Sec. 501.008.  INMATE GRIEVANCE SYSTEM.  (a)  The department shall develop and maintain a system for the resolution of grievances by inmates housed in facilities operated by the department or under contract with the department that qualifies for certification under 42 U.S.C. Section 1997e and the department shall obtain and maintain certification under that section.  A remedy provided by the grievance system is the exclusive administrative remedy available to an inmate for a claim for relief against the department that arises while the inmate is housed in a facility operated by the department or under contract with the department, other than a remedy provided by writ of habeas corpus challenging the validity of an action occurring before the delivery of the inmate to the department or to a facility operated under contract with the department.
(b)  The grievance system must provide procedures:
(1)  for an inmate to identify evidence to substantiate the inmate's claim;  and
(2)  for an inmate to receive all formal written responses to the inmate's grievance.
(c)  A report, investigation, or supporting document prepared by the department in response to an inmate grievance is considered to have been prepared in anticipation of litigation and is confidential, privileged, and not subject to discovery by the inmate in a claim arising out of the same operative facts as are alleged in the grievance.
(d)  An inmate may not file a claim in state court regarding operative facts for which the grievance system provides the exclusive administrative remedy until:
(1)  the inmate receives a written decision issued by the highest authority provided for in the grievance system;  or
(2)  if the inmate has not received a written decision described by Subdivision (1), the 180th day after the date the grievance is filed.
(e)  The limitations period applicable to a claim arising out of the same operative facts as a claim for which the grievance system provides the exclusive remedy:
(1)  is suspended on the filing of the grievance;  and
(2)  remains suspended until the earlier of the following dates:
(A)  the 180th day after the date the grievance is filed;  or
(B)  the date the inmate receives the written decision described by Subsection (d)(1).
(f)  This section does not affect any immunity from a claim for damages that otherwise exists for the state, the department, or an employee of the department.
Added by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 212, Sec. 2.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.  Renumbered from Sec. 500.008 and amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 16, Sec. 10.01(a), eff. Aug. 26, 1991.  Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 378, Sec. 6, eff. June 8, 1995.