501 KAR 7:120. Admission; searches and release.

501 KAR 7:120. Admission; searches and release.

RELATES TO: KRS 441.045, 441.055

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 441.055

NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 441.055(1) requires the Department of Corrections to promulgate administrative regulations establishing minimum standards for jails that elect to house state prisoners. This administrative regulation establishes admission, search, and release procedures for restricted custody centers.

Section 1. Policy and Procedure. Each center shall develop written admission, orientation, and release procedures to be included in the center's policy and procedure manual.

Section 2. Admission. (1) The center staff shall ensure that each prisoner is transferred under proper legal authority by a duly authorized officer.

(2) Prisoner records shall be delivered to the center at the time of admission. The admitting officer shall make certain that all required forms are complete and that information is current.

Section 3. Searches. (1) The center staff shall conduct a search of each prisoner and his possessions upon admission.

(a) Each prisoner shall be searched for contraband in a manner as responsible staff reasonably determine is necessary to protect the safety of fellow prisoners, staff and institutional security. The search shall be conducted in a private area and in a manner which protects the prisoner's dignity to the extent possible in that particular center.

(b) A prisoner may be strip searched only on reasonable suspicion that is based upon the existence of objective information that may predict the likelihood of the presence of a weapon, drugs, or other item of contraband concealed on a particular prisoner. Reasonable suspicion shall be based upon one (1) or more of the following:

1. A current offense involving felony violence, drug charges, or fugitive status;

2. A criminal history of offenses involving the use of a weapon or the possession of contraband;

3. Institutional behavior, reliable information, or history that indicates possession or manufacturing of contraband, the refusal to submit to a clothed pat down search, or a clothed pat down search reveals the possession of contraband;

4. Contact with the public by a contact visit, court appearance that takes place in an area to which the public may have access, or after transport from or through an area to which the public may have access; or

5. The court has ordered commitment to custody after arraignment, conviction, sentencing, or other court appearance and the prisoner was not in custody prior to the court appearance.

1. Date and time of search;

2. Name of prisoner;

3. Name of person conducting search;

4. Type of search; and

5. Result of search.

(d) A strip search shall be conducted by a staff person of the same sex as the prisoner, and in a private area.

(e) Probing of body cavities shall:

1. Not be done unless there is reasonable suspicion to believe that the prisoner is carrying contraband in a body cavity; and

2. Be conducted in a private location, under sanitary conditions, by a licensed medical professional, acting within his statutory scope of practice.

(2) Each center shall develop written policies and procedures, specifying the personal property that a prisoner may retain in his possession.

(a) Cash or personal property taken from a prisoner upon admission shall be listed by complete description on a receipt form, and securely stored pending the prisoner's release. The receipt shall be signed by the receiving officer and the prisoner.

(b) Personal property released to a third party shall have the prisoner's signature of approval and the signature receipt of the third party.

Section 4. Orientation. (1) The prisoner shall sign to indicate if he has received an oral and a written copy of the prisoner orientation information. This document shall be placed in the prisoner's file. Special assistance shall be given to any illiterate or non-English speaking prisoner.

(2) The orientation shall provide the prisoner with information regarding his confinement, including the following:

(a) Information pertaining to rising and retiring, meals, mail procedures, work assignments, telephone privileges, visitation, correspondence, commissary, medical care, and other matters related to the conditions of the prisoner's confinement;

(b) Rules of prisoner conduct established pursuant to 501 KAR 7:060, Section 1(3);

(d) Information regarding work, educational and vocational training, counseling, and other social service programs;

(e) Procedures for making a request or registering a complaint with the center's staff or department personnel. Prisoners shall follow the grievance procedure and attach copies of the grievance forms if requesting a review by the Department of Corrections.

Section 5. Release. (1) Written legal authorization shall be required prior to the release or removal of a prisoner from confinement.

(2) When any prisoner is released or removed for any legal purpose to the custody of another, the identity of the receiving authority shall be verified.

(3) A written record shall be kept of the time, purpose, date, and authority for release or removal from confinement, and into whose custody the prisoner is released or removed.

(4) Prior to the release or removal of a prisoner, the receiving authority shall sign an authorized release form.

(5) Before jail personnel releases a prisoner to an out-of-state jurisdiction, jail personnel shall consult with the appropriate prosecutorial office in the county.

(6) Property, not legally confiscated or retained, receipted from the prisoner upon admission shall be returned to the prisoner at the time of release.

(7) Each prisoner shall sign a receipt for property returned at the time of release.

(8) A complaint regarding property returned shall be submitted in writing with specific details within twenty-four (24) hours from the time of release.

Section 6. Transfer. (1) The jailer shall develop policy and procedure to determine the conditions under which a prisoner becomes ineligible to remain at the restricted custody facility and shall be transferred to the secure jail.

(2) A prisoner transferred to the secure jail shall be accompanied by:

(a) An incident report specifying the reasons for the transfer;

(b) The prisoner's record; and

(c) The prisoner's personal property. (13 Ky.R. 827; eff. 11-11-86; Am. 19 Ky.R. 1880; eff. 6-7-93; 26 Ky.R. 182; 27 Ky.R. 92; eff. 7-17-2000; 31 Ky.R. 1576; 1808; eff. 5-26-05.)