Utah State Prison Orientation for Inmate Friends and Family

GRIEVANCE / DISCIPLINARY

Q.        How does an inmate file a complaint?
A.        An inmate may file a complaint through the Prison's grievance process.  This process allows the inmate to make an allegation of personal injury, loss or harm caused by the application or omission of a policy or practice by a staff member, inmate action, or incident.

Administration's intent is to resolve grievances at the lowest possible Administrative level. Inmates cannot grieve parole procedures or decisions, disciplinary decisions, or classification decisions.  There are other methods to challenge or appeal these decisions.

Q.        What happens to an inmate who causes problems at the Prison?
A.            Discipline and classification procedures are maintained to reasonably ensure the safety of inmates, staff and visitors/public.  An inmate's expected conduct is spelled out in a document called the Inmate Code of Conduct.  This "Code" is a list of do's and don'ts for the inmates while incarcerated. When inmates violate this code of conduct, an officer may issue a violation report or a disciplinary report.  A hearing is conducted by an independent Inmate Disciplinary Hearing Officer (IDHO) who, while providing the inmate due process, hears the allegation and decides whether the inmate is guilty or not.  If the decision is guilty, the Inmate IDHO will dispense an appropriate sanction.

Sanctions may include a verbal reprimand, fines/restitution, additional cell confinement, or privilege restrictions.  Inmates who have excessive disciplinaries may have their classification level and/or privilege matrix lowered. 

Another option is for the officer to make a referral to the inmate's OMR team to review the inmate’s behavior.

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