(a) Upon approval of the Administrative Remedy Procedure by a federal court as authorized and required by 42 U.S.C. § 1997(e)(a), and the implementation of the procedure, this procedure shall constitute the administrative remedies available to a prisoner for the purpose of preserving any cause of action under the purview of the Administrative Remedy Procedure, which a prisoner may claim to have against the State of North Carolina, the Division of Prisons of the Department of Adult Correction, or its employees.

(b) No State court shall entertain a prisoner’s grievance or complaint which falls under the purview of the Administrative Remedy Procedure unless and until the prisoner shall have exhausted the remedies as provided in said procedure. If the prisoner has failed to pursue administrative remedies through this procedure, any petition or complaint he files shall be stayed for 90 days to allow the prisoner to file a grievance and for completion of the procedure. If at the end of 90 days the prisoner has failed to timely file his grievance, then the petition or complaint shall be dismissed. Provided, however, that the court can waive the exhaustion requirement if it finds such waiver to be in the interest of justice. (1987, c. 746, s. 2; 2011-145, s. 19.1(h); 2017-186, s. 2(tttttttt); 2021-180, s. 19C.9(p).)