TEXAS DEPARTMENT NUMBER: BP-03.91(rev.1) 
OF DATE: July 13,2007 
CRIMINAL JUSTICB PAGE: L of 13 
SUPERSEDES: 
r"#i:tlr. 
BOARD POLICY 

SUBJECT: UNIFORM OFFENDER CORRE,SPONDENCE RULES 

AUTHORITY: 18 U.S.C. Section 1716; Sections 498.0042,492.013(a)

and 499.102(a)(12), 
TexasGovemmentCode: Section 38.111. Texas Penal Code 

Reference: American Correctional Association (ACA) Standards4-4487, 
4-4499, 4-4489, 4-4490, 4-4491, 4-4492, 4-4493, 4-4494, 4-4495 and 
4-4496: AD-04.82, "Forfeiture of Good Conduct Time for Contacting a 
Victim without Authorization," and AD-07.90, "Correspondence Supplies 
andPostase for Offenders" 

APPLICABILITY: Texas Department of Criminal Justice(TDCJor Agency) 

POLICY: 

TheTDCJ shall facilitate offenders keepingin touchwith families and friends. All incoming and 
outgoingcorrespondence,

exceptas otherwise provided here, is subjectto delivery, inspection 
andrejectionin accordance with the following rules. 

DEFINITIONS: 

"Contraband," in relation to correspondence, is any physical item that presentsa threat to the 
safety or security of the staff, offenders, institution or public, and does not include any written 
materiai <iisapproveci for its content. 

"Director's Review Committee" (DRC) is the body of appointed Agency administrators with the 
authority to hear all appeals related to rejected correspondence, publications and placementson 
negativemailing lists. 

"General Correspondence"is any mail sentto or from a General Correspondent or not otherwise 
includedin the definitions of Legal, Media or Special Correspondence. 

"General Correspondent" is any person correspondingwith an offender who is not included 
within the definitions for Legal, Media or Special Correspondents. 


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1) 
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"Indigent Status" is when a TDCJ offender: (1) has less than a $5.00 balancein their Offender 
Trust Fund accountfor 60 days or less; (2) has a damaged or misplacedidentification (ID) card; 
or (3) is on week one of lockdown status for more than seven (7) consecutive days. 

"Legal Correspondence"is any mail sent to or from a Legal Correspondent. 

"Legal Correspondent"is any attorney licensed in the United States or a legal aid society (an 
organization providing legal services to offenders or other persons)contacting an offender in 
orderto providelegal services. 

"Mail SystemCoordinatorsPanel" (MSCP) is the body designated to assist in the maintenance 
and coordination of the Uniform Offender Mail System. The MSCP seryes to bring uniformity 
to the decisions of the various units by providing technical assistance and rule interpretation; 
servesas the centralized authority for the review of publications for initial unit acceptance or 
denial; provides training for mailroom staff; conductsin-depth monitoring of all unit mailrooms; 
andsubmitsperiodic reports pertaining to the offender mail system. 

"Media Correspondence" is any mail sent to or from a Media Correspondent. 

"Media Correspondent"is any member of the editorial and reporting staff of any newspaper or 

magazinelisted in the Gale Directory of Publicstions or the Editor & Publisher Year Book or the 
editorial and reporting staff of any radio or television station. Other members of the media, 
including free-lancemembers,may petition to the DRC to be included within the definition of 

"media correspondent." 

"sexually Explicit Image" is material that shows the frontal nudity of either gender,including the 
exposedfemale breast(s)with nipple(s) or areola(s),or the genitalia or anus of either gender. 
The chestsofinfants andpre-pubescent children arenot consideredbreasts. 

"special Correspondence" is any mail sent to or from a Special Correspondent. 

