VAN JACKSON v. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS (2020)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

VAN JACKSON, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, et al., Appellees.

No. 1D19-4342

Decided: October 07, 2020

Van Jackson, pro se, Appellant. Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Kristen J. Lonergan, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellees.

Appellant Van Jackson, an inmate in the Florida correctional system, challenges the dismissal of his petition for a writ of mandamus as untimely filed. Assuming the petition was given to officials of the Department of Corrections for mailing on April 24, 2018, as claimed by Appellant, the petition was nevertheless untimely filed. See Thompson v. State, 761 So. 2d 324, 326 (Fla. 2000) (“The important date for purposes of the mailbox rule is the date when the inmate hands over his or her documents to prison officials for mailing.”).

As Appellant alleged in the petition, his administrative remedies were exhausted when the Secretary of the Department denied the administrative appeal of his grievance on March 14, 2018. A party challenging a “disciplinary proceeding conducted by the Department of Corrections” has 30 days to file a court action. § 95.11(8), Fla. Stat. (2018). This time limit is jurisdictional, and hence, the trial court correctly dismissed the petition. See Whitfield v. Dep't of Corr., 107 So. 3d 1210 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013).

Affirmed.

Per Curiam.

Ray, C.J., and Bilbrey and Jay, JJ., concur.

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