Alaska's grievance process has a deadline that catches more people than any other in the state's rules: two working days to appeal the superintendent's decision to the Regional Director. Not two weeks. Not five days. Two working days from the moment you receive the decision. If the superintendent's response reaches you on a Thursday, your appeal must be submitted by Monday. Miss that window, and the regulation says your appeal is denied. Your ability to go to federal court may go with it.
That is the first thing you need to know about Alaska's grievance system. The second is equally important: classification decisions and disciplinary actions cannot be grieved under this process at all. They have their own separate appeal tracks. If you file a grievance under the wrong procedure, it will be returned without action and the clock on the correct procedure will keep running.
Alaska's grievance procedure is governed by 22 AAC 05.185, current through May 2025. The commissioner establishes specific forms and procedures implementing this regulation, and your facility's prisoner handbook has the details specific to your institution. Request a copy if you do not have one.
Why the Process Matters: The PLRA
The Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, 42 U.S.C. section 1997e(a), requires you to exhaust all available administrative remedies before a federal court will hear a lawsuit about prison conditions. Every step, every form, and every deadline described in this article exists because a court will check whether you followed the process exactly. As the Supreme Court held in Woodford v. Ngo (2006), proper exhaustion means following all procedural rules, not just going through the motions. And 22 AAC 05.185(e) makes the standard explicit: failure to follow the procedures set out in that section will result in a denial of the appeal.
That is not a warning. That is the rule. Miss the two-working-day appeal window, file on the wrong form, or skip the informal step, and you have not exhausted. A court can dismiss your case even if everything you said about what happened is true.
The exhaustion requirement applies to conditions of confinement claims. It does not apply to habeas corpus petitions under 28 U.S.C. section 2241, which challenge the fact or length of your sentence. Those are a different legal track.
Overview of Alaska's Grievance System
Alaska's grievance system has three stages: an informal resolution attempt, a formal facility-level decision by the superintendent, and an appeal to the Regional Director. All three stages are in working days.
The process is set out in 22 AAC 05.185, which is the regulation governing adult correctional facilities. The commissioner establishes the specific forms and implementing procedures. Ask your facility for a copy of the current grievance procedure and the required forms if you do not have them.
What can be grieved: Any allegation of a violation of Title 22 of the Alaska Administrative Code (the DOC's regulations), a statute, or a procedure set out in the prisoner handbook.
What cannot be grieved here: Classification decisions and disciplinary actions. This is a hard line in the regulation. Matters concerning classification (22 AAC 05.200-266) and discipline (22 AAC 05.400-480, 05.485-05.495) may not be the subject of a grievance under this section and may only be raised through an appeal of the classification or disciplinary action. If your complaint involves a disciplinary report or a classification assignment, do not file it as a grievance. Use the disciplinary or classification appeal process instead. Filing it as a grievance will not preserve your rights on the disciplinary or classification matter.
Step-by-Step: Filing Your Grievance
Stage 1: Informal Resolution
The regulation requires that procedures provide for informal resolution of a grievance before the formal investigation level is triggered. The specific informal resolution procedure is set by the commissioner and described in your prisoner handbook. This step typically involves raising the complaint with a staff member or supervisor in the area where the problem occurred.
What to do: Raise your complaint in writing during the informal step. Even if the process can be started verbally, put it in writing and keep a copy. Note the date you raised it, who you raised it with, and what the response was. If the informal step resolves your complaint, document the resolution. If it does not, you move to the formal stage.
Stage 2: Formal Grievance -- Superintendent Level
If informal resolution does not resolve your complaint, the superintendent assigns a staff member to investigate.
What the investigator does: Investigate the subject matter of your grievance and prepare a written statement of findings for the superintendent. The investigator has 10 working days after receipt of the assignment to complete this.
What the superintendent does: After receiving the investigator's findings, the superintendent has 5 working days to indicate in writing the action to be taken and provide you with a copy of the decision.
What you receive: A written decision from the superintendent. The date you receive this decision starts the critical two-working-day clock for your appeal.
Keep a copy of the decision the moment you receive it. Note the date. Begin counting immediately.
