West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 90 - Corrections › Title 90 - PROCEDURAL RULE WEST VIRGINIA DIVISION OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION › Series 90-09 - Inmate Grievance Procedures › Section 90-9-4 - Initial Filing of Grievance

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
4.1. Any inmate
						may file a grievance utilizing a grievance form within fifteen (15) days of any
						occurrence that would cause him/her to file a grievance. (See Attachment 1) These
						forms shall be made available to members of the inmate population at all
						institutions/facilities/centers. At a minimum, grievance forms shall be available
						in all inmate housing units and the law libraries.
4.2. An inmate may grieve only one (1) issue or
						complaint per form, and, except for grievances pursuant to Section 7, the issue
						must directly pertain to the inmate filing the grievance.
4.3. The grievance form shall initially be
						submitted by the inmate to his/her Unit Manager. Upon receipt of the grievance
						form, the Unit Manager shall log the grievance and assign it a number in
						conformity with the procedure set forth above.
4.4. Prior to responding to the grievance, the
						Unit Manager shall inspect the grievance to determine whether the grievance was
						filed in a timely manner; whether the grievance contains excessive pages; whether
						the grievance is otherwise not submitted within the proper format; or whether the
						grievance seeks to discuss matters previously addressed in a prior grievance. If
						the grievance is not filed within a proper time frame, contains excessive pages,
						is not within the proper format or seeks to present an issue previously
						addressed, the Unit Manager shall reject the grievance, providing a brief
						explanation of the grounds for rejection, and return the grievance to the inmate,
						noting the rejection on the log.
Except for grievances rejected
						due to having been previously address in a grievance or those filed beyond the
						time limits to file a grievance
, the inmate shall have 5 days
						to correct the defect and re-file a new grievance. An inmate may appeal a
						rejection in the same manner as a decision but the scope of the appeal is limited
						only to the propriety of the rejection and not to the merits such that appeal the
						rejection to the commissioner does not exhaust administrative remedies on the
						issue presented in the defective grievance.
4.5. It shall be the responsibility of the Unit
						Manager to ensure that an answer to the grievance is provided back to the inmate
						within 5 days. The response should be clear, concise, complete and professional.
						The Unit Manager is not required to personally answer the grievance, so long as
						he or she ensures that the grievance ultimately received is timely addressed and,
						if accepted, answered.
Provided
that the Unit Manager shall
						ensure that the staff member to which the grievance pertains shall not be
						responsible for answering the grievance. In the case of accepted grievances
						addressing questions of health care, the Unit Manager shall route the grievance
						to the facility's health care administrator to review and provide the inmate an
						answer. However, the Unit Manager, while not reading the grievance response from
						the medical unit, shall ensure that a response has been completed and provided to
						the inmate, logging the same.
4.6.
						The inmate shall be provided a copy of his or her grievance form prior to
						submission at each level for the inmate's records. The inmate may attach to the
						grievance only one (1) 8.5 x 11 inch page with writing on a single side. Only one
						staple may be used to affix the pages together. The inmate may not tear, fold or
						affix tape to the forms, except that the forms may be folded and placed into a
						number 10 envelope.
4.7. If the Unit
						Manager fails to answer or reject the grievance within the time frame noted in
						Section 4.5 of this Rule, the inmate may treat the non-response as a denial of
						his/her grievance. The inmate shall indicate on the form that the grievance that
						was set forth in the form to the Warden/Administrator was previously filed
						without a response to the Unit Manager. The Warden/Administrator shall
						investigate such allegation. If it is determined that the inmate had submitted a
						grievance without response the Warden/Administrator should require an immediate
						response from the Unit Manager. If it is determined by the Warden/Administrator
						that the inmate had either, not filed the form with the Unit Manager or had been
						given a timely response, the Warden/Administrator should initiate appropriate
						disciplinary action under Policy Directive 325.00.