CHARLES AGUILLARD v. CITY OF NEW ROADS THROUGH ITS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER MAYOR ROBERT MYER OFFICER ROBERT DIXON BEAURGARD BUD TORRES III SHERIFF EX OFFICIO AS THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE POINTE COUPEE PARISH PRISON POINTE COUPEE DETENTION CENTER (2017)

The appellant, Charles Aguillard, appeals the judgment of the 18th Judicial District Court in favor of the appellee, Sheriff Beauregard “Bud” Torres, III. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Mr. Aguillard alleges that on April 9, 2014, he was a Louisiana Department of Corrections inmate at the Pointe Coupee Detention Center (PCDC), and as a trustee, was assigned to assist with an auction. On said date, Mr. Aguillard contends he was ordered to lift wood weighing between 100 to 350 pounds without the benefit of lifting equipment, and as a result suffered injury to his back and spine. After a medical evaluation, Mr. Aguillard was diagnosed with injury to his spine and was recommended for surgery. Mr. Aguillard alleges that since sustaining his injury, he is unable to walk without the aid of a walker.

Mr. Aguillard filed a petition for damages against Sheriff Torres in his capacity as administrator of PCDC, claiming Sheriff Torres breached his duty to provide Mr. Aguillard a safe workplace and to protect him from foreseeable risk of injury.¹ In the alternative, Mr. Aguillard claims that Sheriff Torres failed to give him prompt medical care after the injury was sustained, causing Mr. Aguillard's work injury and his preexisting injury from a motor vehicle accident to worsen.

In response, Sheriff Torres filed a declinatory exception of lack of subject matter jurisdiction, claiming that Mr. Aguillard failed to comply with the administrative remedy procedure of La. R.S. 15:1172, et seq. More specifically, Sheriff Torres contended that under La. R.S. 1172(B)(1), Mr. Aguillard was required to file for administrative remedies with the detention center within ninety days of the alleged injury, but did not do so. Sheriff Torres therefore contends that Mr. Aguillard's claim is abandoned and that, because Mr. Aguillard failed to exhaust his administrative remedies prior to filing suit, the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to review his claim.

After a trial on the exception, the trial court sustained the exception of lack of subject matter jurisdiction in favor of Sheriff Torres. The initial judgment was signed on June 9, 2016. Mr. Aguillard has appealed that judgment.

Upon examining the record, this Court noted an apparent defect in the judgment in that it did not contain appropriate decretal language disposing of Mr. Aguillard's claims against Sheriff Torres. This Court issued a show-cause order, on its own motion, allowing the parties to show cause why the appeal should or should not be dismissed on this basis. Charles Aguillard v. City of New Roads, et al., 2016-1262 (La. App. 1 Cir. 9/26/16) (unpublished action). In response to the show-cause order, the trial court signed an amended judgment on October 11, 2016, containing appropriate decretal language dismissing Mr. Aguillard's claims against Sheriff Torres. Another panel of this Court referred the rule to show cause to this appellate panel for disposition, together with the merits of the appeal. Id. Because we conclude the decretal language contained in the amended judgment corrected the defect noted in the show-cause order, this appeal will be maintained.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR

Mr. Aguillard's sole assignment of error, as briefed, does not directly address the exception of lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Rather, he claims the trial court erred in finding he did not exhaust his administrative remedy procedures (ARP), when he had been transferred from PCDC to Elayn Hunt Correctional Center (EHCC) and had completed his ARP there.

DISCUSSION

Jurisdiction is the legal power and authority of a court to hear and determine an action of the parties, and to grant the relief to which they are entitled. La. C.C.P. art. 1. Subject matter jurisdiction is the legal power and authority of a court to hear and determine a particular class of actions or proceedings, based upon the object of the demand, the amount in dispute or the value of the right asserted. La. C.C.P. art. 2. The issue of subject matter jurisdiction addresses the court's authority to adjudicate the cause before it, and the issue may be raised at any time and at any stage of an action. Hill v. Jindal, 2014-1757 (La. App. 1 Cir. 6/17/15), 175 So.3d 988, 1001, writ denied, 2015-1394 (La. 10/23/15), 179 So.3d 600.

According to La. R.S. 15:1171, the Sheriff of a parish may adopt an administrative remedy procedure at the parish's detention center. Evidenced by the affidavit of Warden Steven Juge, PCDC had such an ARP in place during Mr. Aguillard's incarceration. An inmate shall initiate his administrative remedies for a delictual action for injury or damages within ninety days from the day the injury or damage is sustained. La. R.S. 15:1172(B)(1). According to Mr. Aguillard's petition, he was injured while housed at PCDC on April 9, 2014. He did not file an ARP or any grievance with Sheriff Torres while housed at PCDC.

In his opposition to the exception of lack of subject matter jurisdiction, Mr. Aguillard attached documents indicating that he did complete an ARP at EHCC and his request for a transfer to a medical dormitory. However, the ARP appears to be related to medical treatment he purportedly received at EHCC on or about July 14, 2014, not the injury he allegedly sustained while at PCDC on April 9, 2014.² Mr. Aguillard's first step ARP is dated July 29, 2014, and the second step ARP is dated August 19, 2014.³ Therefore, if Mr. Aguillard's ARP is read as relating to the April 9, 2014 incident at PCDC, his ARP is untimely, regardless of where it was initially filed. His right to administrative relief for any injury sustained on April 9, 2014 is therefore abandoned, and the subsequent lawsuit filed by Mr. Aguillard was correctly dismissed with prejudice with respect to Sheriff Torres. See La. R.S. 15:1172(C).

When a prisoner fails to exhaust available administrative remedies, the trial court and the appellate court lack subject matter jurisdiction to review the claim. Jones v. State ex rel Dept. of Corrections, 2013-0482 (La. App. 1 Cir. 11/1/13) (unpublished), 2013 WL5918755, *9, writ denied, 2013-2783 (La. 2/14/14), 132 So.3d 965. Accordingly, the exception of lack of subject matter jurisdiction must be upheld.

DECREE

The October 11, 2016 amended judgment of the Eighteenth Judicial District Court, sustaining the exception of lack of subject matter jurisdiction in favor of the appellee, Sheriff Beauregard “Bud” Torres, III, dismissing Sheriff Torres from the petition for damages filed by the appellant, Charles Aguillard, is affirmed. All costs of this appeal are assessed to the appellant, Charles Aguillard.

APPEAL MAINTAINED; OCTOBER 11, 2016 JUDGMENT AFFIRMED.

FOOTNOTES

1.   Mr. Aguillard also named the City of New Roads, Deputy John Doe and/or Officer Robert Dixon as defendants, but as the judgment on appeal is only effective as to Sheriff Torres, he is the sole appellee in the instant case.

2.   Mr. Aguillard's handwritten ARP request shows April 9, 2014 as the date of the complained of incident, while EHCC's response shows July 14, 2014 as the date of the complained of incident.

3.   Mr. Aguillard's ARP request was ultimately denied.

THERIOT, J.

Higginbotham, J. concurs. Chutz, J. concurs.