Stage 3: Appeal to the Regional Director
This is the final stage and the one most people lose by missing the deadline.
Deadline: You must submit your appeal within 2 working days of receiving notice of the superintendent's decision. Working days means Monday through Friday, excluding weekends and state holidays. If you receive the superintendent's decision on a Thursday, your two working days are Friday and the following Monday. You must submit the appeal by Monday. If the 15th is a Friday, the appeal is due the following Tuesday (Friday counts as day one, Monday counts as day two if Monday is not a holiday).
How to submit: The appeal must be submitted through a staff member designated by the superintendent. You cannot drop it in a box and call it done. You must hand it to or submit it through the designated staff member. If that staff member is unavailable and the deadline is approaching, document your attempt in writing immediately.
What happens next: The Regional Director must inform you of the decision within 15 working days of receiving your appeal. If you receive no response within those 15 working days, your appeal is considered denied. You have then exhausted administrative remedies and may proceed to federal court.
One important protection: if the Regional Director sends a late response that grants your appeal, that late response is valid. So if the 15 working days pass and you have decided to file in court, and then the Regional Director responds in your favor after the deadline, that favorable response still stands.
This is the final step. Once you receive the Regional Director's decision, or once the 15-working-day window closes without a response, you have exhausted Alaska's administrative remedies.
Deadlines at a Glance
All deadlines below are in working days. Weekends and state holidays do not count.
Informal resolution: No set regulatory deadline, but must occur before formal investigation. Check your prisoner handbook for the specific time limit at your facility.
Formal investigation: Staff investigator has 10 working days after assignment to complete investigation and file findings with superintendent.
Superintendent decision: 5 working days after receiving investigator's findings to provide written decision to you.
Appeal to Regional Director: 2 working days after you receive the superintendent's decision. This is the most critical deadline in the entire process.
Regional Director response: 15 working days after receipt of appeal. No response within 15 working days means the appeal is considered denied and you have exhausted.
Missing the 2-working-day appeal deadline is not recoverable under 22 AAC 05.185(e). File the moment you receive the superintendent's decision. Do not wait to think about it. Do not wait to talk to someone. Submit the appeal immediately and think about it afterward.
What to Put in Your Grievance
The quality of your grievance record matters from the first informal step. At every stage:
Include: The specific date, time, and location of the incident. The full name or badge number of any staff member involved. The names of any witnesses. A clear description of what happened and the specific harm to you. The exact remedy you are requesting. Be concrete.
Attach supporting documentation: Any written requests you made before the incident, medical records requests, prior complaints, notes from witnesses. Keep originals. Attach copies.
Do not introduce new issues at the appeal stage that you did not raise in the original grievance. The Regional Director will evaluate what you raised at the formal level.
Keep a complete copy of everything: Every form you submit, every response you receive. When you receive the superintendent's decision, immediately make a copy before you do anything else with it. When you submit the appeal, keep a copy of that too.
If you have family on the outside: Tell them immediately when you receive the superintendent's decision and what date that was. Have them help you track the two-working-day window. Send them copies of each filing as soon as you submit it. A copy outside the facility cannot be lost or confiscated.
You cannot have a family member file for you. The regulation says grievances must be filed by the prisoner in their own behalf. Family can help gather outside documentation, contact advocacy organizations, and track deadlines, but they cannot file for you.
When the System Fails
No investigator response or superintendent decision within the required time: Document the date you were assigned the formal grievance, count the deadlines, and if the superintendent has not responded within the required window, treat the delay as a denial and submit your Regional Director appeal within 2 working days of when the superintendent's response was due. Document this clearly in your appeal: state the date the grievance was received, the date the superintendent's response was due, and that no response was received.
Forms not available: Ask your housing officer, the law library, or the prisoner handbook coordinator for the forms. Put your request in writing and keep a copy. If staff refuse to provide forms, that documented refusal is evidence that the remedy may have been unavailable under Ross v. Blake (2016).
Designated staff member unavailable for appeal submission: If the staff member designated to receive appeals is unavailable and your 2-working-day window is closing, document in writing the date and time of your attempt and who was unavailable. Submit to any available supervisor and keep a copy. The effort to submit combined with the documented blockage may matter to a court evaluating whether the remedy was available.
