Section 3147 - Special Purchases, Vendor Packages, and Publications-Only Packages(a) Except as otherwise authorized by the Division of Adult Institution (DAI), incarcerated persons are only authorized to receive the items identified within section 3134 from personal correspondents. All other items which are authorized to be mailed or shipped to incarcerated persons shall be in the form of: (1) Special purchases as defined in subsection 3190 (l),(2) Vendor packages as referenced in subsection 3190(h), or(3) Publications-only packages, which are defined as packages that only contain books or periodicals.(b) Special purchases and vendor packages shall be provided only as outlined in section 3190 Publications-only packages shall only be mailed or shipped to the institution directly from a bookstore, distributor, publisher, religious organization, or as outlined in section 3190.(c) Inspection of incoming and outgoing packages shall occur as follows: (1) Institutions shall establish and make available to all incarcerated persons, procedures for shipping packages to persons outside of the institution.(2) Institutions shall make available to all incarcerated persons, local procedures for the receipt of packages in keeping with incarcerated person property limits under section 3190, and based on an incarcerated person's security level and privilege group. An institution shall refuse to deliver a package if the incarcerated person is not authorized to receive it. Packages in excess of 30 pounds and all damaged packages shall be returned at the sender's expense.(3) With the exception of publications-only packages, all incoming packages shall be opened and inspected in the incarcerated person's presence. The package contents shall be inspected to record authorized personal property, and to prevent the introduction of items disapproved under sections 3006, 3134 and 3135. All unauthorized packages and special purchase items shall be processed in accordance with subsection 3191(c).(4) Publications-only packages may be opened and inspected outside the incarcerated person's presence, and the contents shall be processed in accordance with section 3134.1. There shall be no limit placed on the number of publications-only packages an incarcerated person may order; however, incarcerated persons shall be limited to the number of publications they may retain under section 3190.(5) All vendor packages, special purchases, and publications-only packages shall be delivered to incarcerated persons no later than 15 calendar days from receipt at the institution, except during peak mail seasons, such as the week before and after Easter, the week of Thanksgiving through the New Year, or as a result of lockdowns or modified programs.Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 15, § 3147
Note: Authority cited: Section 5058, Penal Code. Reference: Sections 2080, 2600, 2601 and 5054, Penal Code; Procunier v. Martinez, (1974) 416 U.S. 396; Bell v. Wolfish, (1979) 99 S. Ct. 1861; Thornburgh v. Abbott (1989) 109 S. Ct. 1874; Turner v. Safely (1987) 107 S. Ct. 2256; and Prison Legal News v. Schwarzenegger Settlement Agreement, No. Civ-07-02058 CW and Sections C031.5.4, Domestic Mail Manual, issue 46 7/1/93, U.S. Postal Regulations.
Note: Authority cited: Section 5058, Penal Code. Reference: Sections 2080, 2600, 2601, 4570 and 5054, Penal Code; Procunier v. Martinez, (1974) 416 U.S. 396; Bell v. Wolfish, (1979) 99 S. Ct. 1861; Thornburgh v. Abbott (1989) 109 S. Ct. 1874; Turner v. Safely (1987) 107 S. Ct. 2256; and Sections C031.3.0 and C031.5.4, Domestic Mail Manual, issue 46 7/1/93, U.S. Postal Regulations.
1. New section filed 11-21-2024; operative 11/21/2024 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2024, No. 47). For prior history, see Register 2008, No. 29.