Rules Concerning the Individual Conduct of Employees
VII. Regulations Governing Activities and Relationships with Inmates or Offenders /180- Day Ex-Inmates or 180 Day Ex-Offenders (4-APPFS-3C-02)
A. Definitions
1. Inmates will be defined as persons under the care or custody of a state/private or community based facility. Offenders are defined as those under supervision of ODOC.
2. “180-day ex-inmates” are those persons who are within 180 days of the date following their discharge from ODOC custody. Ex-offenders are defined as those persons who are within 180 days of the date following termination from ODOC supervision.
B. Prohibited Activities with Inmates or Offenders and 180-Day Ex-Inmates or 180 Day Ex-Offenders
1. Accepting or offering a gift, money, or anything of value, directly or indirectly. This prohibition includes any member of the inmate’s/offender’s or 180-day ex-inmate’s/offender’s family.
2. Giving, receiving, or loaning any money, or trading, selling, or buying any personal possession or anything of value, for any purpose, without the written consent of the employee’s supervisor. Hobby craft items may only be purchased in accordance with the correctional facility’s local procedures. (4-ACRS-7D-30)
3. Using, obtaining, or requiring personal services such as, house service, washing personal vehicles, tending gardens, caring for pets, etc.
4. Paying for personal services such as haircuts or shoe shines, unless a correctional facility has an approved, structured program for such services. Any payments for such services will be deposited in a specific fund.
5. Hiring or employing without written approval of the director.
6. Bidding on or purchasing any personal property previously owned by an inmate or offender and sold through auction conducted by the agency.
7. Delivering or sending messages, verbal or written, or engaging in social networking or electronic communication which is not within the scope of the employee’s assigned duties.
8. Engaging in any other activity which constitutes or offers the opportunity for an abuse of the employee’s position.
C. Prohibited Relationships with Inmates or Offenders and 180-Day Ex-Inmates or Ex-Offenders Employees are prohibited from engaging in any sexual conduct or romantic relationship with an inmate or offender in accordance with OP-030601 entitled “Oklahoma Prison Rape Elimination Act.”
1. Engaging in sexual contact of any type is prohibited. Sexual intercourse with an inmate or offender under the legal custody of the agency is defined by statute as rape. (21 O.S. § 1111)
a. Sexual abuse, battery, contact, intimacy, harassment, or invasion of privacy, as defined in OP-030601 entitled “Oklahoma Prison Rape Elimination Act,” are prohibited sexual misconduct.
b. Due to the inmate’s or offender’s custody or supervision status, and in accordance with state law and OP-030601 entitled “Oklahoma Prison Rape Elimination Act,” no prohibited act of sexual misconduct or harassment can have as an affirmative defense, a claim of consent.
2. Cohabitation or marriage, unless the cohabitation or marriage existed prior to employment with the agency. 3. Engaging in any nonprofessional association, contact, or personal relationship with inmates or offenders, 180-day ex-inmates or exoffenders, or members of their families which may compromise the employee’s ability to effectively discharge the duties of his/her position. Nothing in this section prohibits employees or volunteers from appropriately discharging their professional duties with regard to the inmate reentry process.