Opinion
NO. CIV. S-12-2442 LKK/CKD
02-01-2013
YVONNE GAGE individually, Minors I.M. and A.M. by and through their Guardian Ad Litem, YVONNE GAGE and BRENDA MORTON, individually, Plaintiffs, v. STATE OF CALIFORNIA, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION, WARDEN MIKE McDONALD, and Does 1-40, Defendants.
ORDER
Plaintiffs filed their complaint on September 25, 2012. Summons issued two days later. Plaintiffs appear not to have yet served defendants. A status conference was initially set for December 10, 2012, but as plaintiffs' counsel failed to file a status report, the conference was continued to February 4, 2013. (ECF No. 5.) Counsel has again failed to file a status report.
Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m), "If a defendant is not served within 120 days after the complaint is filed, the court - on motion or on its own after notice to the plaintiff - must dismiss the action without prejudice against that defendant or order that service be made within a specified time." Pursuant to this rule, plaintiffs should have served the defendants by January 23, 2013. Plaintiffs have not provided the court with any explanation for this delay in service.
Accordingly, the court hereby orders as follows:
[1] Plaintiff is DIRECTED to serve defendant within twenty-one (21) days of the issuance of this order. Failure to do so without a showing of good cause will result in dismissal of plaintiffs' complaint without prejudice.
[2] The status conference scheduled for February 4, 2013 is VACATED.
[3] The status conference is reset for March 25, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. Parties shall file status reports fourteen (14) days prior to the status conference.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
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LAWRENCE K. KARLTON
SENIOR JUDGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT