I filed a 602 administrative appeal and completed all levels of the process, or never heard back. Can I now take my appeal to court?

Yes. If your 602 appeal was denied at all three levels of administrative review, OR if you never received a formal response from CDCR/Parole after an unreasonable delay, you have completed the administrative appeals process (in legal language, we say you have “exhausted” your administrative appeals). If you want to continue challenging the condition of parole (or parole term length), you can now file a state petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the county of your parole.[653]

Through a habeas corpus proceeding, an incarcerated person or someone on parole can ask a court for “injunctive relief.” This means you ask a judge to order that prison or parole officials DO something or STOP DOING something. For example, a court could order parole officials to drop an illegal parole condition OR to fix a parole term length miscalculation. For details on filing a habeas corpus petition, see Appendix K, PG. 280.

Helpful hintReal-Life Practice Tips for 602 Adminsitrative Appeals

In real life, what often happens is that the Division of Adult Parole Operations (DAPO) Regional Appeals Coordinator sends a formal written response to a 602 appeal, but it never gets delivered to the parolee who filed it. Sometimes the formal response is sent to a parole agent, who fails to deliver it. If something like this happens in your case, and you have not physically received a formal written response to your 602 appeal, then CDCR/DAPO has not provided you with a formal written response as required by law. After 30 working days have passed, you can try asking your parole agent where the formal response to your 602 is and request a copy be sent to you immediately. But if an unreasonable amount of time passes, and you still don’t get a formal response, then you have exhausted (completed) the administrative appeals process and can file a state petition for a writ of habeas corpus (or file a second 602 appeal about the delay). If you do not hear back within the time limits set by law, read more about your different options on PG. 181. Please note: A short delay probably won’t be seen as “unreasonable” or count as “exhausting” the administrative appeals process. For example, if the formal response to your appeal was a week late; or if it was filed away by mistake, but your parole agent immedieately fixed the mistake by handing you a copy when you requested it, this may not be see as unreasonable. But if a month or more has passed since your formal response was due and you have asked but not received it, this looks more like an unreasonable delay and an exhaustion of the administrative appeals process, allowing you to bring the case to state court, if you wish. Remember: The DAPO Regional Appeals Coordinator’s response to your 602 appeal, discussed in this box, is different and separate than the parole agent’s written response to your Form 22 request.

  1. 653

    Prison Law Office, The Parolee Rights Manual, at 34, http://www.prisonlaw.com/pdfs/ParoleeManual,Aug2013.pdf (updated Aug. 2013).