Florida Administrative Code › 33 - DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS › 33 - Departmental › Chapter 33-103 - INMATE GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE › Section 33-103.014 - Reasons for Return of Grievance or Appeal Without Processing

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
(1) The informal grievance, formal grievance,
				direct grievance, or grievance appeal, hereafter referred to as "grievance, "
				may be returned to the inmate without further processing if, following a review
				of the grievance, one or more of the following conditions are found to exist.
				The reasons listed below are the only reasons for returning a grievance without
				a response on the merits.
(a) The grievance
				addresses more than one issue or complaint.
(b) The grievance is so broad, general or
				vague in nature that it cannot be clearly investigated, evaluated, and
				responded to.
(c) The grievance is
				not written legibly and cannot be clearly understood.
(d) The formal grievance was not received
				within 15 calendar days of the date of the response to the informal
				grievance.
(e) The formal grievance
				was not received within 15 calendar days of the date on which the incident or
				action being complained about occurred, if an informal grievance was not filed
				pursuant to subsection
				 33-103.006(3),
				F.A.C.
(f) The inmate did not
				provide a valid reason for by-passing the previous levels of review as required
				or the reason provided is not acceptable. This evaluation is made on a case by
				case basis and the reasons for rejecting the complaint will vary with the facts
				alleged in the complaint.
(g) The
				grievance did not have the attachments required: informal grievance and
				response, except as allowed for in paragraphs
				 33-103.006(3)(a) through
				(h), F.A.C., or the formal grievance and
				response, except as provided for in subsection
				 33-103.007(6),
				F.A.C.;
(h) The direct grievance to
				the Office of the Secretary was not received within 15 calendar days of the
				date that the incident or action being grieved occurred; or
(i) The grievance appeal was not received
				within 15 calendar days from the date of the response to the formal
				grievance.
(j) The inmate has not
				filed his grievance at the location he is presently assigned to as required in
				subsection  33-103.015(4),
				F.A.C.
(k) The inmate has written
				his or her complaint outside of the boundaries of the space provided on the
				grievance form or request form.
(l)
				The inmate has used multiple copies of grievance forms rather than attachments
				as continuation sheets.
(m) A
				decision has already been rendered to an inmate by a particular office on the
				issue currently being grieved before it.
(n) The inmate is grieving a matter beyond
				the control of the Department as described in subsection
				 33-103.001(5),
				F.A.C.
(o) The inmate is raising
				allegations and charges in a grievance appeal that have not been raised below
				at the previous level. (Since this is an appellate review process and not a
				fact-finding process, it is not appropriate to raise new allegations, charges,
				and facts that the previous decision maker has not had an opportunity to
				investigate and respond to.)
(p)
				The inmate has filed more than one appeal of a grievance. This would not
				include the situation where an inmate wishes to appeal the denial of his
				grievance as well as allege non-compliance with the grievance process. Since
				these are two separate issues, they would have to be raised in separate
				grievances.
(q) The inmate has
				filed a supplement to a grievance or appeal that has already been accepted. An
				exception will be made when the supplement contains relevant and determinative
				information that was not accessible to or known by the inmate at the time the
				original grievance or appeal was filed.
(r) Complaints are raised by an inmate
				regarding incidents that do not affect the inmate personally.
(s) The inmate filed a grievance at the
				institutional level that should have been filed directly with the Office of the
				Secretary.
(t) The inmate used more
				than two (2) additional narrative pages.
(u) The inmate filed an informal grievance in
				excess to 20 days from the time the event being grieved occurred.
(v) The inmate is using the grievance process
				to ask questions or seek information, guidance or assistance.
(w) The inmate is filing an informal
				grievance about being physically restrained pursuant to rule
				 33-602.211, F.A.C., either
				beyond the initial required timeframe without first requesting and obtaining an
				extension, or has filed beyond an approved 45 day extension.
(x) The inmate fails to use his committed
				name pursuant to rules
				 33-603.101 and
				 33-103.006, F.A.C., when
				completing a grievance.
(y) The
				inmate submitted the grievance by placing it somewhere other than inside the
				grievance box.