Opinion
NO. 2013-CA-000226-MR
03-14-2014
JEROME BRUTLEY APPELLANT v. LADONNA THOMPSON; AND GARY BECKSTROM APPELLEES
BRIEF FOR APPELLANT: Jerome Brutley, Pro Se West Liberty, Kentucky BRIEF FOR APPELLEES: J. Todd Henning Department of Corrections Frankfort, Kentucky
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
APPEAL FROM FRANKLIN CIRCUIT COURT
HONORABLE PHILLIP J. SHEPHERD, JUDGE
ACTION NO. 12-CI-01563
OPINION
AFFIRMING
BEFORE: CAPERTON, TAYLOR, AND THOMPSON, JUDGES. TAYLOR, JUDGE: Jerome Brutley brings this pro se appeal from a January 15, 2013, Order of the Franklin Circuit Court dismissing his petition for declaration of rights. We affirm.
Bratley filed a petition for declaration of rights challenging a prison disciplinary proceeding. Brutley was an inmate at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex and was charged with pursuing a noncorrectional relationship with a noninmate. The prison disciplinary adjustment committee adjudicated Brutley guilty of the charge and imposed thirty days disciplinary segregation. Brutley sought review with the Warden, and the Warden upheld the Adjustment Committee's decision.
Brutley then filed a petition for declaration of rights in the Franklin Circuit Court. By order entered January 15, 2013, the circuit court dismissed the petition for Brutley's failure "to attach documentation that he has exhausted, pursuant to [Kentucky Revised Statutes] KRS 454.415, the arguments now raised in this Petition, by properly presented said arguments to the Warden, pursuant to [Corrections' Policies and Procedures] CPP 15.6." This appeal follows.
Brutley contends that the circuit court improperly dismissed his petition for declaration of rights. Brutley alleges that he exhausted all administrative remedies required in the prison proceedings after the Warden upheld the adjustment committee's decision; thus, he complied with Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) 454.415.
KRS 454.415 provides, in relevant part:
(2) Administrative remedies shall be exhausted even if the remedy the inmate seeks is unavailable.This Court has previously observed that the judiciary may only review issues of error that were actually raised in the inmate's appeal to the warden. Houston v. Fletcher, 193 S.W.3d 276 (Ky. App. 2006); O'Dea v. Clark, 883 S.W.2d 888 (Ky. App. 1994). As KRS 454.415(3) mandates that the inmate attach to the complaint such documents necessary to verify that all administrative remedies have been exhausted, our Court has held that an inmate must attach to the complaint documentation setting forth issues of error raised before the warden:
(3) The inmate shall attach to any complaint filed documents verifying that administrative remedies have been exhausted.
Although Houston did attach to his circuit court petition documents indicating that the Warden had heard and denied his appeals, there is no documentation setting forth the grounds of three of his four appeals. It is impossible to determine whether the arguments in Houston's petition for declaration of rights were identical to those raised before the Warden. The circuit court was, therefore, unable to ascertain whether Houston had exhausted his administrative remedies as to the first three administrative appeals presented to the Warden. Additionally, the court was not able to conduct a meaningful review of Houston's claims because it received no evidence as to the basis on which the Warden had denied the appeals.Houston, 193 S.W.3d at 278.
In this case, Brutley failed to attach the relevant documentation evidencing the issues raised before the warden. We are, thus, precluded from reviewing his allegation of error. Accordingly, we must conclude that the circuit court properly dismissed Brutley's petition for declaration of rights.
For the foregoing reasons, the Order of the Franklin Circuit Court is affirmed.
ALL CONCUR. BRIEF FOR APPELLANT: Jerome Brutley, Pro Se
West Liberty, Kentucky
BRIEF FOR APPELLEES: J. Todd Henning
Department of Corrections
Frankfort, Kentucky