APPLICABILITY

STATE OF WASHINGTON
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

PRISON
OFFENDER/SPANISH MANUALS
REVISION DATE

PAGE NUMBER

NUMBER

7/31/07

1 of 8

DOC 450.200

TITLE

POLICY'

TELEPHONE USE BY OFFENDERS

REVIEW/REVISION HISTORY:
Effective:
Revised:
Revised:
Revised:
Revised:
Revised:
Reviewed:
Revised:

3/31/91
12/31/96
6/12/00
11/6/00
5/9/03
7/5/05
7/17/06
7/31/07

SUMMARY OF REVISION/REVIEW:
Major changes to reflect current practices and incorporate DOC 450.210 Telephone Monitoring
and Recording into this policy

APPROVED:

f·~
HAROLD W. CLARKE, Secretary
Department of Corrections

6/21/07
Date Signed

000876

APPLICABI L1TY

STATE OF WASHINGTON
PRISON
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS . OFFENDER/SPANISH MANUALS
REVISION DATE

PAGE NUMBER

·7/31/07

2 of 8

NUMBER

. DOC 450.200

TITLE

POLICY

TELEPHONE USE BY OFFENDERS

REFERENCES:
DOC 100.100 is hereby incorporated into this policy; RCW 9.73.095; WAC 137-48-080; ACA
4-4280; ACA 4-4497; ACA 4-4497-1; DOC 590.500 Legal Access for Offenders

POLICY:
I.

[4-4497] Offenders in Prison facilities are provided access to public telephones subject to

limitations and restrictions to ensure the security and order of the facility and to protect
the public.
II.

[4-4497-1] Offenders will have access to reasonably priced telephone services. The

Department will ensure that:
A.

Contracts involving telephone services for offenders comply with all applicable
state and federal regulations.

B.

Contracts are based on rates and surcharges that are commensurate with those
charged to the general public for like services. Any deviation from ordinary
consume·r rates reflects actual costs associated with the provisions of services in
a correctional setting.
.

C.

Contracts for offender telephone services provide the broadest range of calling
options determined by the Department Secretary to be consistent with the
requirements of sound correctional management.

III.

The Department uses an offender telephone monitoring/recording system to enhance
facility security, increase offender and public safety, and reduce the occurrence of
criminal activities or activities that could be a threat to the orderly operation of a
correctional facility.

IV.

Offender telephone systems in Prison facilities will require offenders to use an Inmate
Personal Identification Number (I PIN) when placing phone calls, to provide a means of
identifying the offender who initiated a call in the event of a security concern or a
.complaint from the public.

V.

Offenders' constitutional rights will be protected by providing for unmonitored legal
phone calls.

DIRECTIVE:
I.

Inmate Personal Identification Number (IPIN)

000877

APPLICABILITY

STATE OF WASHINGTON
PRISON
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS' OFFENDER/SPANISH MANUALS
REVISION DATE

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DOC 450.200

TITLE

POLICY
A.

All incoming offenders will be assigned an IPIN during intake at the Washington
Corrections Center (WCC) and the Washington Corrections Center for Women
(WCCW) Reception Centers.

B.

Inmates Sentenced to the Death Penalty (ISDP) will be assigned an IPIN at the
Washington State Penitentiary (WSP) or WCCW.

C.

Each offender will sign DOC 21-421 Acknowledgment of Monitoring Telephones
and Conversations/Receipt of Inmate Personal Identification Number (IPIN),
acknowledging receipt of an IPIN and notification of telephone monitoring; The
original is placed in Section 1 of the offender's central file.
1.

Offenders will be shown a training video in English or Spanish during
orientation to instruct them on the use of an IPIN.

2.

An offender's IPIN will remain the same throughout his/her incarceration.

3.

Offenders are responsible for the security of their IPINs.

D.

Counselors and Records staff will randomly audit offender central files to ensure'
DOC 21'-421 Acknowledgement of Monitoring Telephones and Conversations/
Receipt of Inmate Personal Identification Number (IPIN) is present.

E.

Offenders will immediately report lost, stolen, or compromised IPINs to facility'
staff, The facility staff will report the loss or compromise to the vendori by email .
to inmate@fshcommunications.com.
1.

II.

TELEPHONE USE BY OFFENDERS

Offenders may be charged fora replacement IPIN. Offenders will not be
denied an IPIN because of indigency.

F.

Offenders should report non-working IPINs and other related problems by calling
(360) 555-1212.

G.

Violators returned to a facility will be issued their old IPIN.

Offender Initiated Personal Calls
A.