"special Correspondent'1is any member of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice (TBCJ); the 
Executive Director; the Deputy Executive Director; any Directors, Deputy Directors and 
Wardensof the TDCJ Correctional Institutions Division (CID); any court or district or county 
clerk of the Lrnited Statesor any of the States of the United States; any member of the Legislature 
of the States orthe United States; the President of the United States orthe Govemor of any State 
of the United States;the Attorney General of the United States or any attorney in the United 
StatesDepartmentof Justice; the Director or any agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or 
any offrcial of any federal, state or local law enforcement agency, including offices of inspector 
general, the directors of state departmentsof corrections, the Bureau of Prisons and parole 
commissionersfrom other States; the Attorney General or any Assistant Attorney General of any 
state; any member or commissioner of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles; any foreign 
consulate (Consul General, Vice Consul or Honorary Consul) of any country of which the 
offender is a citizen; the Texas State Law Library or any county law library in the State of Texas. 


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"Stationery" is white, undecorated paper, not to exceed the size of 8Yz" x 11," or unstamped 
white envelopes, includingcarbonpaperandwhite envelopes with the offender's commitment 
rurme and TDCJnumberpreprintedin the return address portionof the envelope, but excluding 
anypaperwith names, addresses or letterhead,and excluding tablets or writing padswith stapled 
binding. (NOTE: Ruled white paperis not considered decoratedandis permitted.) 

"Watch List" is a TDCJ Mainframe generatedlist of offenders on special correspondence 
restriction,negativemailing lists and names submitted by the Security Threat Group (STG) 
Officer,Unit SafePrisons Coordinator (USPC),the Office of the Inspector General (OIG)and/or 
unit administration. 

PROCEDURES: 

I. 
GeneralRules and InstructionsRegarding Correspondence 
A. 
PermissibleCorrespondents 
An offender may correspond with as manypersonsas the offender chooses,except 
asrestrictedby this policy(UniformOffenderCorrespondence

Rules). 

B. 
RestrictedCorrespondents 
l. 
OtherOffenders 
Offendersmay not correspond with other offenders unless: 

a. 
The offenders are immediate family members (parents, stepparents,
grandparents,children, stepchildren, spouses, common law 
spousesandsiblings); 
b. 
The offenders have a child together, as proven through a birth 
certificateand the parentalrights have not beenterminated; 
c. 
The offenders are co-parties in a currently active legal matter; or 
d. 
The offender is providing a relevant witness affidavit in a currently 
active legal matter. 
2. 
Negative Mailing List 
Offenders shall be denied permission to correspond with personson the 
offender's negative mailing list. Persons on that list may be: 


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a. 
Minors whose parents or guardians object in writing to the 
corespondence, except an offender's own child or stepchild 
(unlessthe child or stepchild is the offender's victim as described 
in SectionI.8.3); 
b. 
Individuals who request in writing not to receive further 
correspondencefrom the offender; and 
c. 
Individuals who have attempted to send contraband into the 
institution or otherwise committed a serious violation of the 
correspondencerules, as determined by the Warden. A personwho 
commits a serious violation of the Uniform Offender 
Correspondence Rules may be prohibited from any further 
correspondencewith a particular offender and may be placed on a 
negativemailing list of personswith whom that particular offender 
may not correspond. Within 72 hours of such addition to a 
negative mailing list, a notice, accompanied by a statement of the 
reasontherefore, shall be sent to the disallowed person and to the 
offender. Within the same time period, the disallowed person and 
the offender shall also be notified of how to appeal and the 
procedure for appeal. 
3. 
Victims 
Pursuantto AD-04.82, "Forfeiture of Good ConductTime for Contacting a 
Victim without Authorization," Section38.111 of the Texas Penal Code 
and Section 498.0042of the Texas Government Code,the TDCJ prohibits 
unauthorizedcontact with a victim or a member of a victim's family by 
offenders who are confined in the TDCJ CID if the following criteria are 
met: 

a. 
The offender is currently serving time for committing a crime 
againstthat victim; 
b. 
The victim was younger than 17 years of age at the time of the 
offense;and 
c. 
Written authorizationfor the contact was not obtained prior to the 
initiation of the contact. 
Offendersmaking unauthorizedcontact with victims shall be charged with 
a major disciplinary offenseand, if the charge is sustained,ffi&y forfeit all 
or any part of accrued good conduct time credit if the offender is not a 
state jail offender. A state jail offender shall be assessed a major 


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disciplinary penalty if the charge is sustained. An offender may also be 
subjectto criminal charges for improper contact with a victim. 

