Cal. Code Regs. tit. 15, § 3375 – Classification Process.

(a) The classification process shall be uniformly applied, commencing upon reception of a person committed to the custody of the Secretary and shall continue throughout the time the individual remains under the Secretary's jurisdiction. Each incarcerated person shall be individually classified in accordance with this article. Senate Bill 618 Participants, as defined in section 3000 and pursuant to subsection 3077.1(a)(1)(C), shall receive a preliminary classification at a county facility prior to reception at a departmental institution.
(b) The classification process shall take into consideration the incarcerated person's needs, interests and desires, their behavior and placement score in keeping with the Department and institution's/facility's program and security missions and public safety.
1. (1) An automated needs assessment tool that identifies an incarcerated person's criminogenic needs shall be administered pursuant to Section 3375.6.
(c) Each determination affecting an incarcerated person's placement within an institution or facility, transfer between an institution or facility, program participation, privilege group, or custody designation, shall be made by a classification committee composed of staff knowledgeable in the classification process. Exceptions include waiting list placements and assignments to Cognitive Behavioral Interventions (CBI) which can be made without a classification committee action based upon a health care services referral; or a guilty finding pursuant to subsection 3315(g)(5)(J)2. or 3315(g)(5)(J)3.
(d) The classification of felon inmates shall include the classification score system as established. A lower placement score indicates lesser security control needs and a higher placement score indicates greater security control needs.
(e) When possible, the incarcerated person shall be given sufficient advance written notice of any classification committee hearing to provide the incarcerated person reasonable preparation time to discuss the matter to be considered. An incarcerated person appearing before a classification committee shall be informed of the incarcerated person's next classification committee hearing date when it is known or can be anticipated.
(f) The classification of incarcerated persons shall provide the following procedural safeguards:
1. (1) Incarcerated persons shall be given written notice at least 72 hours in advance of a hearing which could result in an adverse effect. Adverse effect is defined as:
  1. (A) Involuntary transfer to a higher security level institution/facility, which is not consistent with the incarcerated person's placement score.
  2. (B) Increase in the incarcerated person's custody designation.
  3. (C) Involuntary placement in restricted housing.
  4. (D) Involuntary removal from an assigned program.
  5. (E) Placement in a reduced work group.
  6. (F) Involuntary transfer to another institution/facility because of the incarcerated person's misbehavior or receipt of new information that may affect staff, incarcerated persons, the public, or the safety and security of the institution/facility, whether or not their placement score is consistent with the receiving institution's/facility's security level.
  7. (G) Transfer of an incarcerated person to a more restrictive institution or program where the security level is higher.
2. (2) Except as provided in subsection 3375(f)(3), the incarcerated person shall be present at all initial classification committee hearings and at any other classification committee hearing which could result in an adverse effect upon the incarcerated person.
3. (3) An in absentia (without incarcerated person's presence) classification hearings may be held only when:
  1. (A) The incarcerated person refuses to appear before the committee.
  2. (B) The incarcerated person is physically incapable of appearing before the committee, or is determined by a psychiatrist to be mentally incompetent and cannot understand the purpose of the hearing.
  3. (C) The purpose of the hearing is to:
    1. 1. Improve the incarcerated person's conditions of confinement by reducing or removing a previously imposed restriction.
    2. 2. Approve an action requested in writing by the incarcerated person.
    3. 3. Determine the need for scheduling, or to schedule, a future classification committee action.
4. (4) If the incarcerated person was not previously notified and during the classification committee hearing an unanticipated adverse effect emerges, the hearing shall be postponed for at least 72 hours and the incarcerated person shall be referred to the incarcerated person's counselor for assistance when the incarcerated person is illiterate, or the issues are complex unless:
