Section 3483 - Grievance Review(a) The Reviewing Authority over each Office of Grievances shall designate at least one official to assess each written grievance within one business day of receipt to determine if it contains information concerning an imminent risk to personal safety, to institutional security, or of sexual abuse, including acts of sexual misconduct as defined by the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act and the California Sexual Abuse in Detention Elimination Act. In those instances, the official shall immediately take appropriate action as required by all applicable laws and regulations. The official shall ensure the claimant is notified of the department's course of action within five business days. In addition to the above requirements, if the grievance alleges that the claimant's Earliest Possible Release Date (EPRD) is erroneous and the claimant is scheduled to be released within 90 calendar days of the date the grievance was received by the Office of Grievances, then a comprehensive review of the EPRD shall be conducted and the results provided to the claimant within 30 calendar days of receipt of the grievance. Regardless of the above requirements, the grievance Coordinator shall ensure that a written grievance decision is provided to the claimant as required in subsection (g).(b) The grievance Coordinator shall ensure that the intake process as specified in subsection (a) is completed and each grievance is referred to the Centralized Screening Team within three business days of receipt of the grievance.(c) The grievance Coordinator shall acknowledge receipt of each grievance to the claimant in writing within four business days of its receipt indicating the date the grievance was submitted, the date the grievance was received, the calculated date for the department's response, and whether the grievance was disallowed pursuant to subsection 3482(d)(3).(d) The grievance Coordinator shall ensure that all routine claims returned from the Centralized Screening Team to the Office of Grievances are reviewed and answered in accordance with this section.(e) A claimant or witness shall be interviewed during the course of responding to a routine claim if departmental staff responsible for answering the claim determine it would assist in resolving the claim. The interview shall be conducted in a manner that provides as much privacy for the claimant as operationally feasible. If a claimant is unavailable to be interviewed or refuses to be interviewed, then those facts shall be documented in the written response.(f) The Reviewing Authority shall ensure that any individual whose personal interaction with a claimant forms part of the claim is excluded from participating in the grievance process as to that claim, including any interview of a claimant conducted as part of the grievance process. (1) If the individual in question is a Warden, then an Associate Director, Deputy Director, or the Director from the Division of Adult Institutions shall serve as the Reviewing Authority for that claim.(2) If the individual in question is a Regional Parole Administrator, then a Deputy Director or the Director from the Division of Adult Parole Operations shall serve as the Reviewing Authority for that claim.(3) Participating in a committee meeting to discuss a claimant, or that includes a claimant in attendance, does not, by itself, constitute personal interaction.(g) The grievance Coordinator shall ensure that a written grievance decision is completed no later than 60 calendar days after receipt of the grievance, unless other statutory or regulatory authority requires a response in less than 60 calendar days, and contains one of the following decisions as to each claim in the grievance: (1) "Denied," meaning that the Reviewing Authority found by a preponderance of the evidence available that all applicable rules were followed;(2) "Granted," meaning that the Reviewing Authority found by a preponderance of the evidence available that all applicable rules were not followed, in which case the Reviewing Authority shall order an appropriate remedy;(3) "No Jurisdiction," meaning that the claim concerns a policy, decision, action, condition, or omission by an independent entity or official which requires that the claimant file a complaint with that entity or official, as described in subsection 3481(e);(4) "Redirected," meaning that the claim will be forwarded to the appropriate authority described below because it fits one of the following circumstances:(A) An issue concerning medical, dental, or mental health services provided by the Correctional Health Care Services Division or a dispute concerning a policy, decision, action, condition, or omission by the Correctional Health Care Services Division or its staff shall be redirected to that Division;(B) A request for a reasonable accommodation based on a disability shall be redirected to the Institutional or Regional Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator;(C) A request for an