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AA 04 Policy Manuals

Last modified by superadmin on 2021/05/24 19:24

Washington County Sheriff's Office

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION

Policy Manual

Volume: AA

Organization

Chapter: 04

Policy Manuals

Replaces and/or Supersedes:

AA 04 12/08/2011

Published:

12/08/2011

Last Review:

05/24/2021

Sheriff Cory C. Pulsipher

Undersheriff James Standley

TABLE OF CONTENTS

AA 04_101  Definitions

AA 04_102  References

AA 04_103  General

AA 04_104  Distribution

AA 04_105  Document Information

AA 04_106  Volumes

AA 04_107  Chapters

AA 04_108  Table of Contents

AA 04_109  Sections

AA 04_110  Initiatives

AA 04_111  Directives

AA 04_112  Accessibility

AA 04_113  Archive

AA 04_114  Inmate Access

AA 04_101  DEFINITIONS

  1. WCSO:  Washington County Sheriff's Office
  2. PCF:  Purgatory Correctional Facility
  3. GRAMA:  Government Records Access and Management Act
  4. REVIEW:  A review can be a formal or informal review of current policies. A review can be completed without any modification to the current policy and can also be completed during periods of self or external audits.

AA 04_102  REFERENCES

  1. Utah Counties Insurance Pool:
    1. ML-IV.E
    2. ML-V.E
    3. WC-III.J
  2. Utah Sheriffs' Association Jail Standards:
    1. B01.02.01:  Policies and Procedures Governing Operation of the Jail
    2. B01.02.02:  Periodic Review and Revision of Policies and Procedures
    3. 01.02.03:  Archive All Superseded Directives
    4. B01.02.04:  Directives Accessible to Staff
    5. B02.01.03:  Duty to Classify Records
    6. C 05.02.03:  Access to Jail Policies and Procedures

AA 04_103  GENERAL

  1. Policy:
    1. Policy manuals will be constructed systematically and consistently.
  2. Rationale:
    1. Well organized policy documents promote:
      1. Clear presentation of content; and
      2. Quick accessibility.

AA 04_104  DISTRIBUTION

  1. Policy:
    1. Policy manuals shall be made available to all WCSO employees electronically.
    2. WCSO officials shall evaluate and classify policy manuals to determine which manuals should and which should not be released to the public. The classification of policy manuals may be conducted at any time, including at the time of a GRAMA request. Policy manuals shall not be distributed to anyone other than WCSO employees, without approval from the Sheriff (or the Sheriff's designee).
    3. Any policy manual or portion thereof distributed to anyone other than a WCSO employee shall include a cover letter expressing the requirement under the GRAMA for the recipient to maintain the confidentiality of the material.
  2. Rationale:
    1. Policy manuals may contain sensitive information related to the security, safety, and order interests of the WCSO.
    2. Evaluation and classification of records are required by the GRAMA under UCA 63-2-306 (reference policy: AH 04 GRAMA).

AA 04_105  DOCUMENT INFORMATION

  1. Policy
    1. Policy documents shall include relevant document information.
    2. The document information shall include the:
      1. Organization name (i.e., “Washington County Sheriff's Office”);
      2. Division name;
      3. Document type (i.e., “Policy Manual”);
      4. Volume code and title;
      5. Chapter code and title;
      6. Documents being replaced and/or superseded, if applicable;
      7. Published date;
      8. Last reviewed date;
      9. Authorizing signatures, if applicable.
    3. The published and review dates shall be presented in the following format: MM/DD/YYYY.
    4. Policy documents shall be reviewed every 18 months and updated as necessary.
    5. The authorizing signatures shall include:
      1. For Administrative Division policy:
        1. Sheriff;
        2. Undersheriff; and
        3. Washington County Attorney's Office, if applicable.
      2. For Corrections Division policy:
        1. Sheriff;
        2. Corrections Division Chief Deputy; and
        3. Washington County Attorney's Office, if applicable.
      3. For Patrol Division policy:
        1. The Patrol Division's policies are created, managed, and maintained by the Lexipol computerized system. All policies generated and maintained within the Lexipol system are approved by the:
          1. Sheriff;
          2. Patrol Division Chief Deputy; and
          3. Washington County Attorney's Office, if applicable
      4. For Emergency Services Division policy:
        1. Sheriff;
        2. Undersheriff;
        3. Emergency Services Director; and
        4. Washington County Attorney's Office, if applicable.