  1. (A) The hearing cannot be postponed because of safety or security factors.
  2. (B) The incarcerated person waives the 72-hour postponement.
5. (5) The incarcerated person shall be permitted to contest the preliminary score or placement score in the hearing.
6. (6) Each incarcerated person appearing before a classification committee shall be:
  1. (A) Introduced to the committee members.
  2. (B) Informed of the purpose of the hearing.
  3. (C) Encouraged to participate in the hearing discussion.
  4. (D) Informed of the committee's decision.
7. (7) Classification committee decisions shall be based on evaluation of available information and mutual agreement of the committee members.
(g) Every decision of a classification committee shall be documented on an automated Classification Committee Chrono (Rev. 05/19), which is incorporated by reference.
1. (1) Each classification committee's documentation shall include, but not be limited to the following:
  1. (A) The reason or purpose for the committee hearing without compromising the personal safety of the incarcerated person.
  2. (B) The action taken.
  3. (C) The specific reasons for the action, including general information upon which the decision was based, without compromising the personal safety of the incarcerated person.
  4. (D) The incarcerated person's stated preferred action, the reasons for the preference, and their agreement or disagreement with the committee action.
  5. (E) If applicable, the use of any reasonable accommodation to ensure effective communication.
  6. (F) If during the committee discussion, a member of the committee disagrees with a decision or the basis for a decision reached by the committee, they may provide language to the recorder to document their opinion for inclusion in the automated Classification Committee Chrono (05/19).
  7. (G) The reason(s) for the omission of any of the classification procedural safeguards identified in subsection 3375(f).
  8. (H) If an in absentia hearing is held, reason(s) for the incarcerated person being absent.
  9. (I) The name, title, and signature of the committee's chairperson.
  10. (J) The names and titles of staff who participated in the decision.
  11. (K) The name, title, and signature of the committee's recorder.
  12. (L) The date of the action.
2. (2) In addition to the preceding, documentation for transfer reviews shall also include the following:
  1. (A) The incarcerated person's requested transfer preference(s) and stated reason(s) for preferring that location.
  2. (B) The institution to which the committee recommends transfer with an alternate recommendation, if different from those requested by the incarcerated person, and the specific reasons for both recommendations.
  3. (C) A statement of the incarcerated person's work group upon transfer based on adverse or non-adverse transfer circumstances.
  4. (D) Where present, the Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) No Later Than (NLT) date and/or next scheduled BPH hearing date.
3. (3) When the incarcerated person is treated under the Mental Health Services Delivery System (MHSDS) and is at the Enhanced Outpatient Program (EOP) or the Mental Health Crisis Bed (MHCB) level of care, regardless of the incarcerated person's housing, a mental health clinician is required as a committee member at all hearings. When the incarcerated person is in restricted housing and treated under the MHSDS at any level of care, a mental health clinician is required as a committee member at all hearings. Documentation shall include, but not be limited to the following:
  1. (A) The incarcerated person's current medical/psychiatric status/level of care.
  2. (B) MHSDS treatment needs.
  3. (C) The incarcerated person's ability to understand and participate in the classification hearing.
4. (4) In all hearings when the incarcerated person is treated under the MHSDS and is housed in restricted housing, documentation shall include the requirements indicated in subsection 3375(g)(3) as well as the following:
  1. (A) A clinical assessment of the incarcerated person's likelihood of decompensation if retained in restricted housing.
  2. (B) A summary of the clinical information provided by the mental health clinician when an actively decompensating mentally ill incarcerated person is recommended for transfer to a mental health program by the mental health clinician and the decision of the committee is to retain the incarcerated person in restricted housing.
5. (5) Documentation from each institution's initial classification reviews shall include the following case factors:
  1. (A) Date of birth or age on the date of committee.
  2. (B) Term status (first, second, etc.)
  3. (C) County(ies) of commitment.
