(a) A resident's rights to privacy and correspondence may not be limited except when:
  (1) a reasonable belief exists that the correspondence is part of an attempt to formulate, devise, or otherwise effectuate a plan to escape from the facility or to violate state or federal laws. If a reasonable belief exists, facility staff shall:
    (A) ask the resident's permission to read the letter;
    (B) if permission is denied, request a search warrant prior to opening and reading the letter; and
    (C) if a search warrant request is denied, the correspondence shall be provided to the resident; or
  (2) correspondence with certain individuals is specifically forbidden by:
    (A) the resident's juvenile-court-ordered rules of probation or parole;
    (B) the facility's policies, procedures, and practices that restrict and/or limit residents' correspondence with:
      (i) other facility residents;
      (ii) witnesses or parties in law enforcement investigations or investigations before the court;
      (iii) participants in pending or active court proceedings; and/or
      (iv) victims attached to related juvenile or criminal referrals, investigations, or related proceedings; or
    (C) a specific list of individuals furnished by a resident's parent, legal guardian, or custodian.
(b) Incoming correspondence described in subsection (a)(2) of this section shall be returned unopened to the sender.
(c) When mail is withheld from a resident, the reasons shall be documented and a copy shall be maintained in the resident's file.

Source Note: The provisions of this §343.362 adopted to be effective January 1, 2010, 34 TexReg 7095; amended to be effective January 1, 2015, 39 TexReg 9243