Media and Public Relations - SOP

DEPARTMENT
OF
CORRECTION

DIVISION
OF
PRISONS

SECTION NUMBER:

110.02.01.001

PAGE NUMBER:

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SUBJECT:

Media and Public Relations

Adopted: 08-15-95
Revised:
Legal Review: 08-21-95
Reformatted: 03-2001

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01.00.00. POLICY OF THE DEPARTMENT

It is the policy of the Board of Correction that the Department of Correction will maintain open
and responsive communication with the public and the media. It is the intent of the Board that
the Department keep the pub lic well informed of its activities and maintain a consistently high
community rapport through public presentations and special programs.

01.01.00 PURPOSE

To provide a system for establishing and maintaining appropriate relationships with the public,
news media, and law enforcement agencies.

Applicability

To all employees and especially to the mailroom officer, the public information officer, and
support staff.

02.00.00. TABLE OF CONTENTS

01.00.00. POLICY OF THE DEPARTMENT
01.01.00. Purpose
02.00.00. TABLE OF CONTENTS
03.00.00. REFERENCES
04.00.00. DEFINITIONS
05.00.00. PROCEDURE
05.01.00 Field Public Information Officer
05.02.00 Written Communication
05.03.00 Verbal Communication
05.03.01 News Media Visits
05.03.02 Contact With the Public
05.04.00 Release of Official Information
05.05.00 Tours

03.00.00. REFERENCES

Department Policy 110, Media and Public Relations
DIRECTIVE NUMBER:
110.02.01.001
SUBJECT:
Media and Public Relations
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04.00.00. DEFINITIONS

Administrative correspondence: individually addressed and signed letters, not to include form
letters or routine forms to which facsimile signatures are attached.

Administrative correspondence: Initial reviewing of all administrative correspondence
from legislative bodies, courts, law enforcement agencies, and representatives of the
news media.

72-hour mandatory response: preparing a written response to all letters within three
working days of receipt.

Correspondence records: recording all incoming and outgoing executive
correspondence and copies of the correspondence.

Routing method: informing appropriate offi cials of correspondence regarding their areas
of responsibility and routing those requests and letters. Administrative staff: warden,
deputy wardens, medical manager, RDU manager, and associate warden.

Field Public Information Officer: Any employee desig nated by the facility head to deliver
information to the public and media and coordinate media activities with the Public Information
Officer.

News media: Representatives of general circulation newspapers, magazines of national
circulation sold through newsstands and/or mail subscriptions to the general public;
national/international news services or radio/television stations holding federal communications
commission license.

Public Information Officer: (PIO) Any employee designated by the Director to de liver
Department information to the public and to the media.

05.00.00. PROCEDURE

05.01.00 Field Public Information Officer

Each facility head will designate a field public information officer in writing and notify the
department PIO.

05.02.00 Written C ommunication

Written correspondence should be answered within 72 hours of receipt.

DIRECTIVE NUMBER:
110.02.01.001
SUBJECT:
Media and Public Relations
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Legislative and judicial correspondence shall be forwarded directly to the facility head and
replied to within three working days. A copy shall be forwarded to the Direc tor and Division of
Prisons Administrator.

News media correspondence shall be answered by the FPIO and coordinated with the public
information officer.

Correspondence from law enforcement agencies shall be routed to the facility head or
designee.

All replies to requests for information shall be answered unless there is some question as
to the validity of the information or an individual's right of privacy.

Those requests may be referred to the office of legal counsel for an opinion.

05.03.00 Verbal Communication

05.03.01 News Media Visits

Visits from the news media shall be encouraged and handled directly through the Field Public
Information officer. The FPIO shall, with the approval of the facility head and departmental PIO:

Allow media access to a ll program areas of the facility.

Any photographs or videos of inmates that identify the inmate require the inmate’s
written release.

Preserve the inmate's individual right of privacy.

Portray a factual picture of the institution.

Requests for staff interview should be approved in advance by the department
PIO and routed through the FPIO.

Ensure that members of the news team are aware of their responsibility regarding
custody and security.

Telephone interviews with inmates should be approved and messa ge delivered to
inmates.

The facility will not be responsible to ensure that the inmate calls the media, rather
the FPIO will simply relay the message to the inmate and it is the inmate’s
DIRECTIVE NUMBER:
110.02.01.001
SUBJECT:
Media and Public Relations
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decision whether or not to call.

This message should include the interviewer’s name, phone number, and
what they wish to interview the inmate about.

Telephone interviews will generally be made on collect telephones.

The facility head, Division of Prisons Administrator, or Director may at their sole
discretion deny delivery of a message.

Any denial may be appealed to the Director in writing within two days of
such denial.

No face-to -face or on-camera interviews will be permitted in any Division of Prisons
facility.

Exceptions to this are at the sole discretion of the Director.

No exceptions to inmates under sentence of death will be granted in accordance
with Idaho Code Section 19 -2705.

All media contacts will be reported to the Division of Prisons Administrator.

05.03.02 Contact With the Public

Employee contact with the public shall be conducted with professionalism. All employees
dealing directly with the public shall receive special training to ensure their prompt, courteous,
and correct responses to inquiries. When approached by the media, staff shall di rect the
request to the department PIO or FPIO by providing appropriate phone number and name. If
necessary, staff shall explain that they cannot provide any information. This training shall
include information relating to the following subjects.

The Right of Privacy Act

Public information legislation

Approved telephone procedures

A basic indoctrination of policies relating to contact with the public.

05.04.00 Release of Official Information

DIRECTIVE NUMBER:
110.02.01.001
SUBJECT:
Media and Public Relations
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Individual employees receiving requests for informati on from groups mentioned in this
directive shall forward all such inquiries to the FPIO. It is important that all inquiries be
promptly, accurately, and completely answered in compliance with state, local, and
federal laws governing public information and right of privacy.

All official information and press releases referring to agency or institutional policy or
statements regarding institutional programming or conditions shall be issued only by the
facility head or designee.

During an emergency situatio n, no information will be released to the media or the public
without prior approval from the commander.

05.05.00 Tours

Tours of Division of Prisons facilities are encouraged and will be arranged by the field
public information officer.

___________________________________________ _____________________
Administrator, Division of Prisons Date