  4. (D) Commitment offense(s) (include parole revocation offense(s) resulting in good cause/probable cause findings if a parole violator.)
  5. (E) Length of sentence.
  6. (F) When the incarcerated person was received by the Department for the current incarceration.
  7. (G) County of last legal residence.
  8. (H) Escape related conviction(s).
  9. (I) Current or potential hold(s).
  10. (J) Arson related arrest(s) or conviction(s).
  11. (K) Sex-related arrest(s) or conviction(s) by date.
  12. (L) The current placement score, security level, and custody designation.
  13. (M) The reason(s) the incarcerated person was transferred to the current location.
  14. (N) Current eligibility status for special programs such as camp, minimum support facility, or community correctional facility. If not eligible, the reason for each shall be noted.
  15. (O) Current assignments (including work group and privilege group).
  16. (P) Enemy or STG concerns.
  17. (Q) The existence of, and committee review of, confidential information.
  18. (R) Any medical/psychiatric/disability concerns, including tuberculosis tracking code and date of the most current documentation.
  19. (S) Any other pertinent case information and/or casework follow-up needed.
(h) An incarcerated person shall be provided a copy of all non-confidential CDCR staff-generated documentation and reports placed in the incarcerated person's central file unless otherwise requested in writing by the incarcerated person.
(i) An incarcerated person shall not remain at an institution/facility with a security level which is not consistent with the incarcerated person's placement score unless approved by a Classification Staff Representative (CSR) or a staff person designated to serve in that capacity.
(j) A CDCR Form 839, (Rev. 07/24), CDCR Classification Score Sheet, shall be prepared pursuant to section 3375.3 on each newly received incarcerated person convicted of a felony.
1. (1) In completing the CDCR Form 839, all relevant documents available during the reception center process shall be reviewed. The incarcerated person shall be interviewed, informed of the purpose of the form, and allowed to contest specific item scores and other case factors on the form. Factors for which documentation is absent or conflicting shall be discussed during the interview.
2. (2) The incarcerated person is responsible for providing documentation to support their challenge of any information on the CDCR Form 839.
3. (3) An effort shall be made to obtain verifiable documentation of all items on the CDCR Form 839. The probation officer's report (POR) shall be the document of choice to resolve any conflicting information received. Credit shall be given only upon verifiable documentation and shall not be given based solely on an incarcerated person's statements.
4. (4) A corrected CDCR Form 839 shall be initiated when the incarcerated person or another party presents verifiable documentation to support the change. When the change results in a placement score which falls into the range for a different facility security level, the incarcerated person's case shall be referred to a CSR for transfer consideration.
(k) A CDCR Form 840 (Rev. 03/25), CDCR Reclassification Score Sheet shall be prepared pursuant to section 3375.4 as part of the regular, continuous classification process. If an incarcerated person's recalculated placement score is not consistent with the institution or facility security level where the incarcerated person is housed, the case shall be presented to a CSR for transfer consideration.
1. (1) A CDCR Form 840 shall be completed:
  1. (A) Twelve months after the date that the incarcerated person physically arrived in the reception center and annually thereafter.
  2. (B) Any six-month period when favorable points are granted or unfavorable points are assessed which would cause the incarcerated person's placement score to fall outside of the facility security level.
  3. (C) Each time a case is presented to a CSR for placement consideration.
2. (2) A CDCR Form 841 (Rev. 07/24), CDCR Readmission Score Sheet, shall be completed pursuant to section 3375.5 as part of the readmission process when a supervised person is returned to prison.
(l) The readmission process shall include review of the incarcerated person's CDCR Form 839 to determine if unfavorable behavior points were previously assessed for a guilty finding of one or more of the six serious disciplinary offenses set forth in subsections 3375.3(b)(4)(C) through (H). If the offense(s) occurred 10 or more years prior to the date of the incarcerated person's initial reception to CDCR, the previously assessed points shall be removed from the incarcerated person's electronic CDCR Form 839, and shall no longer be counted toward the incarcerated person's preliminary classification score.

