33-4-101 - Right to receive visitors Right to communicate with family, attorney, physician, minister and courts. - Tennessee Statutes

33-4-101. Right to receive visitors Right to communicate with family, attorney, physician, minister and courts.

(a)  A person with mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, or developmental disability is entitled to:

     (1)  Receive visitors during regular visiting hours; and

     (2)  Communicate, orally or by sending and receiving uncensored mail, with the service recipient's family, attorney, personal physician, minister, and the courts.

(b)  All other incoming mail or parcels may be read or opened before being delivered to a service recipient, if the chief officer of the facility believes the action is necessary for the physical or mental health of the service recipient who is the intended recipient. Mail or other communication that is not delivered to the service recipient for whom it is intended shall be returned immediately to the sender.

(c)  The chief officer may make reasonable rules regarding visitors, visiting hours, and the use of communication resources.

[Acts 2000, ch. 947, § 1.]