interview, item, assistance, or service shall be redirected to a staff member designated by the Hiring Authority for a response;(D) A request for records that is made pursuant to the California Public Records Act or the California Information Practices Act shall be redirected to the Institutional or Regional Public Records Act coordinator;(E) A request regarding institutional placement or search preference pursuant to the Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act of 2020 shall be redirected to the Prison Rape Elimination Act Compliance Manager;(F) A complaint regarding a classification committee decision about institutional placement pursuant to the Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act of 2020 shall be redirected to the Departmental Review Board via the Office of Appeals; or(G) An allegation against an incarcerated or supervised person shall be redirected to a staff member designated by the Hiring Authority for a response;(5) "Reassigned," meaning that the claim will be reassigned to the appropriate authority described below because it fits one of the following circumstances: (A) A claim involving documents, witnesses, or other facts that are primarily located at another institution or parole region shall be reassigned to the Office of Grievances where the majority of those facts are located, in which case the Office of Grievances that is presented with the reassigned claim shall treat the claim as received on the date that the sending Office of Grievances received it; or(B) A request to implement a remedy shall be reassigned to the Remedies Compliance Coordinator referred to in subsection (j)(2).(6) "Rejected," meaning that the claim will be rejected because it fits one or more of the following circumstances: (A) the claimant did not submit the claim within the time constraints required by subsection 3482(b), unless the claim concerns an allegation of staff misconduct;(B) the claim concerns an anticipated policy, decision, action, condition, or omission by the department or departmental staff;(C) the claim is substantially duplicative of a prior claim by the same claimant, unless the prior claim was rejected as anticipatory pursuant to subsection (B);(D) the claim concerns harm to a person other than the person who signed the grievance, unless the claim concerns an allegation of staff misconduct;(E) the claim disputes or contravenes the regulatory framework for the grievance and appeal process itself (specifically, Title 15, Subchapter 5.1, Article 1, Administrative Remedies for Incarcerated and Supervised Persons);(7) "Disallowed," meaning the grievance package will be discarded because it was contaminated with organic, toxic, or hazardous materials that may threaten staff safety or institutional security;(8) "Identified as Staff Misconduct," meaning that the claim involves an allegation of staff misconduct and was referred to the appropriate authority to gather relevant facts, resulting in exhaustion of the administrative remedies process for the claim;(9) "Pending Legal Matter," meaning that the substance of the claim concerns pending litigation by a party other than the claimant (excluding class action litigation), pending legislation, or pending regulatory action, resulting in exhaustion of the administrative remedies process for the claim; or(10) "Time Expired," meaning that the Institutional or Regional Office of Grievances was not able to respond to the claim within 60 calendar days, resulting in exhaustion of the administrative remedies process for the claim.(h) If a claim is rejected as untimely under subsection (g)(6)(A), the grievance decision shall also include the following dates as determined by the grievance Coordinator: the date the claim was discovered, the date the claim was submitted, the date the claim was received, and the time constraint for submission of the claim pursuant to subsection 3482(b). A claim that is rejected as untimely by the Office of Grievances may be appealed for review by the Office of Appeals pursuant to the procedures in section 3484. If the Office of Appeals grants the appeal, then the claim shall be reassigned to the Office of Grievances at the institution or region where the majority of the facts and circumstances that gave rise to the claim occurred. The Office of Grievances shall treat the claim as received on the date that the Office of Appeals issued its decision and shall issue its own decision in compliance with subsection 3483(g).(i) The written grievance decision shall be sent to the claimant within two business days of completing the written grievance decision letter.(j) Implementation of Remedy.(1) If the Reviewing Authority grants a claim, then the corresponding remedy shall be implemented no later than 30 calendar days after the decision was sent to the claimant, unless: (A) the remedy requires the disbursement of funds, in which case the remedy shall be implemented no later than 90 calendar days after the decision was sent to the claimant; or(B) the remedy requires budget authorization outside the department's existing authority, in which case the remedy shall be implemented no later than one year after the decision was sent to the claimant.