BOP Program Statement 5265.14 § 5

§ 540.13 Notification of rejections.

When correspondence is rejected, the Warden shall notify the sender in writing of

the rejection and the reasons for the rejection. The Warden shall also give notice

that the sender may appeal the rejection. The Warden shall also notify an inmate

of the rejection of any letter addressed to that inmate, along with the reasons for

the rejection and shall notify the inmate of the right to appeal the rejection. The

Warden shall refer an appeal to an official other than the one who originally

disapproved the correspondence. The Warden shall return rejected

correspondence to the sender unless the correspondence includes plans for or

discussion of commission of a crime or evidence of a crime, in which case there

is no need to return the correspondence or give notice of the rejection, and the

correspondence should be referred to appropriate law enforcement authorities.

Also, contraband need not be returned to the sender.

The Warden may not delegate the authority to reject correspondence or sign notification letters

below the level of Associate Warden.

Section 6.d outlines the basis for determining whether correspondence should be rejected.

Returned Correspondence (BP-A0327) is used to notify the involved parties of the rejection.

“Nuisance” contraband is returned to the sender using Stamps, Negotiable Instrument & Other

Returned to Sender (BP-A0328).

The Warden acknowledges receipt of an appeal from the sender of a rejected letter and

designates the appropriate staff to respond. When the Warden makes the initial rejection, a

subsequent appeal by a non-inmate sender is referred to the Regional Office.

If the Warden is doubtful about the propriety of an incoming or outgoing letter or has questions

concerning the interpretation of regulations, he/she may refer the problem to the Regional

Correctional Programs Administrator or the Regional Counsel. In case of rejection, the

offending content is reproduced and retained for a reasonable period (at least 3 months), to have

it available if the rejection is appealed.

P5265.14 4/5/2011 Federal Regulations are shown in this type. Implementing instructions: this type. 7