PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following proposed rule:
Proposed Action:
Amendment of section 721.2(b)(5) of Title 7 NYCRR.
Statutory authority:
Correction Law, section 112
Subject:
Privileged Correspondence.
Purpose:
To clarify that incoming mail from a County clerk shall be processed as regular correspondence.
Text of proposed rule:
The Department of Correctional Services amends section 721.2(b)(5) of 7NYCRR as indicated below:
(b) The following shall not be defined as privileged correspondence but shall be processed as general incoming correspondence in accordance with Part 720 of this Title, "Inmate Correspondence Program":
(1) mail which is not delivered in an envelope bearing the identity and official business return address of one of the above listed persons or entities;
(2) mail received from a board of elections;
(3) mail received from the Department of Motor Vehicles;
(4) mail received from the State Education Department, excluding materials sent to inmates marked "legal mail" by the New York State Library's Prisoner Services Project;
(5) mail received from any county or local tax assessor or clerk, except for a clerk of a court (Note: notwithstanding that a county clerk may also be a clerk of a court, mail from a county clerk shall be processed as general incoming correspondence); and
(6) mail received from the secretary of state, department of state, corporation division or uniform commercial code unit of any state.
Text of proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:
Maureen E. Boll, Deputy Commissioner and Counsel, New York State Department of Correctional Services, 1220 Washington Avenue - Harriman State Campus - Building 2, Albany, NY 12226-2050, (518) 457-4951, email: Rules@Docs.state.ny.us
Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:
Same as above.
Public comment will be received until:
45 days after publication of this notice.
Regulatory Impact Statement
Statutory Authority
Sections 112 of Correction Law assigns to the Commissioner the superintendence, management and control of all inmates confined within correctional facilities of all matters relating to the government, discipline, and policing thereof.
Legislative Objective
By vesting the commissioner with the rulemaking authority as stated in section 112 of Correction Law, the legislature intended the commissioner to promulgate such rules and regulations that are in the best interest of orderly institutional operations and not in conflict with any statutes of the state.
Needs and Benefits
Since July 11, 2002, incoming mail to inmates received from a county clerk has not been defined as privileged correspondence, but is processed as general incoming correspondence. The change would clarify that this remains the case, notwithstanding that a county clerk may also be a clerk of the court. As a county clerk's office is the repository of public records that may contain personal identifying information, the ability to carefully process incoming correspondence from this source is important. The processing of privileged correspondence provides a greater deal of confidentiality for the inmate than general incoming correspondence since it is opened in the presence of the inmate. This process is also staff intensive since it requires specific scheduling of staff and the inmate's presence, therefore to avoid any undue burden on facility staffing resources it is essential that only mail that is clearly defined as being privileged is processed in this manner. This change is necessary since the return address is the only means facility staff has to identify whether correspondence is to be processed as privileged.
Costs
a) To agency, the state and local governments: None.
b) Costs to private regulated parties: None. The proposed amendment does not apply to private parties.
c) This cost analysis takes into account that the Department already has procedures in place for the processing of incoming privileged correspondence. The proposed change is merely clarifying a definition and the end result would be to decrease an unnecessary burden to facility staffing.
Local Government Mandates
There are no new mandates imposed upon local governments by these proposals. The proposed amendments do not apply to local governments.
Paperwork
There are no new reports, forms or paperwork that would be required as a result of amending these rules.
Duplication
These proposed amendments do not duplicate any existing State or Federal requirement.
Alternatives
No alternatives are apparent and none have been considered. The change was determined to be necessary in order to address the specificity of the subject matter.
Federal Standards
There are no apparent minimum standards of the Federal government regarding this issue.
Compliance Schedule
The Department of Correctional Services will achieve compliance with the proposed rules immediately.
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
A regulatory flexibility analysis is not required for this proposal since it will not impose any adverse economic impact or reporting, record keeping or other compliance requirements on small businesses or local governments. This proposal does not require any additional job duties for staff or changes to established procedures. It simply provides clarification with regard to the processing of incoming mail that is received from a County Clerk.
Rural Area Flexibility Analysis
A rural area flexibility analysis is not required for this proposal since it will not impose any adverse economic impact or reporting, recordkeeping or other compliance requirements on rural areas. This proposal does not require any additional job duties for staff or changes to established procedures. It simply provides clarification with regard to the processing of incoming mail that is received from a County Clerk.
Job Impact Statement
A job impact statement is not submitted because this proposed rule will have no adverse impact on jobs or employment opportunities. This proposal does not require any additional job duties for staff or changes to established procedures. It simply provides clarification with regard to the processing of incoming mail that is received from a County Clerk.