C. How to Correspond 
There is the lensth of incomi or outgomg 
offender mail shall sent and recei uIy

.glrrespondencq. All 
authorized channels. Offenders shall not smuggle letters in out of the 

institution. 

t. Authorized Channels 
Offenders may only send First Class, Certified or Priority United States 
mail through the offender mail system. 

2. C.O.D.Mail 
No Cash on Delivery (C.O.D.) mail shall be accepted for any offender, and 
no offender shall be authorized to send C.O.D mail. Unauthorized items 
arriving by mail shall be returned to the sender at the expense of the 
offender if ordered by said offender, unlessthe offender is without funds, 
in which case the mail shall be returned at the sender's expense. 
Offendersshall be notified when C.O.D. mail is returned to the sender. 

Packages 

All outgoing packagesshall not be sealed for mailing until inspected by 
TDCJ. Packagesshall be free of contraband or material which constitutes 
a threat to security or which cannot be lawfully sent through the mail. 
Inspection of this mail shall be done in the presenceof the offender; if 
clearedfor mailing, the item shall be sealed and placed in the mail by the 
senderin the presenceof the inspector. Outgoing packagesmay be mailed 
at a"media mail" rate if the contents of the packagemeet the "media mail" 
rate guidelines outlined by the United States Postal Service. These rules 
shall not apply to outgoing packages to special, legal and media 
correspondents,which shall be governed by the rules relating to such 
correspondence. 

Packagesshall not be sent to offenders by individuals. TDCJ shall permit 
the delivery of packagesof stationery from legitimate stationery vendors (a 
stationeryvendor need not register in advance with the TDCJ in order to 
be a "legitimate" vendor), subject to its right of inspection. 

ications may be sent to offenders b 
suppliers,t:p]gg1l TDCJ shall accept delivery of packages 
only (e.g.,USPS,UPS, Fed-Ex, DHL) Special 


4. 
5. 
6. 
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provisions are made for packagesto be received from suppliers for craft 
shop operations. All incoming packagesshall be subject to inspection. 
Offendersshall be notified when unauthorized packagesare denied. 
Return Address and Outgoing Correspondence 


Each outgoing envelope or package shall include the sending offender's 
commitment nuune, TDCJ number, unit name and current address. 
Offenders having a legal name other than the offender's commitment 
rurme may also place that name in the return address. No other 
information shall be madepart of the return address. 


Offenders may not embellish outgoing envelopes with illustrations or 
written messages other than the return address, the name and address of 
the intended recipient and a notation that the envelope contains legal, 
special or media mail: pirotosdo not bend;or fragile. 


Mailroom officials shall refuse for mailing, after consultation with the 
MSCP, any outgoing correspondence from an offender that they 
reasonablybelieve will be deemed nonmailableby the United States Postal 
Servicepursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1716. This includes envelopes or 
packages having obnoxious odors or containing liquids or powders. 


Stationery 


Any type of stationery,whether bought at the commissary, mailed from 
approved sources as describedin these Rules or stationery authorized for 
issuance to indigent offenders may be used in correspondence. Offenders 
may not use homemade envelopes to correspond. 


Indigent Postage 


Postageand stationery for mail from indigent offenders may be secured 
through the Warden's representative.Postage and stationery shall be made 
available to indigent offenders, including those in administrative 
segregation,at regular intervals. Postage and stationery shall be furnished 
to an indigent offender for correspondenceto any special correspondent 
listed in these Rules and to any attorney or legal aid society. An indigent 
offender may use indigent postageto send five (5) one-ounce domestic 
letters per week to generalcorrespondents and five (5) items to legal or 
special correspondents. Upon request to the Warden's representative and 
for good causeshown, an offender may sendextra letters to general,legal 
or special correspondents using indigent postage. 