AA 04_106  VOLUMES

  1. Policy:
    1. Policy documents will be assigned a volume code and title. Both shall serve as indexing components only; in and of themselves, they shall not constitute policy.
    2. Each volume shall have a unique volume code.
    3. Volume codes shall be constructed of two capital letters.
    4. The first letter of the volume code shall be one of four choices:
      1. “A” for Administrative Division
        1. Administrative documents shall provide policy for the WCSO regarding topics that are relevant to both the Public Safety and Corrections divisions.
      2. “C” for Corrections Division
        1. These documents shall provide policy for the Corrections Division of the WCSO.
      3. “P” Patrol Division
        1. These documents shall provide policy for the Patrol Division of the WCSO.
      4. “E” Emergency Services Division
        1. These documents shall provide policy for the Emergency Services Division of the WCSO.
    5. The second letter of the volume code shall have no meaning and shall simply facilitate a unique code for each volume (e.g., AA, AB, AC, etc.).

AA 04_107  CHAPTERS

  1. Policy:
    1. Policy documents will be assigned a chapter code and title. Both shall serve as indexing components only; in and of themselves, they shall not constitute policy.
    2. Each chapter within a volume shall have a unique chapter code.
    3. Chapter codes shall be constructed of a two-digit number.

AA 04_108  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  1. Policy:
    1. Policy documents shall include a table of contents.
    2. The table of contents shall immediately follow the document information section.
    3. The table of contents shall list and identify, by code and title, all the sections of the chapter.

AA 04_109  SECTIONS

  1. Policy:
    1. Policy chapters shall be organized into sections. Sections will be identified with section codes and titles. Both shall serve as indexing components only; in and of themselves, they shall not constitute policy.
    2. Each section within a chapter shall have a unique section code.
    3. Section codes shall include the volume code, chapter code, and a three-digit section identifier. The volume and chapter codes shall be separated by a single space. The chapter code and the section identifier shall be separated by a single underscore line (e.g., AA 04_109).
    4. Chapter sections shall include, at a minimum:
      1. Definitions;
      2. References; and
      3. Content (policy and rationale).
    5. Additional sections may and should be included as needed.

AA 04_110  INITIATIVES

  1. Policy:
    1. Initiatives are documents that contain instructions to initiate temporary changes in policies, procedures, or practices. Typically, initiatives are only used for designated trial periods to test the effects of potential policy, procedure, or practice adjustments. After the trial period is complete, the initiative shall be revoked, transitioned into a Directive, or incorporated into policy.
    2. Initiatives shall be assigned a code and title which shall be displayed on the document.
    3. Initiative codes shall consist of the letter “I,” followed by a hyphen, followed by a three-digit number (e.g., I-001). Each new initiative shall bear a unique code.
    4. Initiatives may only be issued by a division chief or above-ranking WCSO official.

AA 04_111  DIRECTIVES

  1. Policy:
    1. Directives are documents that contain instructions to formally change policy, procedure, or practice.
    2. Directives should be incorporated into policy upon the next revision date of the applicable policy.
    3. Directives shall be assigned a code and title which shall be displayed on the document.
    4. Directive codes shall consist of the letter “D,” followed by a hyphen, followed by a three-digit number (e.g., D-001). Each new directive shall bear a unique code.
    5. Directives may only be issued by a division chief or above-ranking WCSO official.

AA 04_112  ACCESSIBILITY

  1. Policy:
    1. Staff shall have access to copies of policy documents.
  2. Rationale:
    1. Policies and procedures are useful only if they are accessible to those persons whose actions and performance they direct. If policies and procedures are not easily and routinely accessible to staff:
      1. The policies may not accomplish the intended purposes for which they were written and adopted;
      2. Staff may be less likely to understand the requirements. Therefore, staff may be less likely to function or perform according to policy; and
      3. Plaintiffs in litigation may attempt to show that inaccessible policy amounts to having no policy at all.

AA 04_113  ARCHIVE

  1. Policy:
    1. When a policy document has been superseded, it should be archived according to state and county retention schedules.
    2. Archive policy documents shall be maintained via an electronic copy.
    3. Original paper policy documents shall be destroyed after an electronic copy has been created and archived.
  2. Rationale:
    1. The statutes of limitation allow persons to file lawsuits long after a violation of rights or other harm is alleged to have occurred. Between the time an event occurs which prompts the filing of a suit and the actual date when the complaint is filed, policies and procedures may change. The policies and procedures which were in place at the time of the alleged violation of rights may be more relevant to the litigation than the directives written after the fact.

AA 04_114  INMATE ACCESS

  1. Policy:
    1. Selected facility policies and procedures may be provided to inmates to assist them in complying with those operational functions of a highly procedural nature. However, inmates shall not be given access to any policy document that is restricted from public access.
  2. Rationale:
    1. Functions including but not limited to discipline, classification, and grievance are highly procedural and may require extensive explanation if provided in separate inmate rules and regulations. It may be easier to simply reprint selected sections of the jail's policy manual than to rewrite the information into the inmate rules.

AA 04_115  THE WASHINGTON COUNTY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE

  1. Policy:
    1. The Washington County Attorney's Office may review WCSO policy.
  2. Rationale:
    1. The attorney's office review of policy assures policy is lawful. It helps to reduce liability for Washington County, the Sheriff's Office, and its employees.