03-005/05 Religious Services

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

PURPOSE OF ORDER:     To provide guidelines for chaplain services at the North County Correctional Facility (NCCF).

SCOPE OF ORDER:          This order applies to all personnel assigned to and/or working at the North County Correctional Facility (NCCF).

ORDER:

Los Angeles County Sheriff's personnel shall follow a policy of neutrality with respect to religious matters, neither advancing nor impeding religion in practice or belief. All religious services are offered to inmates on a voluntary basis.

Religious services are conducted by various ministries. Ministries desiring to conduct services at NCCF must first receive clearance from the Facility Commander and the Office of Religious and Volunteer Services, located at the Sherman Block Building. Chaplains minister to the spiritual needs of interested inmates through group and/or individual meetings.

General population inmates [REDACTED TEXT] gather for religious services in one of the dayrooms of their building. Meetings are coordinated and scheduled through NCCF’s Inmate Services unit.

A master, schedule of religious and scheduled services is posted on Inmate Services’ web page on the NCCF intranet site. Building personnel shall be notified by Inmate Services whenever special services are conducted outside of time slots on this schedule.

Building rovers shall assist staff station officers with supervising building activities such as religious services, education-based incarceration classes, and other rehabilitation meetings/services.

Rovers shall provide frequent and random security checks of the service(s) until the event has concluded and all inmates have returned to their respective dorms. Any inability to conduct these checks shall be brought to the immediate attention of the building supervisor.