OAR 291-117-0130: Limitations on Value/Liability/Inmate Personal Property Claims

(1) No inmate may possess any single item of personal property that exceeds $100 in value, excluding one television, one approved musical instrument, one approved graphing calculator; and approved medical prosthesis. No inmate may possess personal property the aggregate value of which exceeds $1000, excluding approved medical prosthesis. When determining the aggregate value of inmate property, the inmate may be required to produce receipts or authorization slips for any item valued at $75 or greater. (2) Each inmate is responsible for his/her own authorized property. In permitting inmates to retain items of personal property while incarcerated, the Department of Corrections accepts no liability for the theft, loss, damage, or destruction of such property resulting from the intentional, willful, reckless or negligent act or activities of any inmate which exposes such property to loss, damage, theft or destruction. (3) An inmate’s authorized personal property that may have been lost, damaged, or destroyed because of operations of the department shall be reported by the inmate immediately upon discovery. Upon receiving an inmate’s report or grievance, the department shall conduct an investigation. Following completion of the investigation, the department may in its sole discretion, and without admission of liability, replace an inmate’s personal property that is lost, damaged or stolen while the inmate is incarcerated in a department facility, subject to the following limitations: (a) The department may replace an item with an identical or similar item when the value of the item that is lost, damaged or stolen may reasonably be determined by the department. (b) The department will not replace an inmate’s personal television or musical instrument. (4) Nothing in this rule is intended to preclude an inmate from seeking resolution to a personal property claim through the Oregon Tort Claims Act administered by the Oregon Department of Administrative Services Risk Management Division.