---identifier: "/us/cfr/t28/s543.15"source: "ecfr"legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"title: "28 CFR § 543.15 - Legal aid program."title_number: 28title_name: "Judicial Administration"section_number: "543.15"section_name: "Legal aid program."chapter_name: "BUREAU OF PRISONS, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE"subchapter_number: "C"subchapter_name: "INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT"part_number: "543"part_name: "LEGAL MATTERS"positive_law: falsecurrency: "2026-03-24"last_updated: "2026-03-24"format_version: "1.1.0"generator: "[email protected]"authority: "5 U.S.C. 301; 18 U.S.C. 3621, 3622, 3624, 4001, 4042, 4081, 4082 (Repealed in part as to offenses committed on or after November 1, 1987), 5006-5024 (Repealed October 12, 1984 as to Offenses committed after that date), 5039; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510, 1346(b), 2671-80; 28 CFR 0.95-0.99, 0.172, 14.1-11."cfr_part: "543"---
Identifier
/us/cfr/t28/s543.15
Currency
2026-03-24
Positive Law
No
Updated
2026-03-24
Chapter
Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice
Authority
5 U.S.C. 301; 18 U.S.C. 3621, 3622, 3624, 4001, 4042, 4081, 4082 (Repealed in part as to offenses committed on or after November 1, 1987), 5006-5024 (Repealed October 12, 1984 as to Offenses committed... 5 U.S.C. 301; 18 U.S.C. 3621, 3622, 3624, 4001, 4042, 4081, 4082 (Repealed in part as to offenses committed on or after November 1, 1987), 5006-5024 (Repealed October 12, 1984 as to Offenses committed after that date), 5039; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510, 1346(b), 2671-80; 28 CFR 0.95-0.99, 0.172, 14.1-11.
# 543.15 Legal aid program.(a) A legal aid program which is funded or approved by the Bureau is expected to provide a broad range of legal assistance to inmates. Staff shall allow these programs generally to operate with the same independence as privately retained attorneys. The Warden shall refer a request or decision to terminate or restrict a program, or individual participants in a program, to the Regional Counsel.(b) In order to promote the inmate-program relationship, the Warden shall give those students or legal assistants working in legal aid programs the same status as attorneys with respect to visiting and correspondence except where specific exceptions are made in this section and in part 540 of this chapter.(c) An attorney or law school professor shall supervise students and legal assistants participating in the program. The supervisor shall provide the Warden with a signed statement accepting professional responsibility for acts of each student or legal assistant affecting the institution. The Warden may require each student or legal assistant to complete and sign a personal history statement and a pledge to abide by Bureau regulations and institution guidelines. If necessary to maintain security or good order in the institution, the Warden may prohibit a student or legal assistant from visiting or corresponding with an inmate.