Signs will be posted advising offenders that their calls may be monitored and .
recorded.

B.

Offenders will not have unsupervised access to staff telephones.

C.

Superintendents will set hours of availability and limitations for offender initiated
personal calls.

000878

APPLICABILITY

STATE OF WASHINGTON
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

PRISON
OFFENDER/SPANISH MANUALS
REVISION DATE

PAGE NUMBER

NUMBER

7/31/07

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DOC 450.200

TITLE

POLICY

TELEPHONE USE BY OFFENDERS

D.

Offenders will have personal access to designated offender telephones that have
collect call, or prepaid or debit options when available, and are located in
accessible areas.

E.

Offenders will not use the telephone system to continue or initiate criminal
activity.

F.

Custom call features such as, 3-way calling, call forwarding, etc., are not
permitted.

G.

,Offenders mustenter their IPIN to initiate a telephone call and are responsible for
all calls made using their assigned IPIN. An offender's IPIN will work at the
facility where s/he is assigned.
1.

At the beginning of each call a recorded message will be played to notify
the recipient:
a.
b.
c.
d.

That the call is originating from a Washington State Department of
Corrections offender,
The name of the offender,
To hang up if they do not wish to receive the call, or press the
appropriate key to block the call, and
. That the call will be recorded and may be monitored.

H.

Telephones are programmed to.restrict calls to 20 minutes.

I.

Offenders with hearing and/or speech disabilities, and offenders who wish to
communicate with parties who have such disabilities, are afforded access to a
TelecommunicationsDevice for the Deaf (TOO). [4-4497]

J.

1.

Deaf and hearing impaired offender telephone calls placed on
TeleTypelTelecommunication Device for theDeaf (TTYITDD) machines
from staff or offender telephone lines are subject to the s~me monitoring
as all other offender telephone calls, except for,legal calls.

2.

Deaf or hearing impaired offenders may be required to use a teletype roll
of paper with the TTYITDD machine. When the callis completed, the
used teletype paper will be turned in to designated staff for monitoring
purposes.

An offender who has an incarcerated spouse may be allowed one non-IPIN,
.monitored SCAN call every 30 days.

1.

The call will not exceed 20 minutes.

000879

APPLICABILITY

STATE OF WASHINGTON
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

PRISON
OFFENDER/SPANISH MANUALS
REVISION DATE

PAGE NUMBER

NUMBER

7/31/07

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DOC 450.200

TITLE

POLICY
2.
3.
4.
,K.

L.
III.

TELEPHONE USE BY OFFENDERS

These calls will be arranged, supervised, and documented by designated
staff.
The offender must provide proof of marriage prior to this type of SCAN call
being placed.
The Superintendent/designee of the facility receiving the call must
approve.

Superintendents or designees may permit an offender the use of a non-IPIN
SCAN telephone line under compelling circumstances such as family
emergencies. This type of call will be placed and supervised by staff.
Any violations of this policy may result in the loss or suspension of telephone
privileges via the disciplinary or classification process.

Attorney Calls and Calls to Consular Officers
A.

Attorney calls and calls to consular officers will not be intercepted, recorded, or
monitored.
1.

B.

Offenders will use an offender telephone to call their attorney.
1.

C.

Offenders who are foreign nationals have access to a'diplomatic
representative of their country of citizenship. [4-4280]

The call will not be recorded if the offender uses the telephone number
provided to the Department by the Washington State Bar Association, to
prevent the offender from making fraudulent calls. This does not prohibit
anoffende,r from calling his/her attorney at another telephone number, but
that call may be recorded.

The following are requirements for offender calls to consular officers:
'1.

An offender, or his/her consular officer, will be responsible for the cost of
the unmonitored and unrecorded telephone calls.

2.

All offender calls to consular officers will be placed by st~ff and will be
made on a designated telephone. Staff will not listen to the conversation,
but will maintain visual contact of the offender when the offender is in an
area where security or information may be compromised.

3.

The offender will provide staff with the name, location, and telephone
number of the cOllsular office.

4.

Staff will verify that the information provided is in fact that of a consular
officer. The verification need not be. made in the offender's prest1~o 880

APPLICABILITY

STATE OF WASHINGTON
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

PRISON
OFFENDER/SPANISH MANUALS
REVISION DATE

PAGE NUMBER

NUMBER

7/31/07

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DOC 450.200

TITLE

POLICY
a.

IV.

Staff will call the Locator Operator of the United States Department
of State at (202) 647-4000 to confirm the telephone number of the
offender's nearest consular officer.

Offender Telephone Use in Work Assignments
A.

