The opinion
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
TEXARKANA DIVISION
CHRISTOPHER J. WESTON PLAINTIFF
v. Civil No. 4:20-cv-4077
SERGEANT MILLER, Nevada County
Correctional Officer; KATY SHEETS;
Nevada County Correctional Officer;
OFFICER REYN BROWN, City of Prescott;
and MS. BARNS, Nevada County
Correctional Officer DEFENDANTS
ORDER
Before the Court is the Report and Recommendation filed October 14, 2021, by the
Honorable Barry A. Bryant, United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Arkansas.
(ECF No. 39). Judge Bryant recommends that the Court grant Defendants Miller, Sheets, and
Barnes’ Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 28) because Plaintiff failed to exhaust his
administrative remedies before filing suit as required under the Prison Litigation Reform Act
(“PLRA”). See 42 U.S.C § 1997e(a).
Defendants filed the instant summary judgment motion seeking to dismiss the only
remaining cause of action in Plaintiff’s Complaint, which alleges that Defendants tampered with
Plaintiff’s legal mail while Plaintiff was incarcerated in the Nevada County Jail. (ECF No. 28).
Judge Bryant found that the PLRA required Plaintiff to submit his allegations of legal mail
tampering to Nevada County via the Jail’s official grievance procedures before filing this lawsuit.
Judge Bryant recommends that Defendants’ summary judgment motion be granted and that
Plaintiff’s Complaint be dismissed without prejudice because he failed to exhaust those
administrative remedies before filing suit.
Plaintiff filed timely objections to the Report and Recommendation. (ECF No. 40).
However, Plaintiff’s objections fail to address Judge Bryant’s findings that Plaintiff failed to
exhaust his administrative remedies. Instead, Plaintiff’s objections contain conclusory assertions
that fail to suggest how or why Plaintiff actually complied with the official grievance procedures
of Nevada County. Accordingly, Plaintiff’s objections are insufficient to trigger de novo review.
Based on the forgoing, the Court agrees with the Report and Recommendation in that
Plaintiff failed to exhaust the administrative procedures of the Nevada County jail before filing
this lawsuit. Therefore, and otherwise finding no clear error on the face of the record, the Court
adopts the Report and Recommendation (ECF No. 39) in toto. Plaintiff’s complaint is hereby
DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.1
IT IS SO ORDERED, this 24th day of January, 2022.
/s/ Susan O. Hickey
Susan O. Hickey
Chief United States District Judge
1 Claims that are dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies should be dismissed without prejudice. See
Langford v. Norris, 614 F.3d 445, 457 (8th Cir. 2010).