The purpose and effect of the proposed rule is to provide criteria for admissibility of blank journals or diaries.

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
Departmental

RULE NO: RULE TITLE
33-501.401: Admissible Reading Material
PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The purpose and effect of the proposed rule is to provide criteria for admissibility of blank journals or diaries.
SUMMARY: The proposed rule clarifies that blank journals or diaries are permitted, subject to restrictions as to size and construction. The cover may be hardback or cardboard unless otherwise prohibited by rule. Chief of institutional programs or designee replaces the library services coordinator on the literature review committee.
SUMMARY OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS: No Statement of Estimated Regulatory Cost was prepared.
Any person who wishes to provide information regarding a statement of estimated regulatory costs, or provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.
SPECIFIC AUTHORITY: 944.09, 944.11 FS.
LAW IMPLEMENTED: 944.11 FS.
IF REQUESTED WITHIN 21 DAYS OF THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE, A HEARING WILL BE SCHEDULED AND ANNOUNCED IN FAW.
THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Jason Hand, Office of the General Counsel, Department of Corrections, 2601 Blair Stone Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2500

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:

33-501.401 Admissible Reading Material.

(1) No change.

(2) Definitions.

(a) General circulation newspaper – a publication issued daily or weekly under the same title that contains current news,

editorials, feature articles, and usually advertising.

(b) Hard-bound book – a publication with a rigid, pressboard cover that is commonly attached to the book through use of end sheets.

(c) Impoundment – the action taken by authorized department staff to withhold an inmate’s incoming publication or a publication found in an inmate’s personal property pending review of its admissibility by the Literature Review Committee.

(d) Inmate grievance appeal – a Request for Administrative Remedy or Appeal, Form DC1-303. Form DC1-303 is incorporated by reference in Rule 33-103.019, F.A.C.

(e) Mail order distributors and bookstores – business establishments that sell publications to the general public.

(f) Non-print media – publications published in formats other than on paper. Examples include microfilm, microfiche, computer disks, CD-ROM disks, and audio-tapes.

(g) Periodical – a publication issued under the same title and published at regular intervals of more than once a year. Examples of periodicals include journals and magazines and some newspapers and catalogs.

(h) Print media – publications that are printed or written on paper. These include hardcover books, soft cover books, magazines, newspapers, catalogs, and brochures.

(i) Publication – a document that is offered to the public by sale or by gratuitous distribution. Single photographs are not publications.

(j) Publisher – a corporation, governmental agency, private or public educational institution, church or other religious organization, professional, business or fraternal organization or association that prints publications for sale or gratuitous distribution to the public.

(k) Redaction – a procedure whereby a reviewer removes specific subject matter deemed inadmissible.

(k)(l) Rejection – the act or procedure for declaring a book, periodical, or other single issue of a publication to be contraband.

(l)(m) Religious testament – sacred texts, prayer books, and devotional books for the inmate’s recorded faith orientation.

(m)(n) Soft cover book – a bound publication with a flexible, paper cover, also referred to as a soft bound or paperback book.

(3) through (13) No change.

(14) Inmates may appeal the impoundment or rejection of reading material through use of the inmate grievance procedure, Chapter 33-103, F.A.C.

(a) When publications are rejected for reasons not relating to subject matter, inmates shall file an informal grievance as prescribed by Rule 33-103.005, F.A.C.

1. Only one impounded or rejected publication shall be addressed in the grievance;

2. A copy of the Form DC5-101, Notice of Rejection or Impoundment of Publications, that documents the rejection, must be attached to the grievance; and

3. The complaint must be filed within 15 days from the date of rejection.

(b) When publications are impounded or rejected pursuant to the criteria established in subsections (3) and (11) of this rule, inmates shall bypass the informal and formal institutional level of review, and file grievances direct to the office of the secretary as prescribed by Rule 33-103.007, F.A.C.

