1. (a) Claims Involving Departmental Staff.

   1. (1) If departmental staff receives a written claim from a claimant alleging staff misconduct toward an incarcerated or supervised person, the departmental staff receiving the claim shall refer the claim to the Centralized Screening Team and notify their supervisor to determine if it contains information constituting an imminent risk to personal safety, institutional security, or involves sexual abuse or acts of sexual misconduct as defined by the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act or the California Sexual Abuse in Detention Elimination Act.
   2. (2) If departmental staff receive a written claim from a claimant alleging staff misconduct between staff members or between a staff member and a person not under the custody or supervision of the department, the departmental staff receiving the claim shall refer the claim to the Hiring Authority responsible for the accused staff member.

2. (b) Claims not Involving Departmental Staff.

   1. (1) If a Hiring Authority receives a written claim of misconduct that does not involve departmental staff, the Hiring Authority shall advise the claimant that the subject of the claim is not employed by the department and is outside the department's jurisdiction.
   2. (2) For all allegations of misconduct, excluding sexual abuse or sexual misconduct allegations as defined in the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act or the California Sexual Abuse in Detention Elimination Act, the claimant shall be advised to file a claim directly with the appropriate outside entity.
   3. (3) For allegations of sexual abuse or sexual misconduct as defined by the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act or the California Sexual Abuse in Detention Elimination Act, the Hiring Authority receiving the claim shall notify the appropriate outside entity of the allegations as required by law, and inform the claimant of this referral.

3. (c) Verbal Claims

   1. (1) Departmental staff shall document in writing any verbal claims alleging that an incarcerated or supervised person was subject to unnecessary or excessive use of force or to sexual abuse, including acts of sexual misconduct as defined by the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act or the California Sexual Abuse in Detention Elimination Act. If either of the above circumstances apply, the departmental staff shall immediately forward the claim to their Hiring Authority. If the subject of the claim is a Hiring Authority, the allegation shall be referred to the Hiring Authority's supervisor. In addition, if the allegation concerns staff misconduct toward an incarcerated or supervised person, the departmental staff shall refer the claim to the Centralized Screening Team.
   2. (2) For all other verbal claims, departmental staff shall provide the reporting party with information on how to submit their claim in writing.
4. (d) The Centralized Screening Team shall review all the documents it receives from incarcerated or supervised persons to determine if they contain information constituting an imminent risk to personal safety, institutional security, or involve sexual abuse or acts of sexual misconduct as defined by the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act or the California Sexual Abuse in Detention Elimination Act. In those instances, the Centralized Screening Team shall immediately notify the Hiring Authority at the affected institution or parole region for appropriate action.

5. (e) The Centralized Screening Team shall review all claims it receives and make one of the following screening decisions:

   1. (1) Claims concerning an allegation of staff misconduct which meet one of the following criteria shall be referred for an investigation;

      1. (A) The allegation involves complex issues requiring specialized investigative skills or resources;
      2. (B) The allegation accuses a Warden or Chief Deputy Warden, a Regional Parole Administrator or Chief Deputy Parole Administrator, a Chief Executive Officer or Chief Support Executive, or any other departmental staff with a rank higher than those described in this subsection, of staff misconduct resulting from personal interaction;
   2. (2) Notwithstanding subsection (e)(1), an allegation of staff misconduct submitted by one of the 50 (or more in the case of a tie) claimants identified by the Office of Appeals in subsection 3483.5(a) shall be diverted to the Grievance Resolution Team and answered in accordance with subsection 3483.5(d) if the allegation fits one of the criteria described in subsection 3483.5(c)(1) through (c)(5);
   3. (3) Claims concerning health care services or staff shall be referred to the Division of Health Care Services, unless the claim concerns an allegation of staff misconduct in which case it shall be referred pursuant to subsection (1);
   4. (4) Claims concerning a reasonable accommodation request shall be referred to the ADA Reviewing Authority for a reasonable accommodation review; or
   5. (5) All other claims shall be referred to the Office of Grievances.
6. (f) The Centralized Screening Team may conduct a clarification interview with any person to assist in making a screening decision. The clarification interview shall be conducted in a manner that provides as much privacy for the person as operationally feasible.
7. (g) Screening decisions by the Centralized Screening Team shall be documented in the department's information technology system.
8. (h) The Hiring Authority shall be notified of all screening decisions by the Centralized Screening Team via the department's information technology system.

Note: Authority cited: Section 5058, Penal Code. Reference: Sections 2636, 2637, 2638, 2639, 2640, 2644 and 5054, Penal Code; 28 CFR Part 115, Code of Federal Regulations; Armstrong et al. v. Newsom et al., United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Court Case number 94-cv-02307-CW; Madrid v. Woodford, Special Masters Final Report Re: Department of Corrections Post Powers Investigations and Employee Discipline; Case No. C90-3094-T.E.H; Madrid v. Woodford, Order; and Case No. C90-3094-T.E.H. Class Action.

History

1. New section filed 12-28-2021 as an emergency; operative 1-1-2022 (Register 2021, No. 53). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 6-10-2022 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

2. New section refiled 6-13-2022 as an emergency; operative 6-13-2022 (Register 2022, No. 24). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 9-12-2022 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

3. Certificate of Compliance as to 6-13-2022 order, including amendments, transmitted to OAL 9-9-2022 and filed 10-20-2022 (Register 2022, No. 42). Effective on filing based on good cause pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3).

4. Change without regulatory effect amending section filed 7-1-2024 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2024, No. 27).

5. Amendment filed 12-26-2024 as an emergency; operative 1-1-2025 (Register 2024, No. 52). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 6-10-2025 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

6. Amendment refiled 6-10-2025 as an emergency, including further amendment of subsection (c)(2); operative 6-11-2025 (Register 2025, No. 24). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 9-9-2025 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

7. Amendment refiled 9-2-2025 as an emergency; operative 9-10-2025 (Register 2025, No. 36). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 12-9-2025 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

8. Certificate of Compliance as to 9-2-2025 order, including amendment of section heading and section, transmitted to OAL 12-8-2025 and filed 1-22-2026; amendments operative 1-22-2026 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2026, No. 4).