Montana Code Annotated 2023

TITLE 53. SOCIAL SERVICES AND INSTITUTIONS

CHAPTER 30. CORRECTIONS

Part 7. Restrictive Housing

Admission -- Status Review

53-30-707. Admission -- status review. (1) The procedures established by an adult facility as required in 53-30-703(7) must include:

(a) a documented process to admit an inmate to a restrictive housing unit. An inmate may be admitted for protective custody only when there is documentation that this status is warranted and no reasonable alternatives were available.

(b) a status review of an inmate in administrative segregation and protective custody every 7 days for the first 60 days of the inmate's placement and at least every 30 days after the first 60 days. The reviews must be conducted by a classification committee or other staff group.

(c) that, in nonemergent circumstances, an inmate may not be disciplined, placed on a behavior management plan, classified, or reclassified to a restrictive housing unit based on the inmate's disability or mental disorder or on behavior that is a product of the inmate's disability or mental disorder unless the placement is after a prompt and appropriate evaluation by a qualified mental health professional;

(d) a documented review process to release an offender from administrative segregation or protective custody;

(e) that an inmate may not be placed in prehearing confinement or in restrictive housing based solely on the inmate's disability or mental disorder or on behavior that is a product of the inmate's disability or mental disorder unless, after a prompt and appropriate evaluation by a qualified mental health professional, the qualified mental health professional determines that the inmate presents such an immediate and serious danger that there is no reasonable alternative. If the inmate is placed in prehearing confinement or in restrictive housing, the inmate must be evaluated by a qualified mental health professional within 48 hours and regularly reevaluated every 14 days with the goal of securing appropriate treatment and reintegrating the inmate into the general population.

(f) that a hearing by a disciplinary committee or a hearings officer must be completed before an inmate is placed in disciplinary detention for a rule violation; and

(g) that an inmate held in disciplinary detention for a period exceeding 60 days must be provided the same program services and privileges as inmates in administrative segregation or protective custody. The administrator or the administrator's designee shall review and approve the services and privileges to be allowed under this subsection (1)(g).

(2) A new adult inmate placed directly into restrictive housing will receive written orientation materials and, if required, translations in the inmate's own language. When a literacy problem exists, a staff member may assist the inmate in understanding the material. Completion of orientation must be documented by a statement signed and dated by the inmate.

History: En. Sec. 4, Ch. 482, L. 2019.