""ti';J,9'"';i] 


Funds expended by the TDCJ for postageandstationery within the first 60 
daysthat an offender is indigent shall be recoupedby the TDCJ from 
fundslaterdepositedin the offender's Trust Fund Account. 

D. Publications 
An offender may receive publicationsin the mail only from the publisheror 
publicationsupplier,includingbookstores. Offenders orderingpublicationsshall 
forward paymentsfor subscription to individual publicationswith the order. 
Offenders shall not receive publicationsof any kind on atrial basis with payment 
postponed.Persons desiring to givepublicationsdirectlyto individualoffenders 
mayhavethepublicationmaileddirectly to the offender only from thepublisher 
or publicationssupplier, including bookstores. Publicationsreceivedby offenders 
may be in languages otherthan English. 

il. Specialand Media Correspondence 

A. Permissible Correspondence 
Offendersmay write sealed and uninspected letters directly to special and media 
correspondents. incoming correspondence from- anv special or media

4!l 
t may be opened qqryfor contraband, except under the 
specialcircumstancesnoted in these Rules. The-Inspectiofr' shall be in the 
offender's presence. All incoming special correspondence envelopes shall be 
prominently stamped as received by the TDCJ or cancelled so that franked 
govemmentenvelopescannot be reused. 

B. Exceptions 
In individual cases, where reasonable suspicion exists to believe these 
correspondence rules or the law is being violated, incoming or outgoing special or 
media correspondence may be opened and inspected for contraband and content 
upon obtaining written permissionof the CID Director or designee. 

il. Legal Correspondence 

A. Permissible Correspondence 
In order to facilitate the attorney-client privilege, an offender may write sealed and 
uninspected letters directly to legal correspondents. No correspondence from an 
offender to any legal correspondent may be opened or read. All incoming 
correspondencefrom any legal correspondent may be opened and inspected for 
contraband only. The inspection shall be in the offender's presence. No 
correspondenceto an offender from any legal correspondent may be read. 


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1) 
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B. 
Exceptions 
When an offender consistently violates the law or the correspondencerules 
through legal correspondence, the offender may have legal mail privileges 
suspended except to the offender's attorney of record, upon obtaining written 
permissionof the CID Director or designee. The attorney of record shall submit a 
written statement naming them as the attorney of record for the offender. The 
CID Director shall approve the restriction of legal correspondenceprivileges. 

IV. 
HandlingOffenderCorrespondence 
A. 
Content Inspection of General Correspondence 
All generalcorrespondence shall be subject to the right of inspection and rejection 
by unit mailroom staff. All outgoing or incorning letters to and from offenders 
and enclosures such as clippings, photographsor the like shall be disapproved for 
mailing or receipt only if the content falls as a whole or in significant part into any 
of the categories listed below: 

1. 
Contains threats ofphysical harm against any personor place or threatsof 
criminal activitv: 
2. 
Threatens blackmail or extortion; 
3. 
Concernssendins contraband in or out of the institutions: 
4. 
Concernsplansto escape or unauthorized entry; 
5. 
Concernsplans for activities in violation of institutional rules; 
6. 
Concernsplansfor future criminal activity; 
7. 
Uses code and its contents arenot understoodby the personinspectingthe 
correspondence; 
8. 
Solicits gifts of goods or money under false pretensesor for payment to 
other offenders; 
9. 
Contains a graphic presentation of sexual behavior that is in violation of 
the law; 
10. 
Contains a sexually explicit image; 
I 1. 
Contains information, which if communicated would create a clear and 
presentdanger of violence or physicalharm to a human being; or 


B. 
C. 
D. 
E. 
BP-03.91(rev.1) 
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12. 
Contains records or documentation held by TDCJ which are not listed in 
the attachment to the TDCJ Open Records Act Manual Chapter 2. 
The offender and the sender or addressee shall be provided a written statement of 
the disapproval and a statement of the reason within 72 hours of the receipt of said 
correspondence. This notice shall be given on Correspondence Denial Forms. 
The offender shall be given a suffrciently detailed description of the rejected 
correspondence to permit effective use of the appeal procedures. The offender, 
sender or addressee may appeal the mailroom officer's decision through the 
proceduresoutlined in theseRules. 

