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I believe Riot summed it up nicely. After working for the Department of Corrections in another state for 15 years I have seen many situations that, while on the surface seem to contradict state laws they are usually covered in other sections of the law that most people never see as it doesn't apply to their daily lives. In general it is a felony to bring contraband on to prison grounds. Some items simply are illegal to bring inside of the secure perimeter such as cell phones, and can be legally left in the vehicle. Other things are illegal to bring onto prison grounds period. I recall one instance where an attorney stopped in at a prison to visit one of his clients on the way back from a long weekend trip where he had purchased several bottles of alcohol. He was told at the gate that if he proceeded his vehicle was subject to search (they were doing spot checks on vehicles due to a tip about some drug smuggling). The attorney apparently forgot what he had in the trunk or thought it didn't matter and proceeded to the parking area where the alcohol was discovered and he was arrested for introducing contraband to a state prison facility.
I also recall a situation where a staff member had an assigned state vehicle that was due for maintenance. The minimum security inmates perform the maintenance under supervision of staff, When the inmates were cleaning the vehicle they discovered the officers personal carry weapon under the seat of the car and, as they didn't know if it was a test or not, and they didn't want to loose minimum security status, they notified the shop supervisor and assigned officer of the situation. The officer who failed to remove the weapon before maintenance was allowed to retire rather than be fired.
In some locations local law enforcement has a beef with prison staff as Correctional Officers make substantially more money than the local cops. I know a warden that ran into this problem after they opened a new prison back in the 80s. They had a local officer who had wandered on to prison grounds in the middle of the night and started writing tickets for staff who had out of state plates as in that state you are required to register your car in the state if you are working there. After a few days of harassment they arrested the officer for bringing firearms on to prison grounds without checking his weapon(s) or notifying the prison that they were on grounds and armed.
There was mention above that one of the regulations quoted was in reference to courts / court proceedings. In many prisons now days the high risk inmates are given trials on prison grounds via video conference with the courthouse to reduce escape attempts and to save on guarding costs. If you have a high security inmate go to court in person the guards often end up being paid overtime due to conflicts between court time, transportation time, and shift changes. What people who have not worked in the correctional setting don't see is that each prison is given a budget and the warden is responsible for trying to stay within the budget. If the sworn officer budget is exceeded they need to pull funds from other areas to cover those costs. Most often they end up shorting the maintenance budget to cover costs and the lower the maintenance budget the less secure your prison becomes over time (something only inmates with escape plans are in favor of).
As for staff/outside law enforcement checking weapons, the last prison I was involved with activating had a weapons check located at the vehicle sallyport in direct view of the sallyport control tower and involved the guard lowering a key for a specific locker down to the officer, a series of 2 gates interlocked so only one could be open at a time and both were buzzed from the tower. and the key was returned to the tower before being allowed through the sallyport.
All of that said, I do believe that there should be either an off site location to park with a shuttle or a location to check your weapons when visiting.
I also recall a situation where a staff member had an assigned state vehicle that was due for maintenance. The minimum security inmates perform the maintenance under supervision of staff, When the inmates were cleaning the vehicle they discovered the officers personal carry weapon under the seat of the car and, as they didn't know if it was a test or not, and they didn't want to loose minimum security status, they notified the shop supervisor and assigned officer of the situation. The officer who failed to remove the weapon before maintenance was allowed to retire rather than be fired.
In some locations local law enforcement has a beef with prison staff as Correctional Officers make substantially more money than the local cops. I know a warden that ran into this problem after they opened a new prison back in the 80s. They had a local officer who had wandered on to prison grounds in the middle of the night and started writing tickets for staff who had out of state plates as in that state you are required to register your car in the state if you are working there. After a few days of harassment they arrested the officer for bringing firearms on to prison grounds without checking his weapon(s) or notifying the prison that they were on grounds and armed.
There was mention above that one of the regulations quoted was in reference to courts / court proceedings. In many prisons now days the high risk inmates are given trials on prison grounds via video conference with the courthouse to reduce escape attempts and to save on guarding costs. If you have a high security inmate go to court in person the guards often end up being paid overtime due to conflicts between court time, transportation time, and shift changes. What people who have not worked in the correctional setting don't see is that each prison is given a budget and the warden is responsible for trying to stay within the budget. If the sworn officer budget is exceeded they need to pull funds from other areas to cover those costs. Most often they end up shorting the maintenance budget to cover costs and the lower the maintenance budget the less secure your prison becomes over time (something only inmates with escape plans are in favor of).
As for staff/outside law enforcement checking weapons, the last prison I was involved with activating had a weapons check located at the vehicle sallyport in direct view of the sallyport control tower and involved the guard lowering a key for a specific locker down to the officer, a series of 2 gates interlocked so only one could be open at a time and both were buzzed from the tower. and the key was returned to the tower before being allowed through the sallyport.
All of that said, I do believe that there should be either an off site location to park with a shuttle or a location to check your weapons when visiting.
