Opinion letter to Mr. George M. Camp

..JOHN C. DANFORTH ATTORNEY GENERAL OFFICES OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI JEFFERSON CITY February 10, 1975 OPINION LETTER NO. 31 Mr. George M. Camp, Director Missouri Division of Corrections 911 Missouri Boulevard Jefferson City, Missouri 65101 Dear Mr. Camp: Your request for an official opinion reads as follows: "May the Division of Corrections permit in- mates to attend community functions, such as church or organizational meetings, or to participate in other activities approved by the Division, without resorting to the use of the furlough statutes, by authoriz- ing volunteer persons who are not employees of the Division to have temporary custody and control of inmates outside of the in- stitutions at such times?" In this state, the control and supervision of state cor- rectional institutions is strictly regulated by statute. The applicable section is Chapter 216 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, 1969, entitled "State Correctional Institutions." In essense, what you are seeking is the conditional release of a prisoner, for a limited period of time, under the supervision of volunteer persons who are not employees of the Division of Cor- rections. There is no statutory provision authorizing such pro- cedure. In the case of Wright v. Settle, 293 F.2d 317, 318 (8th Cir. 1961), the court stated that: " ••• Conditional releases and paroles not have existence or incidents, except as the statutes creating them provide. who is given a conditional release or a role takes it as a matter of law on the do such One pa- basis Mr. George M. Camp of the statutes. He cannot claim rights or privileges thereunder except such as can expressly or implicitly be found in the language of the statutes." Similarly, in 72 C.J.S. Prisons §5 (1951), at page 852, it is stated that: "The matter of the superv1.s1.on of prisons is usually regulated by statutes .... These functions can be performed only by the officers, boards, or other authority to whom they have been intrusted by law." As previously stated, the regulation and control of the state correctional institutions is strictly governed by stat- ute. Section 216.230, RSMo 1969, states that: "1. The warden or superintendent of each institution shall, with the approval of the director of the division of administra- tion and in conformance with the provisions of this and other laws, appoint assistants and other employees necessary to the proper conduct of the institution of which he or she is warden or superintendent." (Emphasis added) This section requires the appointment of assistants or other employees to aid in a proper conduct of the institution. This would seem to preclude the use of nonemployees for such functions. It is our view that the Division of Corrections does not have authority to permit inmates to attend community functions under the supervision of volunteer persons who are not employees of the Division. Yours very t~, ~..e .J~~ JOHN C. DANFORTH Attorney General -2-