Contrabandin General Correspondence 

If contraband is found in an iricoming letter or publication, the contraband sh<iuld 
be removed from the letter or publication, if possible. If the contraband cannot be 
removed from the letter or publication, the letter or publication shall not be 
delivered to the offender. A rejection as contraband is subject to the appeal 
proceduresoutlined in these Rules. 

Contrabandin Legal, Media or Special Correspondence 

If an enclosure constituting contraband is found, the contraband shall not be 
delivered to the offender. A written notice of the rejection and a statement of the 
reasons shall be sent to the offender and the correspondentwithin 72 hours of the 
rejection. The offender shall be given a sufficiently detailed description of the 
rejected contraband to permit effective use of the appeal procedures. At the same 
time the correspondent and the offender shall be notified of the procedure for 
appeal. 

Record of Legal, Specialand Media Correspondence 

The mailroom shall keep a record showing the source and destination of all 
incoming and outgoing legal, special and media correspondence. 

Content Inspection of Publications 

All publications are subject to inspectionby the MSCP in Huntsville and by unit 
staff. The MSCP has the authority to accept or reject a publication for content, 
subject to review by the DRC. Publications shall not be rejected solely because\ 
the publication advocates the legitimate use of the Offender GrievanceProcedure,I 
urges offenders to contact public representativesabout prison conditions or/ 
contains criticism of prison authorities. 

1. 
Rejection Due to Content 

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1) 
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A publicationmay be rejected if: 

a. 
It contains contraband that cannot be removed: 
b. 
It contains information regarding the manufacture of explosives, 
weapons or drugs; 
c. 
It contains material that a reasonable person would construe as 
written solely for the purpose of communicating information 
designed to achieve the breakdown of prisons through offender 
disruption such as strikes, riots or security threat group activity; 
d. 
A specific determination has been made that the publication is 
detrimentalto offenders' rehabilitation becauseit would encourage 
deviant criminal sexualbehavior: 
It contains material on the setting up and operation of criminal 
schemes or how to avoid detection of criminal schemes by lawful 
authorities charged with the responsibility for detecting such illegal 
activity; or 

f. 
It contains sexually explicit images. Publications shall not be 
prohibited solely because the publication displays naked or 
partially covered buttocks. Subject to review by the MSCP and on 
a case-by-case basis, publications constituting educational, 
medical/scientific or artistic materials, including, but not limited 
to, anatomy medical reference books, general practitioner reference 
books andlor guides, National Geographic or artistic reference 
material depicting historical, modern and/or post modern era art, 
may be permitted. 
2. 
Notice 
the offender. the editor and/or the oubli 
shall be provideda written noti disa a statementof the 

within 72 f,jeceipt of said publication on a Publication 
Denial Form. Within the same time r. the editor and/or 
the publisher shall be notified of the procedurefor appeal. The offender 
shall be given a suffrciently detailed descriptionof the rejectedpu6licatfi4 

alprocedure-3.@ 
or the publisher may the rejection-T the publication through 
procedures provided by these Rules. 


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F. 
G. 
H. 
3. List of DisapprovedPublications 
A list of publications disapprovedfor receipt by offenders during the last 
two (2) months shall be noted on the Law Library Holdings List on each 
institution. The list shall be updatedeverymonth. 

ProcessingIncoming and Outgoing OffenderMail 

All mail shall be processed,including delivery, pick-up or notifications, by TDCJ 

employees or private facility staff only and during waking hours whenever 
possible. No offender is to handle another offender's mail, either incoming or 
outgoing. 

