Practical guide
Published August 16, 2026
A CDCR grievance has to be filed by the incarcerated person. A parent, spouse, friend or lawyer cannot submit one for them or represent them in the process. Which form applies depends entirely on the subject: health care complaints go on a CDCR 602 HC within 30 calendar days, everything else on a CDCR 602-1/1824 within 60 calendar days.
What you can do, and what only they can do
Regulations are direct about this. Only the person in prison or on parole may submit a grievance, and a health care grievance filed on someone else's behalf must be rejected (15 CCR § 3999.227(d)). There is no group grievance and no family appeal. What you can legitimately do is help fill out the form, gather supporting documents, make copies, and mail the packet to the grievance office. Another incarcerated person may help too, as long as they aren't paid (15 CCR § 3163). Where there is a disability, a low reading level, or limited English, staff are required to help prepare the form and understand the response (15 CCR § 3481(h)).
Two forms, two clocks
Health care: the CDCR 602 HC
Medical, dental and mental health complaints go on a 602 HC, into a drop box or the internal prison mail addressed to the prison's Health Care Grievance Office. Three things catch people out:
- The regular process comes first. A 602 HC can be rejected if no CDCR Form 7362 sick call slip was submitted (15 CCR § 3999.226(a)(3)).
- Thirty calendar days from the action or omission, or from when they first learned of it (15 CCR § 3999.227(b)). Staff may still answer a late one for a good reason. There is no time limit at all for a claim of sexual misconduct by staff (15 CCR § 3084).
- One every 14 days, unless the second is genuinely urgent (15 CCR § 3999.226(c)).
Everything else: the CDCR 602-1/1824
One combined form covers grievances and disability accommodation requests: rule violations, classification and transfer decisions, lost property, visiting and mail denials, credit and release date calculations, unsafe conditions, parole conditions, and staff misconduct including excessive force and sexual abuse.
The deadline is 60 calendar days from when they knew or should have known about the problem (15 CCR § 3482(b)(1)), extended if they were out to court, in an outside hospital, in a crisis bed, or fighting fires. There is no deadline at all for a reasonable accommodation request on the 1824 side. Talking to staff, filing a CDCR Form 22, or calling an Ombudsperson does not stop that clock (15 CCR § 3481(c)) — informal efforts feel productive and quietly burn the deadline.
What goes on the form
Regulations require the problem, when and where it happened, who was involved, any witnesses, and a signature and date, with supporting documents attached (15 CCR § 3482(c)). Two things the Prison Law Office recommends: state plainly what is being asked for, and if life, health or safety is in immediate danger, put that on the first line in capital letters — that triggers an immediate referral for action (15 CCR § 3483(a)(1)). Keep a copy and note the date it was submitted.
What happens after it goes in the box
602 HC. A registered nurse screens it within one business day. Urgent issues get a response within five business days. Otherwise the response is due within 45 business days — roughly nine weeks, not nine days (15 CCR § 3999.228(i)). Plan around that number before assuming the grievance was ignored.
602-1/1824. Screened within one business day, with written notice due within 14 calendar days confirming when it was submitted and when the answer is due (15 CCR § 3483(c)). The response itself is due 60 calendar days from the date it was first received (15 CCR § 3483(g)). A granted remedy must be carried out within 30 calendar days, or 90 if money has to be paid out.
The appeal — and the word that trips families up
There is no 602-2 in the health care track.
Health care. Section B of the same 602 HC goes to the Health Care Correspondence and Appeals Branch, P.O. Box 588500, Elk Grove, CA 95758. The deadline is 30 calendar days plus five for mailing, counted from the "date closed and mailed/delivered to patient" printed on the response (15 CCR § 3999.229(a)). A prison-level answer does not exhaust administrative remedies; only the Elk Grove response does (15 CCR § 3999.226(g)).
Everything else. A CDCR Form 602-2 to Office of Appeals, CDCR, P.O. Box 942883, Sacramento, CA 95811, within 60 calendar days of the response (15 CCR § 3484(b)(1)). No new claims may be added.
This matters beyond paperwork: the process generally has to be finished before anyone can take CDCR to court, and a missed deadline can close that door on a valid claim.
When nothing happens
- No receipt notice arrived. Contact the grievance office to ask whether there's any record. If not, submit a new one on the same issue, stating a timely grievance was already filed and apparently lost.
- Rejected on a technicality. Appeal, explaining why it was in fact timely or complete.
- Receipt confirmed, no response. Ask whether a response was issued but never delivered.
- "Time expired." Read this one carefully. When the reviewer misses the deadline and sends a time-expired notice, that is the response and it ends the process — there is no appeal from it (15 CCR § 3483(g)(10)).
- Granted but never carried out. File a CDCR Form 602-3, Request to Implement Overdue Remedy, within one year, to Remedies Compliance Coordinator, CDCR, P.O. Box 942883, Sacramento, CA 95811 (15 CCR § 3483(j)).
Wrong form? Usually recoverable — the Centralized Screening Team must route health care claims to be handled as a 602 HC (15 CCR § 3486.1(e)(3)).
Retaliation
Regulations state that staff shall not retaliate against someone for filing a grievance (15 CCR § 3481(d), § 3999.226(e)), and the First Amendment forbids it independently. Anyone — including you — may report a mishandled investigation or retaliation to the CDCR Office of Internal Affairs, (916) 255-1301, or its sexual misconduct line, (877) 424-3577. Complaints also go to the independent Office of the Inspector General at oig.ca.gov.
For anything specific to an individual case, contact the Prison Law Office, a non-profit that works on exactly these problems: General Delivery, San Quentin, CA 94964, (510) 280-2621, prisonlaw.com. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Common questions
Can I file a 602 for my husband?
No. CDCR regulations require the incarcerated person to submit his own grievance, and a health care grievance filed on someone else's behalf must be rejected (15 CCR § 3999.227(d)). Lawyers, family and advocates cannot submit one or represent him during the process. You can help him complete the form, collect supporting documents, make copies, and mail the packet to the grievance office.
How long is there to file?
Thirty calendar days for a health care complaint on a 602 HC (15 CCR § 3999.227(b)), and 60 calendar days for everything else on a 602-1/1824 (15 CCR § 3482(b)(1)). There is no deadline for a disability accommodation request or for a claim of sexual misconduct by staff. Trying to work the problem out informally first does not pause either clock.
How long until we hear something back?
A 602 HC response is due within 45 business days, which is about nine weeks, or five business days if a nurse flags the issue as urgent. A 602-1/1824 response is due within 60 calendar days, and a written notice of receipt should arrive within 14 calendar days giving the exact date the answer is due. Keep that notice.
The response said "time expired." Is that good news?
No, and it is easy to misread. It means the reviewer never answered within the deadline and no further answer is coming. On a general grievance that response ends the process, and no 602-2 can be filed from it (15 CCR § 3483(g)(10)). It counts as exhausting administrative remedies, so the next step, if there is one, is a court action rather than another form.
They granted the grievance months ago and nothing changed — what now?
A granted remedy is supposed to be carried out within 30 calendar days, or 90 days if funds must be disbursed. When it isn't, the next form is a CDCR 602-3, Request to Implement Overdue Remedy, filed within one year of the response that granted the claim, to the Remedies Compliance Coordinator, CDCR, P.O. Box 942883, Sacramento, CA 95811. The 602-3 should have come attached to the grant.
Last updated: August 2026.