razor blades imbedded in wood;
4. All stun guns; and
5. Any weapon or other device, which projects, releases, or emits a compressed gas or tear gas or any other substance or electrical signal intended to produce temporary physical discomfort or permanent injury through being vaporized or otherwise dispensed in the air (see 2C:39-1 ).