Inmates may be designated to CMUs only according to the following procedures:

(a) Initial consideration. Initial consideration of inmates for CMU designation begins when the Bureau becomes aware of information relevant to the criteria described in §540.201.

(b) Assistant Director authority. The Bureau's Assistant Director, Correctional Programs Division, has authority to approve CMU designations. The Assistant Director's decision must be based on a review of the evidence, and a conclusion that the inmate's designation to a CMU is necessary to ensure the safety, security, and orderly operation of correctional facilities, or protection of the public.

(c) Written notice. Upon arrival at the designated CMU, inmates will receive written notice from the facility's Warden explaining that:

(1) Designation to a CMU allows greater Bureau staff management of communication with persons in the community through complete monitoring of telephone use, written correspondence, and visiting. The volume, frequency, and methods of CMU inmate contact with persons in the community may be limited as necessary to achieve the goal of total monitoring, consistent with this subpart;

(2) General conditions of confinement in the CMU may also be limited as necessary to provide greater management of communications;

(3) Designation to the CMU is not punitive and, by itself, has no effect on the length of the inmate's incarceration. Inmates in CMUs continue to earn sentence credit in accordance with the law and Bureau policy;

(4) Designation to the CMU follows the Assistant Director's decision that such placement is necessary for the safe, secure, and orderly operation of Bureau institutions, or protection of the public. The inmate will be provided an explanation of the decision in sufficient detail, unless the Assistant Director determines that providing specific information would jeopardize the safety, security, and orderly operation of correctional facilities, or protection of the public;

(5) Continued designation to the CMU will be reviewed regularly by the inmate's Unit Team under circumstances providing the inmate notice and an opportunity to be heard, in accordance with the Bureau's policy on Classification and Program Review of Inmates;

(6) The inmate may challenge the CMU designation decision, and any aspect of confinement therein, through the Bureau's administrative remedy program.