Note: Authority cited: Sections 5058 and 5058.3, Penal Code. Reference: Sections 1203.8, 3020, 5054, 5068 and 11191, Penal Code; Sections 8550 and 8567, Government Code; Governor's Prison Overcrowding State of Emergency Proclamation dated October 4, 2006; Wright v. Enomoto (1976) 462 F. Supp. 397; Stoneham v. Rushen (1984) 156 Cal.App.3d 302; and Castillo v. Alameida, et al., (N.D. Cal., No. C94-2847).

History

1. Amendment filed 1-4-88 as an emergency; operative 1-4-88 (Register 88, No. 16). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL within 120 days or emergency language will be repealed on 5-3-88. For prior history, see Register 88, No. 8.

2. Certificate of Compliance as to 1-4-88 order transmitted to OAL 5-3-88; disapproved by OAL (Register 88, No. 24).

3. Amendment filed 6-2-88 as an emergency; operative 6-2-88 (Register 88, No. 24). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL within 120 days or emergency language will be repealed on 9-30-88.

4. Amendment of subsection (b) filed 9-19-88 as an emergency; operative 9-19-88 (Register 88, No. 39). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL within 120 days or emergency language will be repealed on 1-17-89.

5. Certificate of Compliance including amendment transmitted to OAL 9-26-88 and filed 10-26-88 (Register 88, No. 50).

6. Certificate of Compliance as to 9-19-88 order transmitted to OAL 1-18-89 and filed 2-2-89 (Register 89, No. 8).

7. Change without regulatory effect amending section filed 10-22-90 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 91, No. 4).

8. Editorial correction of typing errors in subsections (b) and (g) (Register 91, No. 11).

9. Editorial correction of printing errors (Register 92, No. 5).

10. New subsection (f)(1)(F) filed 1-16-92; operative 2-17-92 (Register 92, No. 13).

11. Amendment of subsection (c) filed 5-5-95; operative 6-5-95 (Register 95, No. 18).

12. Amendment filed 10-17-97; operative 11-16-97 (Register 97, No. 42).

13. Amendment of section and Note filed 8-27-2002 as an emergency; operative 8-27-2002 (Register 2002, No. 35). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3 a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 2-4-2003 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

14. Certificate of Compliance as to 8-27-2002 order, including further amendment of section, transmitted to OAL 1-21-2003 and filed 3-6-2003 (Register 2003, No. 10).

15. Amendment of subsection (h) and Note filed 5-25-2006; operative 5-25-2006 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4 (Register 2006, No. 21).

16. Change without regulatory effect amending Note filed 12-4-2006 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2006, No. 49).

17. New subsections (g)(6)-(g)(6)(B) and amendment of Note filed 10-30-2008 as an emergency; operative 10-30-2008 (Register 2008, No. 44). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 4-8-2009 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

18. Amendment of subsection (a) and Note filed 2-5-2009 as an emergency; operative 2-5-2009 (Register 2009, No. 6). This filing contains a certification that the operational needs of the Department required filing of these regulations on an emergency basis and were deemed an emergency pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3. A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 7-15-2009 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

19. Certificate of Compliance as to 10-30-2008 order transmitted to OAL 4-1-2009 and filed 5-12-2009 (Register 2009, No. 20).

20. Certificate of Compliance as to 2-5-2009 order transmitted to OAL 6-25-2009 and filed 7-28-2009 (Register 2009, No. 31).

21. New subsection (l) and amendment of Note filed 5-10-2012 as an emergency; operative 5-10-2012 (Register 2012, No. 19). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 10-17-2012 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

22. Amendment of subsections (a)-(c), (g)(1), (g)(2)(C), (g)(3), (g)(5)(A)-(B), (g)(5)(D), (g)(5)(F), (g)(5)(L), (g)(5)(N), (h)-(k)(1) and (k)(2) and new subsection (g)(5)(S) filed 6-26-2012 as an emergency; operative 7-1-2012 (Register 2012, No. 26). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 12-10-2012 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

23. New subsection (l) and amendment of Note refiled 10-17-2012 as an emergency; operative 10-17-2012 (Register 2012, No. 42). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 1-15-2013 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

24. Editorial correction of History 23 providing corrected Certificate of Compliance date (Register 2012, No. 44).

25. Certificate of Compliance as to 6-26-2012 order transmitted to OAL 12-5-2012 and filed 1-17-2013 (Register 2013, No. 3).

