Reference No.

1 of 5

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUAL
NORTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION
PRISONS DIVISION
Chapter Title

Pages

ACA Related Standards

4-4497 and 4-4497-1

Subject

MAIL, TELEPHONE AND VISITING

INMATE ACCESS TO TELEPHONES

Date Issued

Date Revised

November 8, 1990

January 29, 2008

I.

AUTHORITY:

II.

PURPOSE: To set forth policy and procedure governing inmate access to and use of
telephones.

III.

APPLICABILITY: This administrative regulation applies to all inmates and to all staff
members who may be requested to permit an inmate to communicate by telephone.

IV.

DEFINITIONS: As used in this document, the following definitions shall apply:

V.

North Dakota Century Code 12-47-12.

A.

Legal Representatives: Attorneys, legal aid officers or assistants to the inmates'
attorney of record.

B.

Emergency Telephone Calls: Calls involving serious illness, death or impending
disaster related to the inmate's property which cannot be deferred until regular mail
delivery.

POLICY:
A.

VI.

Written policy, procedure, and practice provide for inmate access to public telephones.
Inmates with hearing and/or speech disabilities, and inmates who wish to
communicate with parties who have such disabilities, are afforded access to a
Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD), or comparable equipment. Public
telephones with volume control are also made available to inmates with hearing
impairment. (4-4497)
PROCEDURE:
A.

All verbal communication by inmates, including use of telephones, will be conducted
using only the English Language unless prior approval has been obtained from the
Chief of Security, Unit Manager or designees.
Exceptions will be considered based on religious and individual case needs.

B.

Inmate telephone calls, except legal calls, are subject to monitoring and recording.

C.

Telephone calls to attorneys or other legal representatives may be permitted upon
request. All in-state attorney's phone numbers are automatically identified and
blocked by the inmate phone company to prevent monitoring by staff, ensuring
confidentiality. It is the inmates responsibility to notify the phone company of
attorney's numbers from outside the state so they may be added to the "no monitoring"
list.

D.

The inmate phone service may block numbers of parties who refuse to pay their bill,
have requested that their number be blocked or The Chief of Security has determined
are unauthorized.

Reference No.

2 of 5

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUAL
NORTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION
PRISONS DIVISION
Chapter Title

Pages

ACA Related Standards

4-4497 and 4-4497-1

Subject

MAIL, TELEPHONE AND VISITING

INMATE ACCESS TO TELEPHONES

Date Issued

Date Revised

November 8, 1990

January 29, 2008

E.

If an inmate receives an incoming call of an emergency nature, the telephone number
and name of the calling party will be obtained and after verification of the emergency,
the inmate shall be permitted to return the call pertaining to the emergency. When
ever possible, the call should be collect. Staff assistance may be given when a collect
call is not possible.

F.

Inmates are allowed 10 numbers to put on their calling lists. This will not include
attorneys or clergy.

G.

When an inmate is discharged at the completion of his/her sentence their personal
inmate pin number for telephone access will be inactivated in the inmate telephone
system. Upon any offender returning to any facility of the ND DOCR Prisons Division,
any telephone number on the pre-existing approved telephone list of the returning
offender can only be approved through an updated application. No telephone number
can be reactivated without a current and approved telephone application through the
contract provider. Unused money left in an inmate phone account when discharged
will be forfeited and placed in the Inmate Betterment Fund.

H.

Access and Use of Telephone Equipment
1.

Telephone calls by inmates shall be permitted during recreation times, or by
housing unit policy. Inmates in Disciplinary Detention are not allowed telephone
calls, but shall be eligible to respond to incoming emergency calls at the Unit
Manager or Shift Supervisor's discretion.
a.

Professional Calls
At times, inmates will need to call attorneys or clergy during non-recreation
hours. For these special calls, inmates must complete a phone request slip
and ensure that it is given to the Unit Staff by 8:00 a.m. for that day. The
calls will be limited to attorneys and clergy only and the Unit Staff will have
sole responsibility for the approval or disapproval of the call. These calls
will be made between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
When education calls are necessary, the inmate will seek approval through
the Education Director who will notify the Unit Staff.
When calls to the Veterans Administration are necessary, the inmate will
seek approval through the Work Release Supervisor who will notify the Unit
Staff.
Work release calls must be completed with the assistance of the Work
Release Supervisor.
Calls requiring "special handling", such as emergencies, may be referred to
the Treatment staff by the Unit Staff.

Reference No.

3 of 5

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUAL
NORTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION
PRISONS DIVISION
Chapter Title

Pages

ACA Related Standards

4-4497 and 4-4497-1

Subject

MAIL, TELEPHONE AND VISITING

INMATE ACCESS TO TELEPHONES

Date Issued

Date Revised

November 8, 1990

January 29, 2008
If calls cannot be completed, the Unit Staff will attempt to give the inmate
another time to complete the call. There will be no loitering near the phone
area.

b.

