Senate Bill No. 758
(By Senators Wooton, Ball, Bowman, Dittmar, Kessler, Ross,
Snyder, White and Buckalew)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported March 3, l998.]
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A BILL to amend article one, chapter twenty-five of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
eighteen, relating to authorizing the division of
corrections to monitor, intercept, review, copy and disclose
incoming and outgoing mail of inmates in correctional
institutions; setting forth requisite conditions to justify
monitoring the mail of inmates; creating a misdemeanor
offense for violations concerning monitoring, intercepting,
reviewing, copying and disclosing inmates' mail; and
requiring the commissioner of corrections to propose
legislative rules setting forth procedures to monitor,
intercept, review, copy and disclose inmates' mail.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article one, chapter twenty-five of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section eighteen, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. ORGANIZATION AND INSTITUTIONS.
§25-1-18. Monitoring of inmate and patient mail; procedures and
restrictions; correspondence concerning legal matters
excepted.
(a) The commissioner of corrections or his or her designee
shall have authority to intercept, open, review, copy and
disclose any mailings or intended mailings from or to an adult
inmate or patient of any state penal or correctional institution
in accordance with the following provisions:
(1) All adult inmates or patients of the state penal and
correctional institutions shall be notified in writing that their
outgoing or incoming mail may be monitored, intercepted, opened,
reviewed, copied and disclosed;
(2) Except as provided for in this subsection, only the
commissioner and his or her designee shall have authority to
monitor inmates' and patients' mail;
(3) A notice shall be prominently placed on or immediately
near every mail receptacle or other place designated for the
collection or delivery of mail in which the monitoring authorized
by the provisions of this section may take place;
(4) The contents of outgoing or incoming mail may be
disclosed only if the disclosure is:
(A) Necessary to safeguard the orderly operation of the
penal or correctional institution;
(B) Necessary for the investigation of a crime;
(C) Necessary for the prevention of a crime;
(D) Necessary for the prosecution of a crime; or
(E) Required by an order of a court of competent
jurisdiction;
(5) All copies made of any ingoing and outgoing mail, unless
being disclosed pursuant to subdivision (4) of this subsection,
shall be destroyed within twelve months after the copying;
(6) All outgoing mail from an inmate or patient shall be
identified as being sent from a division of corrections facility;
and
(7) Any person who shall knowingly and intentionally
intercept, review, copy or disclose any outgoing or incoming mail
sent by or to the legal counsel of an inmate or patient unless
first authorized by a court of competent jurisdiction or unless
done with the clear and unequivocable consent of the inmate or
patient shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, be incarcerated for not less than thirty days and not
more than ninety days, or fined not less than one hundred dollars
nor more than five hundred dollars, or both.
(b) The commissioner shall propose legislative rules in
accordance with this section for monitoring inmate and patient
mail as authorized by the provisions of this section.
(c) The provisions of this section shall only apply to those
persons serving a sentence of imprisonment.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the
division of corrections to monitor incoming and outgoing mail of
inmates in correctional institutions. The bill creates a felony
for opening mail intended for or sent from an inmate's or
patient's attorney.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.)