33-501.301: Law Libraries
PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The purpose and effect of the proposed rule is to: revise the institutional law library collections to includes the same publications at each facility where a law library is maintained; add a definition to clarify the meaning for interlibrary loan; and require the law library supervisor to immediately assign an inmate law clerk to provide legal assistance upon receipt of an interlibrary loan request.
SUBJECT AREA TO BE ADDRESSED: Law libraries.
SPECIFIC AUTHORITY: 944.09, 944.11 FS.
LAW IMPLEMENTED: 20.315, 944.09, 944.11 FS.
IF REQUESTED IN WRITING AND NOT DEEMED UNNECESSARY BY THE AGENCY HEAD, A RULE DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP WILL BE NOTICED IN THE NEXT AVAILABLE FLORIDA ADMINISTRATIVE WEEKLY.
THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT AND A COPY OF THE PRELIMINARY DRAFT, IF AVAILABLE, IS: Jamie Leigh Jordan, 2601 Blair Stone Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2500
THE PRELIMINARY TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT IS:
33-501.301 Law Libraries.
(1) No change.
(2) Definitions.
(a) through (h) No change.
(i) Law library collection: refers to print and digital/non-print publications that include the following information: the Florida Constitution and Florida Statutes; the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Code; Florida court decisions; U.S. Supreme Court, federal circuit court, and federal district court decisions; case citation-checking that permits users to trace the status of a court decision over time or to identify related court decisions; Florida and federal practice digests; forms manuals; and secondary source materials providing research guidance in the areas of federal habeas corpus, Florida post-conviction and post-sentence remedies, and prisoner’s rights. Law library collection shall also include current copies of departmental rules and regulations as provided in paragraph (5)(b).
(i) through (k) renumbered (j) through (l) No change.
(l) Major collection: refers to a law library that includes the following legal publications: an annotated edition of the Florida Statutes; an annotated edition of the U.S. Constitution and federal statutes governing habeas corpus and prisoner’s rights; Florida and federal case reporters; a case citation-checking Florida and federal Shepard’s citation indexes; Florida and federal practice digests; forms manuals; and secondary source materials providing research guidance in the areas of federal habeas corpus, Florida post-conviction and post-sentence remedies, and prisoner’s rights. Major collection law libraries also maintain current copies of departmental rules and regulations as provided in paragraph (5)(b).
(m) Minor collection: refers to a law library that includes the following legal publications: an annotated edition of the Florida Statutes; Florida case reporters; Shepards Florida Citations; Florida and federal practice digests; an annotated edition of the U.S. Constitution and federal statutes governing habeas corpus and prisoner’s rights; forms manuals; and secondary source materials providing research guidance in the areas of federal habeas corpus, Florida post-conviction and post-sentence remedies, and prisoner’s rights. Minor collection law libraries also maintain current copies of departmental rules and regulations as provided in paragraph (5)(b).
(m)(n) No change.
(n)(o) Open population inmates: refers to inmates housed in general population at a institution or unit with a major or minor collection law library and any inmates housed at satellite correctional facilities if major or minor collection law libraries are not located there.
(o)(p) No change.
(p) Primary source material: refers to refers to legal research materials that constitute the law or have the force of law. These include constitutions, statutes, treaties, administrative rules, court rules, and court decisions.
(q) through (t) No change.
(3) Law Library Access – General.
(a) Hours of Operation. Major and minor collection Llaw libraries shall be open for inmate use a minimum of 25 hours per week, except weeks which include official state holidays. Only times that inmates have access to the law library collection and inmate law clerks, or when inmate law clerks are providing research assistance to close management, death row, other special status populations, shall be counted. The law library’s operating schedule shall be designed to permit inmates access to legal materials consistent with:
1. through 4. No change.
(b) through (h) No change.
(4) No change.
(5) Major and Minor Collection Law Libraryies Collections.
