File #: Int 0758-2015    Version: Name: Requiring the commissioner of the dept of correction to post a quarterly report regarding the department's grievance system.
Type: Introduction Status: Enacted
Committee: Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice Services
On agenda: 4/28/2015
Enactment date: 10/7/2015 Law number: 2015/087
Title: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the commissioner of the department of correction to post a quarterly report regarding the department's grievance system.
Sponsors: Inez D. Barron, Maria Del Carmen Arroyo, Fernando Cabrera , Inez E. Dickens, Daniel Dromm , Corey D. Johnson, Mark Levine, Donovan J. Richards, Jumaane D. Williams, Helen K. Rosenthal, Daniel R. Garodnick, Ben Kallos, Brad S. Lander
Council Member Sponsors: 13
Summary: The Department of Correction operates a grievance system in which inmates may file formal complaints regarding the conditions of incarceration, pursuant to state mandates. This system has multiple levels of review, from the initial filing of the grievance through multiple phases of review and appeal. Grievances may be filed through a grievance office or through a box in which grievance forms may be deposited. This bill requires the Department to report on the number of grievances filed at every step of the grievance process, and the outcome of such grievances at each state of the grievance system. The bill also requires the Department to list separately the system’s functioning in those facilities in which grievance offices or grievance form deposit boxes are not available, and to list separately whether grievances are filed through the grievance office, the grievance form drop box, or through grievance program staff members.
Attachments: 1. Summary of Int. No. 758, 2. Int. No. 758 - 4/28/15, 3. April 28, 2015 - Stated Meeting Agenda with Links to Files, 4. Committee Report 5/6/15, 5. Hearing Testimony 5/6/15, 6. Hearing Transcript 5/6/15, 7. Committee Report 9/16/15, 8. Hearing Testimony 9/16/15, 9. Hearing Transcript 9/16/15, 10. September 17, 2015 - Stated Meeting Agenda with Links to Files, 11. Hearing Transcript of the Stated Meeting - September 17, 2015, 12. Fiscal Impact Statement, 13. Int. No. 758-A - 10/7/15, 14. Mayor's Letter, 15. Minutes of the Stated Meeting - September 17, 2015, 16. Local Law 87
Date Ver.Prime SponsorAction ByActionResultAction DetailsMeeting DetailsMultimedia
10/7/2015AInez D. Barron City Council Recved from Mayor by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available
10/7/2015AInez D. Barron Mayor Signed Into Law by Mayor  Action details Meeting details Not available
10/7/2015AInez D. Barron Mayor Hearing Held by Mayor  Action details Meeting details Not available
9/17/2015AInez D. Barron City Council Sent to Mayor by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available
9/17/2015AInez D. Barron City Council Approved by CouncilPass Action details Meeting details Not available
9/16/2015*Inez D. Barron Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice Services Hearing Held by Committee  Action details Meeting details Not available
9/16/2015*Inez D. Barron Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice Services Amendment Proposed by Comm  Action details Meeting details Not available
9/16/2015*Inez D. Barron Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice Services Amended by Committee  Action details Meeting details Not available
9/16/2015AInez D. Barron Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice Services Approved by CommitteePass Action details Meeting details Not available
5/6/2015*Inez D. Barron Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice Services Hearing Held by Committee  Action details Meeting details Not available
5/6/2015*Inez D. Barron Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice Services Laid Over by Committee  Action details Meeting details Not available
4/28/2015*Inez D. Barron City Council Referred to Comm by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available
4/28/2015*Inez D. Barron City Council Introduced by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available

Int. No. 758-A

 

By Council Members Barron, Arroyo, Cabrera, Dickens, Dromm, Johnson, Levine, Richards, Williams, Rosenthal, Garodnick, Kallos and Lander

 

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the commissioner of the department of correction to post a quarterly report regarding the department's grievance system.

 

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1.  Chapter 1 of title 9 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 9-136 to read as follows:  

§ 9-136 Grievance statistics. a. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

Grievance. The term "grievance" means a written complaint submitted by an inmate in the custody of the department about an issue, condition, practice or action relating to the inmate’s confinement that is subject to the inmate grievance and request program or any successor program.

Inmate grievance and request program. The term "inmate grievance and request program" means a formal process established by the department that provides inmates with the opportunity to resolve issues regarding their confinement through a structured process.

b. Forty-five days after the quarter beginning January 1, 2016, and no later than the forty-fifth day after the end of each subsequent quarter, the commissioner shall post on the department website a report containing the following information for the preceding quarter:

1. The number of grievances submitted in all departmental facilities, in total and disaggregated by the facility and housing area type in which such grievance was submitted.

2. The number of grievances submitted in all departmental facilities, disaggregated by grievance category, by the facility and housing area type in which such grievance was submitted, and by the method by which such grievance was submitted.

3. The number of grievances, the stages of the grievance process, the stage in the grievance process at which they were resolved, and the categories for which any grievances were dismissed.

4. The number of inmates that submitted grievances.

                      § 2. This local law takes effect immediately.

 

BC

LS # 4210

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