New York 9 NYCRR Part 7032: The Grievance Program Every County Jail Runs, and the Clock on a Pest Grievance

Citation

New York Codes, Rules and Regulations, Title 9, Subtitle AA (State Commission of Correction), Part 7032 (Grievance Program). Read from the Commission’s compilation of its county jail minimum standards (served July 15, 2026) and matched in the Legal Information Institute’s copy on October 1, 2026. History as printed: Part filed December 19, 1989, effective January 3, 1990; § 7032.4 amended through October 1, 1997; § 7032.5 amended through November 6, 2013.

What It Says (Verbatim)

§ 7032.1, Policy:

“In order to provide an effective and impartial procedure for the timely resolution of inmate complaints, the chief administrative officer of each local correctional facility shall establish, implement and maintain a formal inmate grievance program. Every effort shall be made to resolve inmate complaints in an informal manner.”

§ 7032.4, Facility program requirements (excerpts):

“(d) Facility staff shall make forms readily available so that an inmate may file a grievance. An inmate must file a grievance within five days of the date of the act or occurrence giving rise to the grievance.”

“(g) At a minimum, each investigation of an inmate grievance shall include gathering and assessing the following information: (1) a description of the facts and issues underlying the circumstances of the grievance; (2) summaries of all interviews held with the grievant and with all parties involved in the grievance; (3) copies of pertinent documents; and (4) any additional relevant information.”

“(i) Within five business days of the receipt of a grievance, the grievance coordinator shall issue a written determination. Such determination shall specify the facts and reasons underlying the coordinator’s determination. A copy of such determination shall be provided to the grievant.”

“(j) Within two business days after receipt of the grievance coordinator’s written determination, the grievant may appeal to the chief administrative officer or his designee.”

“(k) Within five business days after receipt of a grievance appeal, the chief administrative officer shall issue a determination on the grievance appeal and provide a copy of such determination to the grievant.”

“(l) If the chief administrative officer finds merit in a grievance, he/she shall direct in writing that appropriate remedies or meaningful relief be provided to the grievant and for all others similarly situated.”

§ 7032.5, Appeal to the Commission of Correction (excerpts):

“(a) Within three business days of the receipt of the chief administrative officer’s determination, any grievant may appeal any grievance denied by the facility administrator, in whole or in part, to the State Commission of Correction by indicating his/her desire to appeal on the inmate grievance form in the space provided for such purpose.”

“(b) Within three business days after receipt of the grievant’s notice of appeal, the grievance coordinator shall mail, or electronically submit in a manner and form prescribed by the Commission of Correction, the appeal, the accompanying investigation report and all other pertinent documents to the Commission’s Citizens’ Policy and Complaint Review Council.”

“(e) The chief administrative officer shall submit verification of compliance with the Citizens’ Policy and Complaint Review Council’s determination as directed by such Council. Such verification shall be filed with the grievance.”

§ 7032.10, Recordkeeping:

“Each chief administrative officer shall develop a centralized record of all grievances.”

§ 7032.12, Applicability:

“The requirements of this Part shall not apply to local correctional facilities operated in cities with a population of one million or more.”

What It Means in Plain Language

1. The clock is short. A grievance about cockroaches, mice, or bed bugs is filed within five days, and the grievance coordinator owes a written determination, with facts and reasons, within five business days. A follow-up check after a treatment often cannot happen that fast. The determination can say what was done and when the follow-up check is scheduled; the work order stays open until the check is recorded.
2. The service record is a pertinent document. The investigation must include “copies of pertinent documents.” For a pest grievance, that is the work order, the pest service report for that location, and the follow-up check. If the vendor’s report does not name the location, it cannot be matched to the grievance.
3. One grievance with merit reaches the whole unit. Relief goes to the grievant “and for all others similarly situated.” For pests, the remedy is the affected housing area, not one cell.
4. Appeals leave the building. A denied grievance goes to the chief administrative officer, then to the Commission’s Citizens’ Policy and Complaint Review Council, with the investigation report and the pertinent documents. If the Council rules for the grievant, the verification of compliance is filed with the grievance.
5. The grievance record is also the exhaustion record. Federal law requires a person held in a jail to exhaust available administrative remedies before suing over prison conditions (42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a)). The Second Circuit has described Part 7032 as the process a New York county jail must provide (Edwards v. Arocho, No. 22-585-pr (2d Cir. Dec. 30, 2024)).

Who It Applies To

The chief administrative officer of each local correctional facility in New York, which includes county jails and penitentiaries, except facilities in cities with a population of one million or more (§ 7032.12). New York City’s jails have their own grievance procedures and oversight, which this reference does not map.

Documentation Evidence

• The written grievance policy and procedures (§ 7032.3), and the grievance forms in use
• A centralized grievance record in which pest grievances can be found and counted (§ 7032.10)
• For each pest grievance: the dated form, the investigation report with the work order and service report attached, the written determination, and any appeal packet
• For a grievance with merit: the written direction of relief and the work orders that carried it out for the affected area
• Verification of compliance with any Council determination, filed with the grievance

Confidence Notes

HIGH confidence on the quoted text, read from the Commission’s compilation served July 15, 2026 and matched in the Legal Information Institute’s copy. The retention period for grievance records is not set in Part 7032 and is not verified here. The plain-language reading of how the clock fits a follow-up check is this reference’s; it is not legal advice.