(2) If the remedy has not been implemented and the applicable time constraint has passed, then a claimant may submit a CDCR Form 602-3 (Rev. 01/22), "Request to Implement Remedies," hereby incorporated by reference, directly to the Remedies Compliance Coordinator by regular mail sent to the "Remedies Compliance Coordinator, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, P.O. Box 942883, Sacramento, California 95811." Correspondence directed to this address shall not be opened by any departmental staff other than those in the Office of Appeals.(k) Additional local processes and procedures may be promulgated by the Division of Adult Institutions and the Division of Adult Parole Operations so long as they are consistent with this Article, pursuant to Penal Code section 5058(c)(1).(l) Exhaustion. (1) Completion of the review process by the Institutional or Regional Office of Grievances resulting in a decision of "denied," "granted," "no jurisdiction," "redirected," "reassigned," or "rejected" in accordance with subsections (g)(1) through (g)(6) of this section does not constitute exhaustion of all administrative remedies available to a claimant within the department. Nor does completion of the review process resulting in a "disallowed" decision in accordance with subsection (g)(7) of this section because the claimant may submit a new grievance regarding the same claim or claims so long as it is submitted within the time constraints set forth in subsection 3482(b). Exhaustion requires a claimant to appeal such decisions as provided in section 3484.(2) Completion of the review process by the Institutional or Regional Office of Grievances resulting in a decision of "identified as staff misconduct," "pending legal matter," or "time expired" in accordance with subsections (g)(8) through (g)(10) of this section does constitute exhaustion of all administrative remedies available to a claimant within the department. No appeal is available because the claim was exhausted at the conclusion of the review by the Institutional or Regional Office of Grievances.Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 15, § 3483
Note: Authority cited: Section 5058, Penal Code. Reference: Sections 832.5 and 5054, Penal Code; and Section 35.107, Title 28, Code of Federal Regulations.
Note: Authority cited: Section 5058, Penal Code. Reference: Sections 832.5 and 5054, Penal Code; and Section 35.107, Title 28, Code of Federal Regulations.
1. New section filed 12-3-90 as an emergency; operative 12-3-90 (Register 91, No. 6). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 4-2-91 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
2. Editorial correction of printing error inadvertently omitting text (Register 91, No. 11).
3. Certificate of Compliance as to 11-28-90 order transmitted to OAL 3-21-91 and filed 4-22-91 (Register 91, No. 20).
4. Renumbering of former section 3483 to new section 3485 and new section 3483 filed 9-13-2005; operative 9-13-2005 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(Register 2005, No. 37).
5. Renumbering of section 3483 to new section 3474 and new section 3483 filed 3-25-2020 as an emergency; operative 6/1/2020 (Register 2020, No. 13). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 11-9-2020 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
6. Emergency filed 3-25-2020 and operative 6-1-2020 extended 60 days pursuant to Executive Order N-40-20 and an additional 60 days pursuant to Executive Order N-66-20 (Register 2020, No. 42). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 3-9-2021 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
7. Renumbering of section 3483 to new section 3474 and new section 3483 refiled 2-25-2021 as an emergency, with amendments to subsection (k)(2); operative 3/10/2021 (Register 2021, No. 9). Emergency expiration extended 60 days (Executive Order N-40-20) plus an additional 60 days (Executive Order N-71-20). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 10-8-2021 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
8. Renumbering of section 3483 to new section 3474 and new section 3483 refiled 10-4-2021 as an emergency, with amendments to subsection (k)(2); operative 10/8/2021 pursuant to Government Code section 11346.1(d) (Register 2021, No. 41). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 1-6-2022 pursuant to Government Code section 11346.1(h) or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
9. Certificate of Compliance as to 10-4-2021 order, including repealer and new section, transmitted to OAL 12-7-2021 and filed 1-5-2022; amendments operative 1/5/2022 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2022, No. 1).
10. Change without regulatory effect amending subsections (g)(4)(G) and (g)(6)(E) filed 7-1-2024 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2024, No. 27).