UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

MELVIN LEROY COX, 

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

LEXINGTON COUNTY JAIL; PRISON  No. 01-6887

HEALTH SERVICE, INCORPORATED;

WEST COLUMBIA POLICE DEPARTMENT;

CHARLESTON COUNTY JAIL,

Defendants-Appellees. 

MELVIN LEROY COX, 

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

LEXINGTON COUNTY JAIL; PRISON  No. 01-7908

HEALTH SERVICE, INCORPORATED;

WEST COLUMBIA POLICE DEPARTMENT;

CHARLESTON COUNTY JAIL,

Defendants-Appellees. 

Appeals from the United States District Court

for the District of South Carolina, at Columbia.

Henry M. Herlong, Jr., District Judge.

(CA-00-1383-3-20-BC)

Submitted: March 8, 2002

Decided: March 26, 2002

Before WIDENER, MICHAEL, and MOTZ, Circuit Judges.
No. 01-6887 dismissed and No. 01-7908 affirmed by unpublished per

curiam opinion. 

COUNSEL

Melvin Leroy Cox, Appellant Pro Se. Alice Price Adams, DAVIDSON, MORRISON & LINDEMANN, P.A., Columbia, South Carolina; Chace Damon Campbell, LOVE, THORNTON, ARNOLD &

THOMASON, P.A., Vincent Clark Price, ROE, CASSIDY, COATES

& PRICE, P.A., Greenville, South Carolina; Sandra Jane Senn,

Charleston, South Carolina, for Appellees. 

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See

Local Rule 36(c). 

OPINION

PER CURIAM: 

Melvin Leroy Cox seeks to appeal the district court’s order dismissing his action against prison officials pursuant to 42 U.S.C.A.

§ 1983 (West Supp. 2001). We remanded No. 01-6887 to the district

court for a determination of whether Cox was entitled to have the

period to note an appeal reopened under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(6) based

on his assertion that he did not receive timely notice of the order in

question. The district court denied relief under Rule 4(a)(6), and Cox

has noted an appeal from that order as well, which is the subject of

No. 01-7908. For the following reasons, we grant the Appellees’

motion to dismiss Cox’s appeal No. 01-6887 from the denial of his

§ 1983 action and affirm the denial of his Rule 4(a)(6) motion in No.

01-7908. 

With respect to the dismissal of Cox’s § 1983 action, parties are

accorded thirty days after entry of the district court’s final judgment

or order to note an appeal, see Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1), unless the dis2 COX v. LEXINGTON COUNTY JAIL
trict court extends the appeal period under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5) or

reopens the appeal period under Rule 4(a)(6). This appeal period is

"mandatory and jurisdictional." Browder v. Director, Dep’t of Corrections, 434 U.S. 257, 264 (1978) (quoting United States v. Robinson, 361 U.S. 220, 229 (1960)). The district court’s order was entered

on the docket on December 8, 2000, and Cox’s notice of appeal was

filed on May 24, 2001. As a result, Cox’s notice of appeal was

untimely. 

Although we remanded this appeal to the district court for a determination whether Cox was entitled to a reopening of the appeal

period under Rule 4(a)(6), the district court properly denied relief

under that provision because Cox failed to apprise the district court

of a change of address. See Benavides v. Bureau of Prisons, 79 F.3d

1211, 1214 (D.C. Cir. 1996). Accordingly, because Cox’s notice of

appeal is untimely, and he is ineligible to have the period for noting

an appeal reopened, we grant the Appellees’ motion to dismiss Cox’s

appeal in No. 01-6887 for lack of jurisdiction and affirm in No. 01-

7908 the district court’s order denying relief under Rule 4(a)(6) on

remand. Additionally, we grant the motion to dismiss filed in No. 01-

7908 by Appellees West Columbia Police Department and Lexington

County Jail. Finally, while we grant Cox’s motion to amend his

request for sanctions, we deny Cox’s motions for appointment of

counsel and for general relief and for sanctions. We dispense with

oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately

presented in the materials before the court and argument would not

aid the decisional process. 

No. 01-6887 - DISMISSED

No. 01-7908 - AFFIRMED

COX v. LEXINGTON COUNTY JAIL 3