New York DOCCS Directive 4040 - Incarcerated Grievance Program

DOCCS Directive 4040 is the governing document for New York's Incarcerated Grievance Program (IGP), issued under Correction Law Section 139 and 9 NYCRR Part 7695 and codified at 7 NYCRR Part 701. The directive states the program gives each incarcerated person an orderly, fair, simple and expeditious method for resolving grievances and allegations of discriminatory treatment, and that it supplements rather than replaces existing formal and informal channels of problem resolution. It sets out three levels of review: a facility committee of elected peers and appointed staff called the Incarcerated Grievance Resolution Committee (IGRC); an appeal to the facility Superintendent; and a final appeal to the Central Office Review Committee (CORC), a committee of Central Office staff acting on behalf of the Commissioner. Camps, shock incarceration facilities, alcohol and substance abuse treatment centers and work release facilities may instead follow the modified plan set out in Directive 4041. The 18-page directive also references the Prison Rape Elimination Act.