Section 3140 - Funds Enclosed in Correspondence(a) Funds may be mailed to an incarcerated person in the form of a money order, cashier's check, certified check, personal check, or any other negotiable instrument except cash and traveler's checks.(1) The personal check, money order, cashier's check, certified check, or any other negotiable instrument shall be made payable to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation with the incarcerated person's last name and departmental identification number. This information, along with the sender's name and address, shall be on the face of the negotiable instrument.(2) Funds from other incarcerated/supervised persons shall be only accepted from approved correspondents, pursuant to section 3139, who are members of the same family, or the parent of the incarcerated person's child(ren).(3) Funds received in the mail shall be removed from the envelope by mailroom staff, and the envelope shall be imprinted with a stamp that reads "Funds Enclosed." The date, amount, and initials of the person processing the funds shall be recorded on the envelope before it is forwarded to the incarcerated person. The stamped envelope is the incarcerated person's receipt for the funds.(4) Cash received in incoming mail will be returned to the sender. Mailroom staff shall notify the incarcerated person in writing, informing them that cash was received and will be returned to sender. The envelope containing the cash and two copies of the memo will be forwarded to the Trust Office to be returned to the sender.(5) If a personal check, money order, cashier's check, certified check, or any other negotiable instrument is received in the mailroom and it does not contain the sender's name and address on its face, it will be considered contraband per section 3006, and will be disposed of in accordance with section 3191(c). The negotiable instrument will be held in the Trust Office safe for thirty days while the incarcerated person is contacted in regards to the disposition of the contraband, in accordance with section 3191(c).(6) Mailroom staff shall arrange the day's remittances in numerical order. The remittances shall be listed in sequence on the report of collections. This report shall include each incarcerated person's name, departmental identification number, type of payment, amount, and the total received.(b) Generally, incarcerated persons are not eligible to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) checks from the Social Security Administration, Veteran Affairs Benefits, or Welfare checks from the California Department of Social Services/County Welfare agencies. Depending upon eligibility, incarcerated persons may be allowed to receive tax refund checks. (1) A facility representative shall be appointed by the Associate Warden, Business Services, to assist outside agencies in determining an incarcerated person's eligibility.(2) Mailroom staff shall deliver all received SSI, Veteran Affairs Benefits, and/or welfare and/or tax refund checks to the Trust Office. The Accounting Officer shall notify the facility representative that checks are being held pending determination of eligibility of the incarcerated persons to receive the checks. The facility representative shall notify the appropriate agency.(3) Unauthorized checks shall be returned to the appropriate agency.(c) When a U.S. Government check is received for an incarcerated person who is deceased or discharged from CDCR, the check and envelope shall be returned to the sending agency with the necessary information shown as to the incarcerated person being deceased or discharged.(1) If an incarcerated person has been transferred to another facility, the check shall be forwarded including a note requesting the incarcerated person to notify the state or federal agency of their change of address.(2) Mail received for incarcerated persons who have been paroled shall be forwarded to the office of the parole region to which the incarcerated person was released, or if unable to locate the supervised person, the check should be returned to the originating state or federal agency.(d) Funds shall not be released for spending by the incarcerated person for thirty (30) days from the date of deposit into the trust account and must have cleared the bank upon which they were drawn. When any personal check, money order, cashier's check, certified check, or any other negotiable instrument is received, the face of the envelope in which the funds were received shall be imprinted with a stamp indicating the funds have been accepted at this time. This stamp is not intended to indicate that the funds are immediately available for incarcerated person use, but only that the funds were accepted for processing by the department.(e) No foreign currency shall be accepted. If foreign currency is received, the entire envelope and its contents shall be returned to sender with a pre-printed notice to the sender which states it is unauthorized.Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 15, § 3140
Note: Authority cited: Section 5058, Penal Code. Reference: Section 2601, Penal Code.
Note: Authority cited: Section 5058, Penal Code. Reference: Section 2601, Penal Code.
1. Renumbering of former section 3140 to subsection 3139(j) and new section 3140 filed 7-17-2008; operative 7-17-2008 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4 (Register 2008, No. 29).
2. Amendment of subsection (d) filed 6-27-2011 as an emergency pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3(a)(2); operative 6-27-2011 (Register 2011, No. 26). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3(a)(1), a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 12-5-2011 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
3. Certificate of Compliance as to 6-27-2011 order, including further amendment of subsection (d), transmitted to OAL 11-21-2011 and filed 1-5-2012 (Register 2012, No. 1).
4. Amendment of subsections (a) and (a)(1), new subsection (a)(5), subsection renumbering and amendment of subsection (d) filed 11-14-2016; operative 1/1/2017 (Register 2016, No. 47).
5. Change without regulatory effect amending section filed 7-1-2024 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2024, No. 27).