(a) Major or minor collection Llaw libraries shall be established at all institutions and satellite correctional facilities housing more than 500 inmates. In determining whether a major collection shall be established at an institution, consideration shall be given to the following factors:
1. Population level;
2. Age of the inmate population;
3. The transitory nature of the institution’s inmate population;
4. The institution’s proximity to other facilities with major collections;
5. Whether the institution has one or more of the following housing categories:
a. Protective management;
b. Close management; or
c. Death row.
(b) Major and minor collection Llaw libraries shall maintain current copies of the following departmental rules and regulations:
1. through 2. No change.
(c) Law libraries Major and minor collections shall be maintained in a current condition by annual subscription service. The library services administrator shall be responsible for ensuring that all legal collections are current and complete.
(d) Law collections shall not be established at work release centers or other community-based facilities. Inmates at those facilities shall secure legal assistance by means of correspondence with a law library major or minor law collection, by visits with attorneys, or by transportation or temporary transfer to an institution with a law library major or minor law collection.
(e) The contents of legal collections shall be reviewed annually by the library services administrator to ensure continued compliance with applicable federal and state laws and American Correctional Association standards. When the library services administrator believes that titles need to be added or deleted from the collections, he or she shall make such recommendation to the chief of the bureau of institutional programs. If the recommendation is approved, the material shall be ordered and placed in the appropriate law library collections.
(f) Requests for the addition or deletion of titles in major and minor law library collections shall be submitted in writing to the library services administrator in the central office. The library services administrator shall review all requests and make a recommendation to the chief of the bureau of institutional programs. Requests shall be reviewed according to the material’s primary research value and whether it substantively provides additional information, or merely duplicates what is in the current collection. If the recommendation is approved, the materials shall be ordered and placed in the appropriate law library collections.
(g) Each minor and major collection law library shall maintain a list of all titles in the collection at the law library’s circulation counter and shall make it available to inmates upon request.
(6) Interlibrary Loan Services for Law Libraries.
(a) Major collection law libraries shall provide research assistance to minor collection libraries and to inmates housed at satellite correctional facilities without law libraries. On receipt of Form DC5-152, Law Library Interlibrary Loan Request, the law library supervisor shall immediately assign an inmate law clerk to provide legal assistance. Form DC5-152 is incorporated by reference in subsection (11) of this rule. All assistance that can be provided through use of that institution’s major collection shall be completed within 3 working days of receipt, not including the day of receipt, except where the request requires the researching of complex or multiple legal issues or is so broad in scope that work cannot be initiated without further information from the requesting inmate.
(b) Inmates at facilities with minor collection law libraries who need access to legal research materials only available in major collection law libraries, shall submit Form DC5-152, Law Library Interlibrary Loan Request, for the material or assistance to the law library supervisor. Within two working days of receipt of Form DC5-152, not including the day of receipt, the law library supervisor shall forward the request to the law library supervisor at a major collection law library for completion.
(a)(c) Inmates at satellite correctional facilities without law libraries, who need access to legal materials in law library collections major or minor collection law libraries, shall submit Form DC5-152, Law Library Interlibrary Loan Request, or Form DC6-236, Inmate Request, to the law library supervisor at the main unit of the institution. Form DC5-152 is incorporated by reference in subsection (11) of this rule.
1. On receipt of Form DC5-152, Law Library Interlibrary Loan Request, the law library supervisor shall immediately assign an inmate law clerk to provide legal assistance.
2.1. No change.
3.2. If the law library does not have the information that the inmate has requested, then within 2 working days of receipt, not including the day of receipt, the law library supervisor shall forward the request to an institutional law library that has the requested information the law library supervisor at a major collection law library for completion. If no institutional law library has the requested information, the law library supervisor shall process the request as provided in paragraph (6)(b).
(b)(d) Inmate requests to secure law materials not in the department’s law major collection libraries shall be submitted to the library services administrator for review and approval. Only requests for primary source materials, such as statutes, rules, and court decisions shall be approved.
