Kan. Admin. Regs. § 44-15-101 - Inmate or parolee grievance procedure; informal resolution; formal levels

(a) Throughout this article comprising the grievance procedure, all references to inmates shall include parolees, offenders, or both, supervised on either conditional release or postrelease supervision unless the meaning is clearly to the contrary. References to parolees shall include offenders supervised on either conditional or postrelease supervision. References to the warden shall include the parole director. The unit team equivalent shall be the parole officer.

(b) Before utilizing the grievance procedure, the inmate shall be responsible for attempting to reach an informal resolution of the matter with the personnel who work with the inmate on a direct or daily basis. An inmate in a facility or parole setting shall contact the unit team members for the attempt at informal resolution. That attempt shall be documented. The facility's inmate request forms may be used to document this process. If this informal resolution attempt fails, the grievance system may then be used. If an emergency exists and a resolution could not be obtained by going to the unit team, the inmate may go directly into the grievance process.

(c) At each stage, all grievances shall be answered in as short a time as possible to insure that delay will not impose additional hardship upon the inmate or unnecessarily prolong a misunderstanding. Grievances of inmates who have since been transferred, paroled, or discharged shall be answered to the extent possible.

(d) The grievance procedure shall incorporate several levels of problem solving to assure solution at the lowest administrative level possible.

(1) Level 1. The inmate shall first submit the grievance report form to an appropriate unit team member of the facility. The parolee shall first submit the form to the parole officer.

(2) Level 2. The inmate shall then submit the grievance report form to the warden of the facility. The parolee shall then submit the form to the regional parole director.

(3) Level 3. If not resolved, the grievance may be next submitted to the office of the secretary of corrections. Either a response to the grievance or referral of the matter to a deputy secretary of corrections for additional investigation, if necessary, shall be made by the warden. Grievances of inmates may be referred by the secretary to the deputy secretary of corrections for facility management. Grievances of parolees may be referred by the secretary to the deputy secretary of corrections for community and field services management.

(e) Inmate grievance report forms and appeal forms shall be made available to all inmates. Grievance forms and appeal forms shall be provided in containers in each inmate living unit and on each segregation wing or tier. The unit team shall assist the inmate in obtaining copies of supporting material necessary to complete the grievance if the number of photocopies requested by the inmate is reasonable.

(f) No staff member shall refuse to sign, date, and return an inmate request form, an inmate grievance form, or a grievance receipt slip showing that the inmate came to that person for assistance.

(g) Each inmate shall be entitled to invoke the grievance procedure. The procedure shall be made accessible to mentally impaired and physically handicapped inmates by the warden. This amendment shall be effective on and after February 15, 2002.

Notes

Kan. Admin. Regs. § 44-15-101

Authorized by and implementing K.S.A. 75-5210, K.S.A. 75-5251; effective May 1, 1980; amended May 1, 1984; amended May 1, 1987; amended April 20, 1992; amended Feb. 15, 2002.