Unauthorized Calls:
No calls will be allowed to the Governor, judges, clerks of court, parole
office, medical agencies or Department of Corrections staff, businesses, or
employers, the media and law enforcement agencies. Inmates may
communicate to the above through written correspondence.
Phone calls may be made to people that have registered on the inmate
telephone call list. No phone calls may be made for another inmate. Use of
another inmates pin number is prohibited.
No credit card, three-way calls, conference calls, 1-800 or 1-900 calls are
allowed. Call forwarding is prohibited.

c.

Social Calls
The institution has provided a number of local and long distance phones. In
the event a phone is inoperative, it should be reported to a staff member.
Personal and social calls can be made during the recreation period.
Inmates must limit their calls to 15 minutes. If an individual fails to abide by
this rule, phone privileges may be suspended.
THE PHONES ARE SUBJECT TO BEING MONITORED AND
RECORDED.
If an inmate places a phone call, he must complete the call. He may not
give the phone to another inmate.

d.

Staff-Assisted:
Inmates are prohibited from using any staff telephone.
There may, however, be emergency situations when inmates will need staff
to assist in placing a non-collect call.
Requests for a long-distance call must be made 24 hours in advance by
writing to the Caseworker. Caseworkers will verify the need for the call
(as opposed to writing a letter) and if approved, will assist in placing the
call.
The following are examples of the types of calls that may be allowed:

Reference No.

4 of 5

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUAL
NORTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION
PRISONS DIVISION
Chapter Title

Pages

ACA Related Standards

4-4497 and 4-4497-1

Subject

MAIL, TELEPHONE AND VISITING

INMATE ACCESS TO TELEPHONES

Date Issued

Date Revised

November 8, 1990

January 29, 2008

e.

i.

Family emergencies: Do not require 24-hour notice. (death,
hospitalization, etc)

ii.

Legal matters: Must have some pending immediacy. The inmate
should be able to show a court date or filing date within approximately
30 days. In most other cases, it is possible for the inmate to complete
their business through the mail.

iii.

Family Contacts: In some cases, it is appropriate to allow the inmate
one fifteen-minute phone call per month to contact an immediate
family member. For example, if the family member cannot afford to
pay for the long distance call and it can be shown that there has been
no telephone contact, it may be appropriate. Phone records of the
inmate for past contacts, frequency of calls, etc. should be checked.

iv.

Staff are authorized to use their discretion in approving these calls. It
may be determined there is or would have been enough time to
accomplish the same goal through the mail, if the inmate were to plan
accordingly.

v.

Inmate Group Activities: These calls must be made by the staff
member in charge of the inmate group.

Calls to the Media
All inmate telephone calls to the media will be approved by the Warden or
designee. The Warden or designee will disapprove inmate telephone calls
that will cause harassment to the media or threaten the security of the
Prisons Division. Inmates must request this permission by writing to the
Warden or designee.

I.

Incoming Attorney Phone Calls
1.

All attorney phone calls shall be directed in all cases to the assigned inmate
records staff, Monday through Friday. The Assigned inmate records staff will
receive the phone call, inquire as to the information sought and if the attorney
requests a return phone call from the inmate. The Assigned inmate records staff
will pass on the message of the requested return phone call to the Unit Staff.
Inmates will be permitted to call their attorney, if possible, on the same day
during working hours at the convenience of the Institution.

2. On weekends, holidays and after normal business hours, all attorney phone calls
will be directed to the Case Manager or Shift Supervisor on duty. The Case
Manager or Shift Supervisor will take the message and at the convenience of the
Institution during business hours the next working day have the inmate return the
phone call to the requesting attorney.

Reference No.

5 of 5

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUAL

ACA Related Standards

NORTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION
PRISONS DIVISION
Chapter Title

Pages

4-4497 and 4-4497-1

Subject

MAIL, TELEPHONE AND VISITING

INMATE ACCESS TO TELEPHONES

Date Issued

Date Revised

November 8, 1990

January 29, 2008

3. VII.

POLICY

Written policy, procedure, and practice ensure that offenders have access to reasonably
Priced telephone services. Correctional agencies ensure that:
• Contracts involving telephone services for offenders comply with all applicable
state and federal regulations
• Contracts are based on rates and surcharges that are commensurate with those
charged to the general public for like services. Any deviation from ordinary
consumer rates reflects actual costs associated with the provision of services in a
correctional setting.
• Contracts for offender telephone services provide the broadest range of calling
options determined by the agency administrator to be consistent with the
requirements of sound correctional management.(4-4497-1)
VIII. PROCEDURE
A.

All inmate telephone calls shall be collect calls or debit card calls.

_____________________________
Tim Schuetzle, Warden, NDSP
Director, Prisons Division

______________________________
Leann K. Bertsch, Director of
Corrections & Rehabilitation

_____________________________
Date

______________________________
Date

12-01 (Reviewed)
12-02 (Revised)
11-03 (Revised)
06-04 (Revised)
01-05 (Revised)
12-05 (Revised)
11-06 (Revised)
07-07 (Revised)
01-08 (Revised)