26. Certificate of Compliance as to 10-17-2012 order transmitted to OAL 1-15-2013 and filed 2-25-2013 (Register 2013, No. 9).

27. Amendment of subsections (g) and (g)(5)(P) filed 10-17-2014; operative 10-17-2014 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2014, No. 42).

28. New subsection (g)(2)(D) filed 2-9-2017 as an emergency; operative 2-20-2017 (Register 2017, No. 6). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 7-31-2017 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

29. Certificate of Compliance as to 2-9-2017 order transmitted to OAL 7-12-2017 and filed 8-23-2017 (Register 2017, No. 34).

30. Amendment of subsection (g) filed 10-9-2017 as an emergency; operative 10-9-2017 (Register 2017, No. 41). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 3-19-2018 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

31. Amendment of subsection (g) refiled 3-5-2018 as an emergency; operative 3-19-2018 (Register 2018, No. 10). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 8-27-2018 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

32. Certificate of Compliance as to 3-5-2018 order transmitted to OAL 8-21-2018 and filed 10-3-2018 (Register 2018, No. 40).

33. New subsection (b)(1) and amendment of subsection (l) filed 12-18-2019; operative 4-1-2020 (Register 2019, No. 51).

34. Amendment of subsection (c) filed 4-27-2021 as an emergency; operative 4-27-2021 (Register 2021, No. 18). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3 and Executive Orders N-40-20 and N-71-20, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 2-1-2022 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

35. Editorial correction of History 34 (Register 2021, No. 36).

36. Amendment of subsection (c) refiled 2-1-2022 as an emergency; operative 2-1-2022 (Register 2022, No. 5). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 5-2-2022 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

37. Amendment of subsection (c) refiled 5-2-2022 as an emergency; operative 5-3-2022 (Register 2022, No. 18). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 8-1-2022 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

38. Certificate of Compliance as to 5-2-2022 order transmitted to OAL 7-20-2022 and filed 8-31-2022 (Register 2022, No. 35).

39. Repealer of subsections (g)(6)-(g)(6)(B) filed 1-20-2023; operative 4-1-2023 (Register 2023, No. 3).

40. Amendment of subsections (f)(1)(C), (g), (g)(3) and (g)(4)-(g)(4)(B) filed 10-24-2023 as an emergency; operative 11-1-2023 (Register 2023, No. 43). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 4-9-2024 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

41. Amendment of subsection (g)(1)(F) filed 12-19-2023; operative 12-19-2023 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2023, No. 51).

42. Amendment of subsections (j), (k) and (k)(2) filed 1-31-2024; operative 1-31-2024 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2024, No. 5).

43. Amendment of subsection (c) filed 3-7-2024; operative 7-1-2024 (Register 2024, No. 10).

44. Amendment of subsections (f)(1)(C), (g), (g)(3) and (g)(4)-(g)(4)(B) refiled 4-8-2024 as an emergency; operative 4-11-2024 (Register 2024, No. 15). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 7-10-2024 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

45. Change without regulatory effect amending section filed 7-1-2024 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2024, No. 27).

46. Certificate of Compliance as to 4-8-2024 order transmitted to OAL 6-18-2024 and filed 7-31-2024 (Register 2024, No. 31).

47. Change without regulatory effect amending subsection (k) filed 3-5-2025 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2025, No. 10).

48. Amendment of subsections (c), (g)(1)(A) and (g)(1)(C) filed 4-9-2026; operative 4-9-2026 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2026, No. 15).