Do you know someone that is incarcerated in a Multnomah County jail? If so, you should send them copies of this inmate grievance form. This form is officially available upon request from an inmate, but often inmates ask for the form and are given excuses and do not actually get one for at least a week. By the time they get it, it has been over five days since the incident that they are complaining about and the form is rejected as being late. Then, if the inmate pursues the matter further, the jail can say that under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) the inmate failed to exhaust administrative remedies by failing to file a grievance within five days.
Inmate in units 4E and 4F at the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) typically are not given grievance forms. Other units like 4B, 4C, 5B and 5C have a shot at getting grievance forms, but it is difficult. General population units typically can get grievance forms easily. It seems like the staff has an unwritten policy of denying grievance forms to those most likely to file grievances for egregious staff misconduct. That is because those that have been subjected to a use of force at MCDC are typically put in 4E and 4F. They stay their for more than five days and by the time they get to a unit that will hand out grievance forms it is too late to complain. These inmates make up such a small percentage of the population that the staff can get away with denying them grievance forms without it becoming much of an issue.
This author does not know how grievances are passed out at Multnomah County Inverness Jail (MCIJ) because his experience there is limited to one day in dorm 16 when he was held there due to the hole at MCDC being full.
Technically the yellow page is supposed to be a carbon copy, but if you print it off as is and mail it in, the inmate will at least have something to turn in. They might reject it for not being original, but at least the inmate will be able to say that he turned in something within five days. You are highly encouraged to click on the .pdf icon, download this file, print off several copies, and send it to an inmate that you know.