Retaliation: 22 AAC 05.185(f) explicitly prohibits punishment, discipline, or loss of privileges for filing a grievance in accordance with the section. If you are retaliated against, document it immediately: date, who did it, what they did, the harm to you. File a separate grievance about the retaliation itself and report it to the warden.
Prisoners sent out of state: Alaska has sent prisoners to facilities in other states when its own facilities are overcrowded. If you are held in an out-of-state facility under Alaska DOC custody, you should contact Alaska DOC to clarify which grievance process applies to your complaint. Conditions-of-confinement issues at the facility may be governed by the receiving state's process, while decisions made by Alaska DOC may still require Alaska's process. Get the applicable process in writing. The PLRA requires you to exhaust whatever process is available.
After Exhaustion: Where to Go Next
Once the Regional Director has issued a decision or the 15-working-day window has closed without a response, you have exhausted. Federal court is now an option for conditions of confinement claims under 42 U.S.C. section 1983.
Disability Law Center of Alaska (DLC): dlcak.org; 3330 Arctic Blvd., Suite 103, Anchorage, AK 99503; akpa@dlcak.org. Alaska's federally mandated Protection and Advocacy organization. The DLC has federal authority to investigate abuse and neglect and to access DOC facilities. If your complaint involves a disability or mental illness, including inadequate mental health care, psychiatric medication issues, or disability accommodation failures, the DLC is a key resource that can enter facilities and investigate independently. They published the 2025 edition of "Your Mental Health Rights in Alaska" for people in DOC custody.
ACLU of Alaska: acluak.org. The ACLU of Alaska published a new and expanded Prisoner Rights Guide in 2025, updated for current case law and DOC policies, with support from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority. If you do not have a copy, your facility's law library should have it, or you can ask your family to obtain one. The ACLU of Alaska handles systemic prisoners' rights issues and can be contacted about conditions of confinement problems.
Alaska Legal Services Corporation: alsc-law.org. Provides civil legal services to low-income Alaskans, including in some conditions-of-confinement matters. Contact them for a determination of whether they can help.
Be honest with yourself about capacity: these organizations are small and cannot take every individual case. Document everything carefully so that when you connect with one of them, you have a complete record.
Jails vs. Prisons: Key Differences in Alaska
Alaska is one of the few states with no county government, which means there are no county jails. The Alaska DOC operates all state correctional facilities. Some municipalities, including Anchorage, operate short-term holding facilities for pretrial detention. Municipal facilities are not governed by 22 AAC 05.185 in the same way state facilities are, and the grievance procedures at municipal facilities vary.
If you are in a municipal facility or a facility operated by a contractor under Alaska DOC oversight, ask for the specific grievance policy that applies to your facility. The PLRA exhaustion requirement applies to you regardless of the type of facility. You must exhaust whatever process exists at your facility before filing in federal court.
Pretrial detainees in Alaska facilities are entitled to use the grievance process, and the PLRA applies to pretrial detainees as well as sentenced prisoners. You do not have to be convicted to have grievable complaints.
Special Circumstances
Classification and disciplinary matters -- use the correct track: This cannot be repeated enough. Classification decisions and disciplinary actions are not grievable under 22 AAC 05.185. They must be appealed through the separate classification and disciplinary appeal processes under 22 AAC 05.200-266 and 22 AAC 05.400-480. Filing the wrong form on a disciplinary matter will not preserve your rights.
ADA and disability accommodations: If your complaint involves a disability accommodation, contact the facility ADA Coordinator in addition to filing your grievance. Document both the grievance and the ADA request. The Disability Law Center of Alaska has authority to investigate disability-related complaints in DOC facilities independently.
Sexual abuse and PREA: Sexual abuse allegations may be reported at any time and are handled under the PREA framework separately from the standard grievance process. File a PREA report through the facility's PREA reporting channel. Filing a PREA report does not substitute for filing a grievance under 22 AAC 05.185 if you want to preserve the right to sue on conditions of confinement grounds. Pursue both tracks.
