Section 3134 - General Mail Regulations(a) First-Class Mail can have the following items enclosed, including but not limited to: (1) Photographs, with the exception of photographs with attached backing, framed photographs that cannot be searched, Polaroid's, negatives, and slides.(3) Blank greeting cards (No 3-dimensional attachments or stamps).(4) Postage embossed envelopes, up to forty.(6) Writing paper/tablets (white or yellow lined only -- no cotton paper).(7) Typing paper (no cotton paper).(8) Legal paper, to include colored paper required by court rules (no cotton paper).(10) Newspaper clippings, Internet downloaded articles, photocopies of clippings/articles, or electronic mail (e-mail). Prior to issuance they shall be reviewed to ensure that they comply with sections 3006 and 3135.(11) Forty postage stamps. If there is a rate change, then forty stamps at the old rate, and 40 stamps at the amount needed to equal the new rate. No personalized postage stamps will be allowed. The weight limit for First-Class Mail is 13 ounces, and for Standard Mail is 16 ounces. Photo albums can be obtained by the incarcerated person from the canteen and the Vendor Package Program. Any unacceptable mail shall be immediately returned to the sender with the envelope annotated "Unauthorized Mail, Return to Sender". Incarcerated persons shall be noticed pursuant to section 3136.
(b) Metered Envelopes. Metered reply envelopes sent in with correspondence must adhere to the following conditions: (1) The postage amount must be enough to prepay the postage in full.(2) Indicia may be printed directly on the mail piece or on a label and must be positioned appropriately.(3) Indicia used to prepay reply postage must not show the date.(4) The words "NO POSTAGE STAMP NECESSARY POSTAGE HAS BEEN PREPAID BY" must be printed above the address.(c) Inspection of Incoming and Outgoing Packages will occur as follows:(1) Facilities will establish and make available to all incarcerated persons procedures for shipping packages to their correspondents.(2) Facilities will make available to all incarcerated persons local procedures for the receipt of packages from their correspondents in accordance with limits set for their assigned incarcerated person work/training incentive group. A facility may refuse to deliver the package if the incarcerated person is not qualified to receive it. If the package is in excess of the 30-pound limit, or is damaged, the package shall be returned to the vendor at the vendor's expense.(3) All incoming packages addressed to an incarcerated person shall be opened and inspected in the presence of the incarcerated person. The contents of the package are inspected to record authorized personal property, and to prevent the introduction of contraband.(4) Delivery by staff of packages, special purchases, and all publications, shall be completed as soon as possible but not later than 15 calendar days, except during holiday seasons such as Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving, and during lockdowns or modified programs of affected incarcerated persons.(5) All packages shall be processed and issued from a designated distribution area. All outgoing packages shall be inspected for contraband prior to being sealed and mailed.(d) Contests. Incarcerated persons shall not participate in any contest when a financial obligation is involved or when such participation shall result in expense to the facility beyond the cost of processing mail. If lottery tickets, lottery scratchers, or other contest materials, are discovered in incoming mail, the entire envelope and its contents shall be returned to sender with a pre-printed notice to the sender which states: "Unauthorized item".(e) Incarcerated Person Manuscripts. Manuscripts include, but are not limited to, written, typed or printed articles of fiction and nonfiction, poems, essays, gags, plays, skits, paintings, sketches, drawings, or musical compositions created by an incarcerated person. Any manuscript remains the property of the incarcerated person who created it. It may be retained in the incarcerated person's possession, unless it violates sections 3006 or 3135. If unauthorized state materials have been used in the creation of a manuscript, the item shall be confiscated pending disciplinary action and reimbursement by the incarcerated person for the state materials. Incoming and outgoing manuscripts shall be processed as regular mail in accordance with the provisions of this article.(f) There shall be no limitations placed on the number of persons with whom an incarcerated person may correspond.Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 15, § 3134
Note: Authority cited: Section 5058, Penal Code. Reference: Sections 2601 and 4570, Penal Code; Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396; and Bell v. Wolffish, 99 S. Ct. 1861.
Note: Authority cited: Section 5058, Penal Code. Reference: Sections 2601 and 4570, Penal Code; Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396; and Bell v. Wolffish, 99 S. Ct. 1861.
1. Change without regulatory effect amending section filed 10-29-90 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 91, No. 6).
2. Editorial correction deleting duplicate sentence (Register 91, No. 11).
3. Editorial correction of printing error in Note (Register 92, No. 5).
4. Amendment filed 11-18-96; operative 12-18-96 (Register 96, No. 47).
5. Renumbering of former section 3134 to section 3138 and renumbering of former section 3138 to section 3134, including repealer and new section, filed 7-17-2008; operative 7-17-2008 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4 (Register 2008, No. 29).
6. Amendment of subsection (c)(4) filed 6-14-2011; operative 7-14-2011 (Register 2011, No. 24).
7. Change without regulatory effect amending subsections (a)(11), (c)(1)-(4) and (d)-(f) filed 7-1-2024 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2024, No. 27).