5120-9-51. Internet access for prisoners

(A) No prisoner in a private correctional facility, county correctional facility, municipal correctional facility, or correctional institution under the control of the department of rehabilitation and correction shall access the internet through the use of a computer, computer network, computer system, computer services, or information service, unless the prisoner is under direct supervision and is participating in an approved educational program that requires the use of the internet for training or research purposes, and in accordance with this rule.

(B) No officer, employee or agent of a private correctional facility, county correctional facility, municipal correctional facility, or correctional institution under the control of the department of rehabilitation and correction shall provide access to or permit a prisoner to have access to the internet through the use of a computer, computer network, computer system, computer services, or information service, unless the prisoner is under direct supervision and is participating in an approved educational program that requires the use of the internet for training or research purposes, and in accordance with this rule.

(C) The Ohio central school system superintendent, or his or her designee, shall be the designated authority for the pre-approval of internet sites for authorized use. Only pre-approved sites will be accessible on the computers used by prisoners in the approved educational programs under this rule.

(D) For the department of rehabilitation and correction, the Ohio central school system superintendent, or his or her designee, shall also be responsible for periodic review of the operation of the system, including users of the system and sites accessed by the system. The Ohio central school system superintendent, or his or her designee, shall utilize available technology and/or services to ensure that access to the internet by inmates is restricted only to those sites pre-approved under this rule.

(E) Criteria by which inmates may be screened and approved for access or training involving the internet shall include the following:

(1) Program status. Only inmates already enrolled in approved programs shall be eligible for internet access under this rule. For the purposes of this rule, approved programs are: academic, vocational, release preparation, apprenticeship, advanced employment and training, and service learning programs.

(2) Institutional behavior. Inmates shall be eligible for internet access under this rule only if the inmate has no guilty rule violations for a period of ninety days prior to approved internet access, and maintains no guilty rule violations during the program.

(3) Security threat group status. No inmate with an active security threat group affiliation shall have internet access under this rule.

(4) The inmate's current security classification. Only inmates in level one, level two or level three classifications shall be permitted access to the internet under this rule.

(5) The inmate's current offense of commitment and past criminal conduct. Inmates serving, or who have served, a sentence for a sexually oriented offense, or for any crime involving the use of the internet or a computer to facilitate the commission of a crime, shall not be permitted access to the internet under this rule.

(F) For the department of rehabilitation and corrections, the Ohio central school system superintendent, or designee, shall have the discretion to deny access to the internet to inmates based upon security concerns or the institutional behavior of the inmate on a case by case basis.

(G) Officers, employees or agents of a correctional facility shall be subject to appropriate disciplinary measures for conduct in violation of this rule, and are subject to prosecution under section 2921.44 of the Revised Code.

(H) Inmates in a correctional institution under the control of the department of rehabilitation and correction shall be subject to a rule 49 violation; destruction, alteration or misuse of property and are subject to prosecution under division (C)(2) of section 5145.31 of the Revised Code. Inmates in a private correctional facility, as defined in section 9.06 or 9.07 of the Revised Code, are subject to prosecution under division (C)(2) of section 9.08 of the Revised Code. Inmates in a county correctional facility, as defined in division (A)(3) of section 341.42 of the Revised Code, are subject to prosecution under division (C)(2) of section 341.42 of the Revised Code. Inmates of a municipal jail facility, as defined by division (A)(3) of section 753.32 of the Revised Code, are subject to prosecution under division (C)(2) of section 753.32 of the Revised Code.

Five Year Review (FYR) Dates: 1/16/2020 and 01/10/2025
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 5120.01, 5120.62
Rule Amplifies: 5120.62
Prior Effective Dates: 11/01/2000, 04/01/2005

Prior History: (Five Year Review (FYR) Dates: 01/07/2015 and 01/07/2020
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 5120.01, 5120.62
Rule Amplifies: 5120.62
Prior Effective Dates: 11-1-00; 4-1-05)