Offenders will not be allowed to place telephone calls to numbers outside the
facility from their work areas.

B.

Offenders may use telephones that access numbers outside the facility if:

C.

V.

TELEPHONE USE BY OFFENDERS

1.

Staff dial the call and the person receiving the call is notified that s/he will
be talking to an offender, or

2.

The call is part of a tele-answering program for CorrectionallndListry (CI)
customers who are notified they will be talking to an offender.

Offenders· may use telephones that access inside or outside the facility to speak
. to Department staff or other offender workers to conduct work-related
discussions if staff place the calls.

D.

Prisons Administrators may approve exceptions to requirements for offender
telephone use in work assignments in writing and will forward a copy to the
Prisons Deputy Secretary.

E.

Superintendents must review and approve each offender who will have access to
telephones as part of his/her assigned work program.
1.

Offenders with a conviction or history of a sex offense will not be allowed
telephone access.

2.

Offenders with a conviction or history of fraud or other predatory behavior,
where the offender has demonstrated a process of grooming the victim
through stalking or otherwise laying the groundwork for the criminal act,
will not be allowed telephone access.

Access to Phone Numbers
A.

Any offender with a conviction or history of a sex offense will not have access to
names, addresses, or phone numbers of private individuals while performing
his/her duties in an offender work program.

B.

Offenders will not have unsupervised access to white page listings of any public
telephone directory.

000881

APPLICABILITY

STATE OF WASHINGTON
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

PRISON
OFFENDER/SPANISH MANUALS
REVISION DATE

PAGE NUMBER

NUMBER

7/31/07

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DOC 450.200

TITLE

POLICY
C.
VI.

Telephone directories are not allowed in any offender common area.

Telephone Monitoring

A.

The Correctional Intelligence Manager/designee has overall responsibility for the
Statewide Offender Telephone Monitoring and Recording Program.

B.

Superintendents will designate and authorize the following staff to intercept,
record, and divulge any telephone calls from an offender using the offender
telephone system:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Department's Intelligence Manager,
Department's Intelligence Coordinator,
Investigators assigned to conduct Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)
investigations,
Intelligence and Investigations staff, and/or
Other specific staff designated by the Superintendent.

C.

Staff must successfully complete training before they can engage in monitoring
or recording offender phone calls.

D.

Training will be coordinated with the offender telephone vendor. Training will
include:
.
1.
2.
3.·
4.
5.

VII.

TELEPHONE USE BY OFFENDERS

Applicable administrative regulations,
The legal aspects of monitoring,
Reporting responsibilities,
Confidentiality requirements, and
Technical instruction in the use of the monitoring/recording equipment.

E.

Staff not attending formal training by the vendor may receive on-site training
which will consist of 16 hours or supervised monitoring. The Chief Investigator
providing the training will notify the Performance Unit upon successful completion
of the training.

F.

Training received will be documented and maintained through the Performance
Unit.

Disclosure

A.

All recordings will be kept in accordance with RCW 9.73.095..

B.

The contents of an intercepted and recorded telephone conversation will be
divulged only as necessary to safeguard the orderly operation of the facility; in
response to a court order, or in the prosecution orinv~stigation of a crime. 000882

APPLICABILITY

STATE OF WASHINGTON
DEPARTMENTOF CORRECTIONS

PRISON
OFFENDER/SPANISH MANUALS
REVISION DATE

PAGE NUMBER

NUMBER

7/31/07

8 of 8

DOC 450.200

TITLE·

POLICY
1.

TELEPHONE USE BY OFFENDERS

The Attorney Generals Office will review all court orders prior to the
divulgence of the recordings to ensure that it is a court order and has been
served lawfully.

C.

When the recording is used as evidence for an infraction, the infraction will start
by indicating the offender was overheard, and include the information that was
discussed and what was said to cause an infraction to be written. The Hearing
Officer may listen to the telephone call prior to the hearing. An offender will
never have access tp or listen to a recorded call.

D.

An outside agency conducting a criminal investigation or in the prosecution of
any crime may request a recording by submitting a written request on agency
letterhead. .

E.

The nature and capabilities of the offender telephone monitoring systems are
considered confidential and will not be discussed with general staff or in front of
offenders.

F.

Recording equipment will be installed per approved telecommunication
guidelines.

DEFINITIONS:

Words/terms appearing in this policy may be defined in the glossary section of the Policy
Manual.
ATTACHMENTS:

None·
DOC FORMS.:

DOC21-421 Acknowledgment of Monitoring Telephones and Conversations/Receipt of Inmate
Personal Identification Number (IPIN)

000881