Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 9, § 4350 - Contraband Electronic Devices with Communication and Internet Capabilities

(a) Except as provided in subsection (d), patients are prohibited from having personal access to, possession, or on-site storage of the following items:

(1) Electronic devices with the capability to connect to a wired (for example, Ethernet, Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), Fiber Optic) and/or a wireless (for example, Bluetooth, Cellular, Wi-Fi [802.11a/b/g/n], WiMAX) communications network to send and/or receive information including, but not limited to, the following:

(A) Desktop computers; laptop computers; tablets, single-board computers or motherboards such as "Raspberry Pi;" cellular or satellite phones; personal digital assistant (PDA's); graphing calculators; and satellite, shortwave, CB and GPS radios.

(B) Devices without native capabilities that can be modified for network communication. The modification may or may not be supported by the product vendor and may be a hardware and/or software configuration change.

(2) Digital media recording devices, including but not limited to CD, DVD, Blu-Ray burners.

(3) Voice or visual recording devices in any format.

(4) Items capable of patient-accessible memory storage, including but not limited to:

(A) Any device capable of patient-accessible digital memory or remote memory access.

(B) Recordable disks, including but not limited to CDs, DVDs, Blu-Ray, and CD-ROM.

(C) Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices, also known as flash drives or thumb drives.

(D) Hard drives, subscriber identity module (SIM) cards, secure digital (SD) drives or cards, micro-secure digital drives or cards (MicroSD), compact flash drives, secure digital high capacity (SDHC), secure digital extended capacity (SHXC), and other similar insertable memory devices.

(E) Gaming devices with patient-accessible digital memory storage ability, the ability to access the internet, or the ability to play games or other media or access data not specifically designed for the device, or only able to be played on that particular gaming device, as provided by an approved third-party vendor.

(F) Floppy disks, hard disks, and vertical helical scan or video home system (VHS) cassettes.

(b) Electronic items that do not conflict with subsection (a) that patients are permitted to possess or have personal access to include:

(1) One (1) television or computer monitor; one (1) DVD, Blu-ray, or similar player; one (1) CD player; and one (1) radio or music player. These items shall not have internet, external communication, or wireless communication capability.

(2) No more than thirty (30) commercially manufactured and unmodified CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Rays received in factory-original packaging in a patient's room or unit storage. Patient may store additional manufactured and unmodified CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Rays in off-unit storage.

(3) Tablets or other devices designed for confined individuals through authorized vendors of the Department of State Hospitals and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that do not contain personally accessible data storage. If a device designed for confined individuals is modified, either the individual device or the type of device can be banned as violating subsection (a).

(c) Nothing in this regulation, including permissible items of subsection (b), is designed to interfere with a hospital issuing and enforcing a more restrictive contraband list as appropriate to address the needs or safety of a patient population or the hospital.

(d) While items described in subsection (a) shall not be in the personal possession of patients, hospitals have the discretion to permit items to be accessible to patients on a supervised basis only. This would include a check-out basis or a temporary basis for use in an observable common room, a computer lab, or group and/or individual therapy. In no case shall digital storage devices for patient access purposes contain a storage capability greater than eight gigabytes (8 GB).

Notes

Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 9, § 4350

1. New chapter 16 (articles 1-3, section 4350), article 3 (section 4350) and section filed 10-26-2009 as an emergency; operative 10-26-2009 (Register 2009, No. 44). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 4-26-2010 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
2. Certificate of Compliance as to 10-26-2009 order transmitted to OAL 3-23-2010 and filed 4-28-2010 (Register 2010, No. 18).
3. Amendment of section and NOTE filed 1-12-2018 as an emergency; operative 1-12-2018 (Register 2018, No. 2). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 7-11-2018 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
4. Refiling of 1-12-2018 order on 6-21-2018 as an emergency, including further amendment of section and NOTE; operative 7-12-2018 (Register 2018, No. 25). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 10-10-2018 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
5. Amendment of section and NOTE refiled 10-4-2018 as an emergency; operative 10-11-2018 (Register 2018, No. 40). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 1-9-2019 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
6. Certificate of Compliance as to 10-4-2018 order, including amendment of subsections (a)(1)(A), (a)(4)(A), (a)(4)(E), (b)(3) and (d) and repealer of subsection (e), transmitted to OAL 12-26-2018 and filed 2-5-2019; amendments operative 2-5-2019 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2019, No. 6).

Note: Authority cited: Sections 4005.1, 4011, 4027, 4100, 4101 and 4109, Welfare and Institutions Code. Reference: Sections 4005.1, 4101, 4027, 4109 and 7295, Welfare and Institutions Code.

1. New chapter 16 (articles 1-3, section 4350), article 3 (section 4350) and section filed 10-26-2009 as an emergency; operative 10-26-2009 (Register 2009, No. 44). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 4-26-2010 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
2. Certificate of Compliance as to 10-26-2009 order transmitted to OAL 3-23-2010 and filed 4-28-2010 (Register 2010, No. 18).
3. Amendment of section and Note filed 1-12-2018 as an emergency; operative 1/12/2018 (Register 2018, No. 2). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 7-11-2018 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
4. Refiling of 1-12-2018 order on 6-21-2018 as an emergency, including further amendment of section and Note; operative 7/12/2018 (Register 2018, No. 25). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 10-10-2018 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
5. Amendment of section and Note refiled 10-4-2018 as an emergency; operative 10/11/2018 (Register 2018, No. 40). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 1-9-2019 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
6. Certificate of Compliance as to 10-4-2018 order, including amendment of subsections (a)(1)(A), (a)(4)(A), (a)(4)(E), (b)(3) and (d) and repealer of subsection (e), transmitted to OAL 12-26-2018 and filed 2-5-2019; amendments operative 2/5/2019 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2019, No. 6).