1. Only one impounded or rejected publication shall be addressed in the grievance;

2. The inmate shall identify the grievance as being related to admissible reading material by writing the words “Admissible Reading Material” at the top of the grievance;

3. A copy of the Form DC5-101, Notice of Rejection or Impoundment of Publications, which documents the impoundment or rejection, must be attached to the grievance;

4. The complaint must be filed within 15 days from the date of impoundment or rejection;

5. The grievance appeal shall be addressed to the office of the secretary and not to the literature review committee or to the library services administrator; and

6. The inmate must provide written notice to the warden on Form DC6-236, Inmate Request, that he or she intends to appeal the impoundment or rejection to the office of the secretary if he or she wishes to have the order to dispose of the publication within 30 days stayed while the grievance is pending. The written notice shall include a statement that the inmate intends to appeal the impoundment or rejection of admissible reading material and must specifically identify the publications on which the appeal is to be based. Form DC6-236 is incorporated by reference in Rule 33-103.019, F.A.C.

(15) Literature Review Committee.

(a) There shall be a literature review committee to act as the final reviewing authority for appeals regarding reading material impounded or rejected pursuant to criteria established in this rule. The committee shall be composed of:

1. Chief of bureau of security operations or designee;

2. Chief of bureau of inmate grievance appeals or designee;

3. Chief of bureau of institutional programs Library services administrator or designee.

(b) The chief of the bureau of institutional programs library services administrator or designee shall be designated chairman of the literature review committee and shall be responsible for coordinating all activities of the committee.

(c) Upon receipt of a Form DC5-101, Notice of Rejection or Impoundment of Publication, from a correctional facility or receipt of inmate grievance appeals forwarded by the bBureau of iInmate gGrievance aAppeals, the chief of institutional programs library services administrator or designee shall schedule a meeting of the literature review committee to review institutional decisions to impound publications and inmate appeals within 30 days of receipt. The committee shall review the inmate’s appeal, or, in the case of institutional impoundment decisions, the rule authority and reasons for the impoundment cited on the Form DC5-101, Notice of Rejection or Impoundment of Publications, the portions of the publication that have been cited as cause for impoundment, and any other specific material relating to the decision to impound the publication or the inmate’s appeal. The committee shall affirm or overturn the impoundment decision, or approve or deny the appeal based upon the criteria set forth in this rule. Decisions shall be by majority vote. The decision of the committee shall be final.

(d) Decisions relating to the review of impounded or rejected publications shall be communicated to all institutions of the department and all privately operated institutions under contract with the department. When an impoundment decision is overturned, institutions shall issue the publication to all affected inmates as soon as possible. Decisions relating to grievance appeals shall be communicated to the chief of the bureau of inmate grievance appeals or designee who shall than approve or deny the grievance based upon the committee’s decision.

(e) If the inmate’s grievance appeal is approved or if the literature review committee notifies institutions that the impoundment of a publication has been overturned, the institution shall issue the publication to the inmate. The following guidelines shall be followed:

1. The publication shall be retrieved from secure storage and turned over to security or service center staff authorized by the warden or designee to issue impounded publications to inmates.

2. A copy of the completed Form DC5-101, Notice of Rejection or Impoundment of Publications, shall be attached to the publication.

3. The stamped Form DC5-101, Notice of Rejection or Impoundment of Publications, shall be presented to the inmate. The inmate shall be required to sign and date the form. The inmate shall be issued the publication only after he or she has signed and dated the form.

4. The signed form shall be retained by institutional or service center staff as documentation that the inmate was issued the publication.

(16)(a) The publisher, mail order distributor, bookstore or sender may obtain an independent review of the warden’s decision to impound a publication by writing to the library services administrator at 2601 Blair Stone Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2500 within 15 days following receipt of Form DC5-101, Notice of Rejection or Impoundment of Publications. The request for review must be accompanied by:

1. A copy of the completed Form DC5-101, Notice of Rejection or Impoundment of Publications; and

2. A copy of the impounded or rejected publication.

(b) The library services administrator shall forward this information to the literature review committee for review. The chief of institutional programs or designee library services administrator shall provide the publisher, mail order distributor, bookstore or sender written notification of the literature review committee’s decision. The decision shall also be communicated to all correctional facilities.

(17) (a) Inmates may subscribe to no more than one daily or weekly general circulation newspaper and four other periodicals, except as otherwise provided in Rule 33-601.800, F.A.C.

(b) No inmate shall be allowed to receive or keep more than one copy of any volume, issue or edition of any book, periodical or other publication. For example, an inmate will be allowed to keep the January and February 1994 issues of a specific magazine, but will not be allowed to keep two copies of the January 1994 issue. No inmate shall be issued admissible reading material if he or she can not store it in his or her personal living area without creating a fire, safety, or sanitation hazard. Inmates shall be limited to no more than 2 single issues of a daily or weekly newspaper title and 8 single issues of a periodical. Inmates shall be allowed to order single issues of periodicals and newspapers from publishers’ wholesale or mail-order distributors and bookstores in lieu of purchasing subions; however, all of the above-referenced limits shall still apply.

