Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
Correctional facility: means any facility operated to house offenders in a secure or nonsecure setting:
Department: means the Department of Corrections. See Utah Code 64-13-1
Inmate: means an individual who is:
(a)
committed to the custody of the department; and
(b)
housed at a correctional facility or at a county jail at the request of the department. See Utah Code 64-13-1
Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
Legal tender: coins, dollar bills, or other currency issued by a government as official money. Source: U.S. Mint
Offender: means an individual who has been convicted of a crime for which the individual may be committed to the custody of the department and is at least one of the following:
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
(a)
Offenders may retain personal property at correctional facilities only as authorized by the department. An offender‘s property which is retained by the department shall be inventoried and placed in storage by the department and a receipt for the property shall be issued to the offender. Offenders shall be required to arrange for disposal of property retained by the department within a reasonable time under department rules. Property retained by the department shall be returned to the offender at discharge, or in accordance with Title 75, Utah Uniform Probate Code, in the case of death prior to discharge.
(b)
If property is not claimed within one year of discharge, or it is not disposed of by the offender within a reasonable time after the department’s order to arrange for disposal, it becomes property of the state and may be used for correctional purposes or donated to a charity within the state.
(c)
If an inmate‘s property is not claimed within one year of his death, it becomes the property of the state in accordance with Section 75-2-105.
(d)
Funds which are contraband and in the physical custody of any prisoner, whether in the form of currency and coin which are legal tender in any jurisdiction or negotiable instruments drawn upon a personal or business account, shall be subject to forfeiture following a hearing which accords with prevailing standards of due process. All such forfeited funds shall be used by the department for purposes which promote the general welfare of prisoners in the custody of the department. Money and negotiable instruments taken from offenders’ mail under department rule and which are not otherwise contraband shall be placed in an account administered by the department, to the credit of the offender who owns the money or negotiable instruments.
(2)
Upon discharge from a secure correctional facility, the department may give an inmate transition funds in an amount established by the department with the approval of the director of the Division of Finance. At its discretion, the department may spend the funds directly on the purchase of necessities or transportation for the discharged inmate.