Medical care: Medical complaints are grievable under 22 AAC 05.185 if they allege a violation of a statute, the DOC regulations, or a procedure in the prisoner handbook. Follow the same process described above. Note that Alaska DOC contracts with a private medical provider; if your complaint is about the quality of care provided, you may also contact the DOC commissioner's office directly.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most important deadline in Alaska's grievance process?
The two-working-day window to appeal the superintendent's decision to the Regional Director. Two working days from when you receive the decision. The regulation states explicitly that failure to follow this procedure results in denial of the appeal. If you receive the decision on a Thursday, your appeal must be submitted by Monday of the following week.
What counts as a working day in Alaska's grievance process?
Working days are Monday through Friday, excluding state holidays. Weekends do not count. A two-working-day window starting Thursday means Friday is day one and the following Monday is day two, assuming Monday is not a state holiday.
Can I file a grievance about a disciplinary report in Alaska?
No. Disciplinary matters cannot be grieved under 22 AAC 05.185. They must be appealed through the separate disciplinary appeal process under 22 AAC 05.400-480. Filing a grievance about a disciplinary matter will not protect your rights. Use the disciplinary appeal process and follow its deadlines separately.
What happens if the Regional Director does not respond within 15 working days?
If no response is received within 15 working days of the Regional Director receiving your appeal, your appeal is considered denied. You have exhausted administrative remedies and may proceed to federal court. Document the date you submitted the appeal and count forward from there.
How do I submit the Regional Director appeal?
The appeal must be submitted through a staff member designated by the superintendent. You must hand it to or submit it through that designated person. If that person is unavailable, document your attempt in writing and submit to any available supervisor. Do not wait for the designated person to return if the two-working-day deadline is approaching.
Can my family file a grievance on my behalf?
No. The regulation requires you to file in your own behalf. No one may file for you. Your family can help by keeping copies of your filings from the outside, tracking the working-day deadlines, and contacting advocacy organizations such as the Disability Law Center of Alaska and the ACLU of Alaska after you have exhausted.
What happens if I am sent to an out-of-state facility under Alaska DOC custody?
This is a situation that requires clarification. Contact Alaska DOC to determine which grievance process applies to your complaint. Conditions at the facility may be governed by the receiving state's process, while decisions made by Alaska DOC may require Alaska's process. Get the answer in writing, exhaust whatever process applies, and keep copies of everything. --- INTERNAL LINKS TO PLACE: 1. Alaska inmate search (InmateAid Alaska page) 2. Family rights and advocacy in Alaska (FRA series Alaska article) 3. How the Alaska prison disciplinary process works (if spoke exists) 4. How Prison Works hub 5. Staying Connected hub --- SPEC NOTE / SOURCING (strip before publish): - Voice: formerly incarcerated narrator written TO the incarcerated person; family guidance woven in. No em dashes. No smart quotes. No double hyphens. Plain text. - Meta title char count: 47 (under 60). Meta description char count: 152 (in 150-160 range). All 7 FAQ headings under 60 chars, verified. - Defining hooks for Alaska: (1) 2-working-day appeal window to Regional Director -- one of the shortest in the country, and the regulation says failure to follow results in denial (no grace); (2) classification and disciplinary matters are completely excluded from the grievance process and have their own separate appeal track -- a hard line in the regulation; (3) no county government/no county jails -- DOC runs all facilities (unique to Alaska); (4) all deadlines in working days (investigator 10 WD, superintendent 5 WD, prisoner appeal 2 WD, regional director 15 WD); (5) deemed-denied rule at Regional Director level (15 working days, no response = denied); (6) prisoners sent out of state under Alaska DOC custody face an ambiguous grievance-process question -- addressed as a practical matter. - SOURCES: 22 AAC 05.185 Prisoner Grievance Procedure (current through May 30, 2025 per Justia; also cited as current through August 30, 2024 on an older Justia page -- used the more recent May 2025 date from