The purpose of this order is to establish procedures for receiving and distributing inmate newspapers, books, periodicals, and other reading materials.
This order shall apply to all personnel assigned to Pitchess Detention Center (PDC) North Facility.
The Los Angeles Daily News and La Opinion are delivered daily at approximately 0500 hours to PDC North Facility. The vendor shall enter the pedestrian sally port and deliver all of the newspapers to main control. Ranger 5 and the utility officer on EM shift are responsible for delivering the newspapers to the Module Control Officer (MCO) in each module. Module personnel shall be responsible for the distribution of the newspapers to each dorm.
A library of books and periodicals shall be maintained in bookshelves in each of the module’s multipurpose rooms (MPR). Inmates shall be allowed to exchange and select books from the MPR as time permits. It shall be the responsibility of the Inmate Services officer to replenish the stock of library books in each module as necessary.
PDC North Facility does not maintain an inmate law library; however, inmates are able to request basic legal materials from Inmate Services. It shall be the responsibility of Inmate Services to assist the inmates in accessing legal materials and meeting the inmate’s needs without unnecessary transfer. Legal reference materials shall be provided to the inmate in the visiting area of each module so they can be directly supervised.
The Office of Religious and Volunteer Services (RVS) is responsible for the distribution of all religious inmate reading materials.
Inmates housed in administrative segregation shall have the same access to reading materials as the general inmate population. Inmates housed in E-Row for disciplinary purposes, subsequent to the Disciplinary Review Board (DRB) hearing, shall be allowed a minimum of one book and one religious text. Module staff are responsible for the distribution and rotation of reading materials to inmates in E-Row. Any additional reading materials for inmates on discipline status shall be at the discretion of the unit commander.