### IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE Submitted on Bri

efs January 19,

2001 JOSEPH HOUGH v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Direct Appeal from the Tennessee Claims Commission No. 20000437 Michael S. Lacy, Judge FILED FEBRUARY 28, 2001 No. E2000-01621-COA-R12-CV
Joseph Hough sues the State of Tennessee seeking damag

es for conversio

n of his personal pr

operty by law enfo rcem ent off ice rs e mpl oyed by Gr eene Cou nty. On motion of the State, the Trial Court dismissed the case on two grounds. First, that a timely response was not m ade to the motion to dismiss, and second, it is a lleg ed that officers of Greene County, not the State of Tennessee, converted his pro

perty. We af

firm. Tenn.R.App.P. 12 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Tennessee Claims Commission Affirmed; Cause Remanded
H OUSTON M. G ODDARD , P.J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which H ERSCHEL P. F RANKS and C HARLES D. S USANO , J R ., joined. Joseph Hough, Claimant, Nashville, Tennessee, Pro Se Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter, and Abigail Turn

er, Assistant Attor

ney Gener

al, Nashville, Tennessee, for Respondent, State of Tennessee

OPINION

In this suit, Joseph Hough, an inmate of the State of Tennessee, file

d a claim with the Cla

ims Commission seeking damages for conversion of certain of his personal property which was seized by Greene

County law enforceme

nt officials. The

claim was filed on September 10, 1999, and on December

8 transferred f

rom the Division of Cl

aims Administration

to the Claims Commission pursuant to T.C.A. 9-8-402(c).
A motion to dismiss was filed by the Attorney General's office alleg ing "lack of jurisdiction and failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted."-2-

Although no respons e was made to the motio n to dismi ss, apparen tly because Mr. Hough thought that transfer to the Claims Commission was a denial of his cl aim, he filed what he denominated "Notice of Appeal from Denial of Claim by the

Division of Claims Administration." On February 23, 2000, the Claims Commissione r grant ed the motion to dismiss on two grounds. First, on the gr

ound that Tennesse

e Claims Commission Rule Number 0310-1-1-.01(5)(c) provides that failure to make a timely response to a motion co nstitutes a w aiver of any objection thereto, and second, on the ground that the Commission had no jurisdiction as the allegations were that the property

was seized by

Greene County

law enforceme

nt officials. Whereupon, Mr. Hough filed what he denominates a "Motion for New Trial and Amendment of Judgment and for Order Remitting Act to be Done after Expiration of Specified Time. " This motion contends that

the Plaintiff is “a

mental patient at L

ois Dewberry

Special Needs F

acility,” is taking antidepressant medicine, and the time for him to respond to the motion to dismiss should be enlarged. On June 9 the Trial Court denied the foregoing motion and reiterated as reasons therefor those set out in his original order of dismissal. Under the circumstanc

es of this case, we find no f ault in Mr. Hough’ s failure to respo nd to the State’s motion; however, our review of the record pers

uades us that, bec

ause the claim is aga

inst employees of Greene County and not of the State

of Tennessee, th

e Claims Commissio

n h as no jurisdiction of this ac

tion. We further find that this is an appropriate case for affirmance und

er Rule 10(a) of this Court

. The judgment of the Claims Commissioner is accordingly affirmed and the cause remanded for collection of costs below. Costs of appeal are adjudged against Mr. Hough.

_________________________________________ HOUSTON M. GODDARD, PRESIDING JUDGE