(c) Inmates subscribe to periodicals or other reading materials at their own risk and expense. Inmates will not be reimbursed by the Department of Corrections for materials that are rejected.

(d) Except as otherwise provided in Rule 33-601.800, F.A.C., inmates shall be limited to the possession of 4 books. Religious testaments, correspondence study materials and law books not in the institution’s law library collection shall not be counted against this limit. Religious testaments include sacred texts, prayer books and devotionals.

(e) Inmates may only receive and possess print media publications. Incoming publications published on non-print media or print media publications that include non-print media that are an integral part of the publication will be rejected and returned to the sender along with an explanation as to why the material is being rejected. However, unsolicited promotional computer diskettes and CD-ROMs that are mailed with a periodical issue, e.g., the CD-ROMs promoting America Online’s Internet service, will be handled as provided in subsection (26)(25) of this rule.

(f) If an inmate does not have space to store admissible reading material in his or her personal living area without creating a fire, safety, or sanitation hazard, the institution is authorized to not issue the items or to impound the items if previously issued until the inmate disposes of other personal property in order to create storage space for the publications.

(g) Inmates shall not order publications from publishers or senders on a “bill me later” basis. All book or periodical subion purchases that are initiated by inmates shall include an Inmate Bank Trust Fund Special Withdrawal, Form DC2-304, that covers the complete cost of the purchase, and postage, if necessary, and shall include an envelope that is properly addressed to the publisher or sender. Such requests shall be submitted to the warden or designee for approval. If approved, the warden or designee shall forward the request to the Bureau of Finance and Accounting, Inmate Bank Section, for processing. Any outgoing correspondence that does not comply with these requirements shall be returned to the inmate. Form DC2-304 is incorporated by reference in Rule 33-203.201, F.A.C.

(18) through (24) No change.

(25) Blank journals or diaries.

(a) Restrictions.

1. Quantity – see possession limits set forth in paragraph (17)(d);

2. Size – limited to 9'' x 12'';

3. Medium – limited to paper;

4. Binding – limited to glue bindings; journals with staples or metal or spiral bindings shall not be permitted;

5. Cover, if any – limited to paper materials; hard back or cardboard covers are authorized except where possession of hardbound books is otherwise prohibited by rule (paperback);

6. Can not have any audio or electronic components.

(b) Authorized sources:

1. Inmates shall be permitted to receive diaries or journals from publishers, mail order distributors and bookstores.

2. Chaplaincy services and other authorized programs of the department shall be authorized to accept donations of diaries and journals for distribution to inmates, however, the diaries and journals must comply with the requirements of this rule.

(c) Diaries or journals that contain written or pictorial matter that is inadmissible per subsection (3) of this rule shall be rejected and shall not be issued to inmates.

(26)(25) Whenever an otherwise admissible magazine is received that includes product samples or advertising with product samples attached, the products shall be removed and the publication itself shall be issued to the inmate recipient. Any inmate who wishes to object to the removal of product samples from his or her publications shall submit a written request on Form DC6-236, Inmate Request, to the warden asking that product samples not be removed. Thereafter, any publication sent to the requestor that contains product samples shall be held by the institution for 30 days or 30 days after exhaustion of grievance appeals. It shall be the inmate’s responsibility to arrange for the mailing of the entire publication out of the institution at the inmate’s expense. Any publication not mailed out within the 30 days will be destroyed.

Specific Authority 944.09, 944.11 FS. Law Implemented 944.11 FS. History–New 10-8-76, Amended 3-3-81, 9-24-81, Formerly 33-3.12, Amended 6-9-87, 3-11-91, 12-17-91, 3-30-94, 11-2-94, 5-10-98, 10-20-98, Formerly 33-3.012, Amended 3-21-00, 8-10-00, 10-13-02, 7-2-03, 12-30-04, 9-5-05, ________.

NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: George Sapp, Assistant Secretary of Institutions
NAME OF SUPERVISOR OR PERSON WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Laura Bedard, Ph.D., Deputy Secretary of Department of Corrections
DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: March 7, 2006
DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAW: March 24, 2006