All incoming mail, exceptpackages,shall be deliveredwithin 24 hours of receipt, 
except on rveekends or holidays. Incoming pacl<agesshall be delivered u'ithin 48 
hours of receipt, except on weekends or holidays. The hours of weekends and 
holidays shall not be used in computingthe 24 or 48 hour period. 

All outgoing mail, except packages,shall be delivered to a United States Postal 
Service employee within 24 hours, except on weekendsor holidays. outgoing 
packagesshall be delivered to a United States Postal Serviceemployeewithin 48 
hours, except on weekends or holidays. The hours of weekends and holidays shall 
not be used in computing the 24 or 48 hour period. 

Exception: Incoming and outgoing mail for offenders whose mail is being 
monitored may be processedwithin 48 hours of receipt, if necessary, to allow unit 
staff to properly examine the correspondence. 

Forwarding of Mail 

Mail received shall be forwarded to an offender immediately in the event the 
offender has left the unit and a forwarding addressis available. Newspapersshall 
be forwarded by truck mail for seven (7) days and other subscriptions shall be 
forwardedby truck mail for 45 days after an offender is transferredbetweenTDCJ 
institutions if truck rnail is a"lailable betweenthe two (2) institutions. Should an 
offender leave the unit of assignment for temporary medical treatrnent, 

correspondence,newspapersand magazines shall be held by the unit mailroom 
until the offender returns to the unit. 

Mailrooms 

All unit mailrooms shall be open and provide mail service Monday through 
Friday, excepton holidays recognizedby the United Statespostal Service. 


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Treatment Programs 

The SubstanceAbuseTreatmentProgram (SATP), the SexOffenderTreatment 
Program (SOTP) and othertreatmentprogramsor therapeutic communities,as 
approvedby the CID Director and the Rehabilitationand ReentryPrograms 
Division (RRPD) Director and maintainedby the MSCP, may have more 
restrictive content-basedrequirements for general correspondenceand 

publications,as long as those more restrictiverequirementsare directedat the 
treatmentgoalsand needs of the treatment programor therapeutic community. 

V. 
Review Procedures for Denied Items 
A. 
Handling of Denied Items 
Any incoming or outgoing corespondence or pr.rblicationsthat are rejected shall 
not be destroyed, but shall remain with the mailroom officer subject to 
examination and review by those involved in the administration of appeal 
proceduresoutlined herein. Upon completion of the appeal procedures,if the 
correspondenceor publication is denied, the offender may requestthat it continue 
to be held in the custody of the mailroom officer for use in any legal proceeding 
contemplatedby the offender, or that it be disposed of in one (1) of the following 
manners unless security concerns mandate the offender not have a choice in the 
disposition: 

1. 
Mail the publication or coffespondence to any person at the offender's 
expense; 
2. 
Destroy the publication or correspondence,only with the offender's 
written permission;or 
3. 
Any item (i.e., free gifts) receivedas a result of a subscription purchase or 
renewal shall be disposed of in accordancewith AD-03.72, "offender 
Property." 
B. 
CorrespondenceAppeal Procedure 
Any offender or other correspondent,or editor or publisher of a publication may 
appeal the rejection of any correspondenceor publication. An offender or a 
correspondentmay appeal the placementof the correspondenton the offender's 
negativemailing list. An offender or a correspondentmay apply to the DRC for 
reconsiderationof the negative mailing list placementafter the passageof six (6) 
months. 


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1. Howto Appeal 
A writtennoticeof appeal shallbesentto the DRC within two (2) weeksof 
notificationof rejection. Uponreceiptof notification, thecorrespondence

or 

publicationin question shallbesentto the DRC. 

2. FinalDecision 
The DRC shall renderits decisionwithin two (2) weeksafter receiving the 
appeal, and shall issue written notification of the decision to the parties 
involved within 48 hours. 

3. Delegation 
The DRC Chainrranmay delegatedecisionsregalclingcorrespondenceand 
publication denials to the MSCP, which will 

be bound to the suidelines 
applicableto the DRC regarding appeals. 

ChristinaMeltonCrain,Chairman 
TexasBoardof Criminal Justice