the fetched version): (a) prisoner entitled to file in own behalf; alleges violation of chapter/statute/prisoner handbook procedure; classification and discipline excluded (cite: 22 AAC 05.200-266, 05.400-480, 05.485-495); (b) written form per commissioner procedures; procedures will provide for informal resolution; (c) superintendent assigns staff member; investigates and responds within 10 working days after assignment; files written statement of findings with superintendent; (d) superintendent indicates in writing action to be taken and provides copy to prisoner within 5 working days after receipt of findings; (e) appeal to regional director on form per commissioner procedures; submitted through designated staff member within 2 working days of notice of decision; prisoner informed of director's decision within 15 working days of receipt of appeal; if no response within 15 days appeal considered denied; late response granting appeal is valid; failure to follow procedures = denial; (f) retaliation prohibition; authority: AS 33.30.011, AS 33.30.021, AS 44.28.030; ACLU of Alaska acluak.org July 2025 (new Prisoner Rights Guide 2025; supported by Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority; covers grievance procedure, DOC required to develop clear responsive grievance procedure including formal means of delivering complaints and written response); Disability Law Center of Alaska dlcak.org (3330 Arctic Blvd Suite 103 Anchorage AK 99503; akpa@dlcak.org; official P&A System for Alaska; federal authority to investigate abuse/neglect and access facilities; Your Mental Health Rights in Alaska 2025 Edition published; grievance procedure for complaints about DLC is a separate internal process); psychrights.org (DLC Your Mental Health Rights in Alaska 2025 confirmed); BOP bop.gov/locations (NO active BOP facilities in Alaska -- federal section omitted per spec); Alaska courts.alaska.gov (DOC uses grievance procedures; Chapter 809 for prisoner rules/discipline/appeals; no county government/no county jails; Anchorage municipal facility for pretrial); Woodford v. Ngo 548 U.S. 81 (2006); Ross v. Blake 578 U.S. 632 (2016). - VERIFY FLAGS for Poorwa: (1) CRITICAL: the 22 AAC 05.185 regulation is the governing authority but says "on a form and in accordance with procedures established by the commissioner." The specific forms and implementing procedures are commissioner-level documents, not in the public AAC text. VERIFY the current forms used in Alaska's grievance process -- request from Alaska DOC or check the Alaska DOC policies and procedures page (doc.alaska.gov/commissioner/policies-procedures). The Chapter 809 page should have the prisoner rules, discipline, and appeals procedures. (2) Confirm 22 AAC 05.185 is current through May 2025 (Justia shows this; also noted as current through August 2024 on another Justia page -- the discrepancy may be a Justia display issue; verify against the official Alaska Administrative Code). (3) Confirm all working-day deadlines: investigator 10 WD, superintendent 5 WD, prisoner appeal 2 WD, regional director 15 WD -- all confirmed from regulation text. (4) Confirm "working days" means Mon-Fri excluding state holidays -- the regulation says "working days" without defining them; standard interpretation excludes weekends and holidays but VERIFY there is no regulatory definition that changes this. (5) Confirm DLC dlcak.org + 3330 Arctic Blvd Suite 103 Anchorage AK 99503 + akpa@dlcak.org current. (6) Confirm ACLU of Alaska acluak.org current; 2025 Prisoner Rights Guide available. (7) Confirm Alaska Legal Services Corporation alsc-law.org current. (8) Confirm NO BOP facilities in Alaska currently -- Alaska has historically contracted to send prisoners to Arizona (FCI Safford / Arizona DOC) when overcrowded; verify current out-of-state placement situation for context but DO NOT name specific facilities since this is volatile. (9) The out-of-state custody section is cautiously written ("contact Alaska DOC to clarify") because there is no clear public regulatory answer on which grievance process controls for out-of-state Alaska DOC prisoners -- this was Scott's situation (Scott was in federal BOP at FCI Miami, not Alaska DOC out-of-state custody, so context is different). (10) Medical complaints -- I said grievable under 22 AAC 05.185 if they allege a statutory/regulatory/handbook violation. VERIFY whether DOC has issued any commissioner-level procedure restricting medical grievances to a separate process (as Alabama did) -- I found no such restriction in Alaska's public materials. No federal BOP section (no BOP facilities in Alaska). No crisis-line specifics.
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