ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 263
(Senators Green, White and Palumbo, original sponsors)
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[Passed April 6, 2009; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact §25-1-17 and §25-1-18 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to monitoring of
inmate telephone calls and mail; procedures and restrictions;
authorizing disclosure under certain circumstances; and
providing for retention, maintenance and destruction of
telephone recordings and mail.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §25-1-17 and §25-1-18 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931,
as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. ORGANIZATION AND INSTITUTIONS AND CORRECTIONS
MANAGEMENT.
§25-1-17. Monitoring of inmate telephone calls; procedures and
restrictions; calls to or from attorneys excepted.
(a) The Commissioner of Corrections or his or her designee is
authorized to monitor, intercept, record and disclose telephone
calls to or from adult inmates of state correctional institutions in accordance with the following provisions:
(1) All adult inmates of state correctional institutions shall
be notified in writing that their telephone conversations may be
monitored, intercepted, recorded and disclosed;
(2) Only the commissioner, warden, administrator or their
designee shall have access to recordings of inmates' telephone
calls unless disclosed pursuant to subdivision (4) of this
subsection;
(3) Notice shall be prominently placed on or immediately near
every telephone that may be monitored;
(4) The contents of inmates' telephone calls may be disclosed
to an appropriate law-enforcement agency pursuant to an order of a
court or administrative tribunal when disclosure is necessary for
the investigation, prevention or prosecution of a crime or to
safeguard the orderly operation of the correctional institution.
Disclosure may be made in civil or administrative proceedings
pursuant to an order of a court or an administrative tribunal when
the disclosure is:
(A) Necessary to safeguard and protect the orderly operation
of the correctional institution; or
(B) Necessary to protect persons from physical harm or the
threat of physical harm;
(5) All recordings of telephone calls shall be retained for at
least three years and maintained and destroyed in accordance with
the record retention policy of the Division of Corrections adopted
pursuant to section one, article eight, chapter five-a of this code,
et seq.; or
(6) To safeguard the sanctity of the attorney-client
privilege, a telephone line that is not monitored shall be made
available for telephone calls to or from an attorney. These calls
shall not be monitored, intercepted, recorded or disclosed in any
matter.
(b) The commissioner shall propose legislative rules in
accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-
nine-a of this code to effectuate the provisions of this section.
(c) The provisions of this section shall apply only to those
persons serving a sentence of incarceration in the custody of the
Commissioner of Corrections.
§25-1-18. Monitoring inmate mail; procedures and restrictions;
identifying mail from a state correctional
institution; mail to or from attorneys excepted.
(a) The Commissioner of Corrections or his or her designee is
authorized to monitor, open, review, copy and disclose mail sent to
adult inmates of state correctional institutions in accordance with
the following provisions:
(1) All adult inmates of state correctional institutions shall
be notified in writing that their mail may be monitored, opened,
reviewed, copied and disclosed;
(2) Only the commissioner and his or her designee shall have
access to copies of inmates' mail unless disclosed pursuant to
subdivision (4) of this subsection;
(3) Notice that the mail may be monitored shall be prominently
placed on or immediately near every mail receptacle or other
designated area for the collection or delivery of mail;
(4) The contents of inmates' mail may be disclosed to an
appropriate law-enforcement agency pursuant to an order of a court
or administrative tribunal when disclosure is necessary for the
investigation, prevention or prosecution of a crime or to safeguard
the orderly operation of the correctional institution. Disclosure
may be made in civil or administrative proceedings pursuant to an
order of a court or administrative tribunal when the disclosure is:
(A) Necessary to safeguard and protect the orderly operation
of the correctional institution; or
(B) Necessary to protect persons from physical harm or the
threat of physical harm;
(5) All copies of mail shall be retained for at least three
years and maintained and destroyed in accordance with the records
retention policy of the Division of Corrections adopted pursuant to
section one, article eight, chapter five-a of this code,
et seq.;
or
(6) The inmate whose mail has been copied and disclosed under
this section shall be given a copy of all such mail when it is
determined by the commissioner, warden or administrator not to
jeopardize the safe and secure operation of the facility or to be
detrimental to an ongoing investigation or administrative action.
(b) To safeguard the sanctity of the attorney-client
privilege, mail to or from an inmate's attorney shall not be monitored, reviewed, copied or disclosed in any manner unless
required by an order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
However, such mail may be checked for weapons, drugs and other
contraband provided it is done in the presence of the inmate and
there is a reasonable basis to believe that any weapon, drug or
other contraband exists in the mail.
(c) All inmates' outgoing mail must be clearly identified as
being sent from an inmate at a state correctional institution and
must include on the face of the envelope the name and full address
of the institution.
(d) The Commissioner of Corrections or his or her designee is
authorized to open, monitor, review, copy and disclose an inmate's
outgoing mail in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a)
of this section.
(e) The commissioner shall propose legislative rules in
accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-
nine-a of this code to effectuate the provisions of this section.
(f) The provisions of this section shall apply only to those
persons serving a sentence of incarceration in the custody of the
Commissioner of Corrections.