1. (a) Any incarcerated individual who has been deprived of the rights conferred by this subchapter shall have a private cause of action in any court of competent jurisdiction for damages and such other remedies as may be appropriate. A private cause of action pursuant to this section shall be filed in a court of competent jurisdiction within one year after the unlawful act, or the discovery thereof.
2. (b) An incarcerated individual who prevails in a private cause of action under this section shall be entitled to costs, including reasonable attorney's and expert's fees.

3. (c) Notwithstanding any other law:

   1. (1) No action shall be brought under this section until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted;
   2. (2) If an incarcerated individual is not provided timely access to the necessary resources, including access to any requested grievance form, writing utensils, and access to the Inmate Grievance Procedure mailbox, to make use of the grievance process outlined in paragraph (1) of this subsection, the administrative remedy process outlined by paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be deemed unavailable; and
   3. (3) In an action under this section, an incarcerated individual's sworn statement including facts that if true would be sufficient to show the individual had either completed the grievance process or that the grievance process was unavailable to the individual, shall create a rebuttable presumption that can only be overcome by clear and convincing evidence that the grievance process was completed or unavailable.

History

July 25, 2015, D.C. Law 20-280, § 205

Apr. 21, 2023, D.C. Law 24-344, § 20(b)(1)

May 2, 2025, D.C. Law 25-326, § 3(c)