Policy and Procedure #1.006 Employee Contact with Inmates and Offenders

IV. PROCEDURE

A. Professional Relationship. WDOC staff shall remain professional when dealing with inmates and offenders and the families of inmates and offenders.

1. WDOC staff may not associate with any inmate or offender, or any inmate/offender’s immediate family, on off-duty time. On-duty associations shall be professional in nature and within the context of the staff’s position description. i. Interaction with offenders may consist of written or face to face communication to include email, text messaging and or telephone. The communication must fall within the scope of their professional duties and shall comply with this policy. ii. Inmates are expected to follow WDOC Policy and Procedure #3.100, Inmate Communication and Grievance procedure when communicating with staff. a. Inmates housed at an Adult Community Corrections facility may use email, text messaging or telephone to communicate with their supervising WDOC Agent, as approved by the agent and facility.

2. WDOC staff may not initiate, nurture, develop or maintain a personal, romantic, or sexual relationship with any inmate/offender or former inmate/offender, or with an immediate family member of any inmate/offender. i. WDOC staff who have blood or kinship relationships with inmates or offenders that existed prior to the period of incarceration or supervision by WDOC may maintain personal relationships with those inmates/offenders within parameters of state law and the rules, regulations and policies of the agency, contingent upon notification to the warden/division administrator or designee. a. Any WDOC staff who wishes to continue a relationship with an inmate or former inmate that existed prior to the period of incarceration or supervision shall provide WDOC with written notice of the nature and duration of the preexisting relationship and shall indicate within the written notification if they wish to correspond with, visit, and/ or send money to the inmate trust account of that individual. b. Any WDOC staff who wishes to continue a relationship with an offender or former offender that existed prior to the period of incarceration or supervision shall provide WDOC with written notice of the nature and duration of the preexisting relationship and of their intention to continue and/or modify that relationship. c. Sexual contact of any kind with an inmate or offender by staff, including consensual contact, is prohibited by WDOC policy and by state law and may be aggressively prosecuted. ii. WDOC staff who engage in regular lawful social contact with offenders, former inmates or offenders, their immediate families, or close associates, and expect that social contact to continue, will be required to inform the warden/division administrator or designee in writing. Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action.