Prison Grievance Procedures and Samples

Prison and Jail Grievance Policies

This list links to grievance polices for every state prison system, and a number of jails, organized by state.  Private prison grievance policies appear at the bottom of the list. Many of these policies were first gathered for the briefs filed in Jones v. Bock and Williams v. Overton, in the U.S. Supreme Court, by Yale Law School's Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization.  Those briefs (Jones brief is here) are good resources for discussion of inmate grievance policies nationwide.  We will update the chart below as we receive new policies from various sources.  The effective date of the policies appears in parentheses after each link.  (If you have an updated policy or any other correction, send along an email.)

US Bureau of Prisons
Policy (8/13/2002)
Blank Grievance Forms (BP-9, BP-10, BP-11)
Sample Grievance Form (11/8/2004)
Rivers CI Sample Grievance Form (1/21/2004)

PRIVATE PRISON SYSTEMS
CCA Policy ("Correctional Treatment Facility")(12/1/2002)

Alabama
Policy (under review as of 8/8/06)

Alaska
Policy (5/23/02)

Arizona
Policy (3/3/2000)

Arkansas
Policy (2/1/2004)

California
Policy (12/31/2004)
Glenn County Policy (unknown date)
Glenn County Policy, Section II  (unknown date)

Colorado
Policy (12/15/2005)
Boulder County Policy (2007)

Connecticut
Policy (3/5/2003)
Sample Grievance Form (10/7/2002)
Sample Grievance 1 (revised, 1/8/2002)
Sample Grievance 2 (revised, 1/1994)
Sample Grievance 3 (revised 10/7/2002)

Delaware
Policy (5/15/1998)
Sample Grievance Form (revised 3/1992)

District of Colombia
Policy (1/21/2008)
Former Policy (5/4/1992)
Sample Grievance Form (revised 3/1992)

Florida
Policy (3/2508)
Old Policy (10/9/2005)

Georgia
Policy (6/1/2004)

Hawaii
Policy (4/31/1992)
Sample Grievance Form (revised, 3/1997)

Idaho
Policy (9/16/2004)

Illinois
Policy (1/1/1998)

Indiana
Policy (12/1/2005)

Iowa
Policy (1/2005)
Sample Grievance Form (revised, 1/2005?)

Kansas
Policy (date unknown)

Kentucky
Policy (1/4/2005)
Sample Grievance Form (revised 1/2004)

Louisiana
Policy (4/20/2002)
Sample Grievance Form 1 (5/1/2006)
Sample Grievance Form 2 (5/17/2006)

Maine
Policy (1/13/2003)

Maryland
Policy (4/1/1993)
Dorchester County Policy (10/17/2003)
Sample Grievance Form (7/25/2005)
Maryland Administrative Remedy Procedure (4/1/1993)
Maryland Administrative Remedy Procedure (4/1/1993)
Maryland Code of Regulations (11/4/2005)
Maryland Division of Pretrial Detention Services(11/30/2000)

Massachusetts
Policy (1/5/2001)
Massachusetts Medical (4/5/2004)

Michigan
Policy (11/1/2000)
R&R Re Exhaustion (Broder) (4/8/2009)
District Court Order (Broder) (9/22/2004)

Minnesota
Policy (5/1/2005)

Mississippi
Policy (unknown date)
Sample Grievance Form 1 (4/13/2004)
Sample Grievance Form 2 (3/11/2004)
Sample Grievance Form 3 (2/3/2004)
Sample Grievance Form 4 (3/7/2003)
Sample Grievance Form 5 (9/9/2003)
Sample Grievance Form 6 (5/18/2006)
Mississippi SOP (7/1/2003)
Mississippi Handbook (unknown date)

Missouri
Policy (1/15/1992)

Montana
Policy (1/1/1997)

Nebraska
Policy (5/17/2000)
Former Policy (8/9/80)

Nevada
Policy (1/5/2004)

New Hampshire
Policy (10/1/2002)

New Jersey
Policy (8/1/2003)
Sample Grievance Form (revised, 1/2005)

New Mexico
Policy (6/22/2002)
Sample Grievance Form (unknown date)

New York
Policy (12/31/2005)
Sample Grievance Form 1 (3/24/2004)
Sample Grievance Form 2 (1/19/2005)
New York City Policy and Forms (3/13/2008)
Former New York City Policy (3/4/1985)
Former New York City Rikers Sample Grievance Form
(revised, 6/1983)

North Carolina
Policy (3/2002)
Sample Grievance Form (revised, 8/1989)
Department of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Sample Grievance Form (revised, 5/2004)

North Dakota
Policy (5/5/2005)

Ohio
Policy (4/30/2006)
Nathan Evaluation of the Ohio Grievance System (2/13/2001)

Oklahoma
Policy (10/11/2005)

Oregon
Policy (11/15/2005)

Pennsylvania
Policy (1/3/2005)
Sample Grievance Form (unknown date)
Monroe County Policy (9/19/07)
York County Policy (2002)

Rhode Island
Policy (11/2005)
Sample Grievance Form (unknown date)

South Carolina
Policy (11/1/2004)

South Dakota
Policy (8/22/2005)

Tennessee
Policy (5/1/2004)
Sample Grievance Form (revised 3/2000)

Texas
Policy (11/2004)
Sample Grievance Form (revised 9/1/1999)

Utah
Sample Grievance Form 1 (revised, 9/1/1994)
Sample Grievance Form 2 (revised, 7/1/2003)

Vermont
Policy (9/1/2000)

Virginia
Policy (11/20/1998)

Washington
Policy (3/1/2005)
Clark County Policy (6/2003?)
Snohomish County Policy (3/29/07)

West Virginia
Policy (12/2005)

Wisconsin
Policy (current through 10/2005)
Sample Grievance Form (revised, 12/2003)

Wyoming
Policy (4/13/1992)
Sample Grievance Form (1/10/2006)
AG Warden Letter