1. through 2. No change.
(c)(e) No change.
(d)(f) No change.
(e)(g) No change.
(7) Use of Inmates as Clerks in Law Libraries.
(a) Inmate library clerks: major and minor collection law libraries shall be assigned inmates as library clerks to perform work of a clerical nature. Duties of library clerks include circulating legal materials, maintaining law library files, keeping the law library clean and orderly, and assisting the law library supervisor in collecting statistics, preparing reports and correspondence, and other job tasks related to program operations. Library clerks who are assigned only such work shall not be required to complete the law clerk training program. Inmates assigned as library clerks shall not assist inmates in the preparation of legal documents and legal mail, and shall not be assigned to conduct confinement visits unless accompanied by an inmate law clerk.
(b) Inmate law clerk trainees: inmates who have no formal training in legal research and who wish to work as inmate law clerks in major and minor collection law libraries shall be assigned as law clerk trainees, and shall be required to attend and successfully complete the law clerk training program. Inmates assigned as law clerk trainees shall not assist inmates in the preparation of legal documents and legal mail, and shall not be assigned to conduct confinement visits unless accompanied by an inmate law clerk.
(c) Inmate law clerks: major and minor collection law libraries shall be assigned inmates as inmate law clerks to assist inmates in the research and use of the law library collection, and in the drafting of legal documents, legal mail, administrative actions filed with the Florida Parole Commission, the Florida Bar, and other administrative bodies, and inmate grievances filed with the Department of Corrections. A minimum of 2 inmate law clerks shall be assigned to major and minor collection law libraries in adult institutions, and a minimum of 1 inmate law clerk shall be assigned to minor collection law libraries in youthful offender institutions. Institutions shall assign additional inmate law clerks to the law library as needed to ensure that illiterate and impaired inmates are provided research assistance.
(d) through (m) No change.
(n) The law library supervisor at the institution from which an inmate is transferred may authorize an inmate law clerk at that institution to continue assistance to the transferred inmate on a pending matter if the inmate’s new institution or facility does not have a major or minor collection law library and the inmate requests continued assistance in writing.
(o) through (q) No change.
(8) No change.
(9) Grievance and Court Forms.
(a) Major and minor collection Llaw libraries shall provide inmates access to Form DC6-236, Inmate Request, and Form DC1-303, Request for Administrative Remedy or Appeal. Form DC1-303 is incorporated by reference in Rule 33-103.019, F.A.C. Inmates shall not be required to submit a Form DC6-236, Inmate Request, in order to secure grievance forms. Inmates who request more than 5 grievance forms at a time may be required to explain how the forms will be used.
(b) Major and minor collection Llaw libraries shall provide inmates access to court-approved forms needed to file Rule 3.850, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, post-conviction relief petitions with the Florida courts. Federal habeas corpus, affidavits of insolvency, and civil rights complaint forms shall only be supplied if copies of the forms are provided to the law library by the federal courts. In all instances, law libraries are obligated to provide only 1 copy of the form. If additional copies are required for submission to the courts, the inmate shall secure them using the procedures established in Rule 33-501.302, F.A.C.
(10) All institutions having major and minor law libraries shall prepare a monthly law library report detailing at a minimum the days and hours that the law library was open to inmate use, the circulation of law library materials, the volume of legal services provided to inmates, the number of inmate law clerks on staff, and legal materials added to the law library collection during the month. This report shall be submitted to the library services administrator by the tenth day of each calendar month for the previous month’s activities. The library services administrator shall be responsible for developing the report and disseminating it to law libraries.
(11) No change.
Specific Authority 944.09, 944.11 FS. Law Implemented 20.315, 944.09, 944.11 FS. History–New 4-6-93, Amended 7-3-94, 11-2-94, 4-28-96, 9-30-96, 12-7-97, Formerly 33-3.0055, Amended 2-15-01,_________.