Section 201.50.19. Communication.

       50.19(1) Prisoner mail.

        a.           Prisoners held beyond 24 hours shall be furnished a reasonable amount of writing materials upon request. Jail officials may prohibit a prisoner from corresponding with a person who states in writing that the person does not want to correspond with the prisoner. This does not include a “prior approval” list.

        b.           A reasonable amount of postage shall be provided to indigent prisoners held beyond 24 hours for communication with the courts and for at least two letters per week of a personal nature when other means of communication are not available.

        c.           General correspondence may be opened and inspected; it may be read for security reasons if the prisoner is notified of this procedure.

        d.           Privileged correspondence if so marked may be opened only in the presence of the prisoner and then only to detect the presence of contraband; it may not be read except by the prisoner. Privileged correspondence is defined as incoming and outgoing mail to or from:

       (1)             An attorney;

       (2)             A judge;

       (3)             The governor of Iowa;

       (4)             The citizen’s aide office;

       (5)             A member of the state or federal legislature.

        e.           Written policy, procedure, and practice require that, excluding weekends and holidays, incoming and outgoing letters be held for no more than 24 hours and packages be held for no more than 48 hours for inspection before delivery to the prisoner or post office.

       50.19(2) Telephone calls upon arrest.

        a.           Prisoners shall be permitted telephone access to their family or an attorney, or both, without unnecessary delay after arrest at no charge if made within the local calling area as required by Iowa Code section 804.20.

        b.           Policy and procedures shall be developed to govern prisoner telephone calls. The procedure shall provide for the handling of emergency calls.

        c.           Prisoners not in segregation status for discipline shall have reasonable access to telephones beyond the requirements of Iowa Code section 804.20.

       50.19(3) Attorneys and ministers. Attorneys and ministers shall be permitted to visit prisoners upon the request of the prisoner at reasonable hours if security and daily routine are not unduly interrupted.

       50.19(4) General visitation.

        a.           All prisoners in normal status shall be allowed reasonable visitation.

        b.           Rules shall specify who is allowed to visit and when and how often visitors are allowed.

        c.           Jail staff shall document the date and time of visit, name and address of each person visiting, and name of prisoner visited. Computerized logs are acceptable.

        d.           A visit may be denied if reasonable suspicion exists that the visit might endanger the security of the facility. A record shall be made of such denial and the reason(s) therefor.

       50.19(5) Detaining non-U.S. citizens. When non-U.S. citizens are detained, they shall be advised of the right to have their consular officials notified or the nearest consular officials shall be notified of the detention, whichever is required by the Vienna Convention. Consular officials shall be given access to non-U.S. citizens in jail and shall be allowed to provide consular assistance. When a jail administrator becomes aware of the death of a non-U.S. citizen, consular officials shall be notified.