UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT 

_________________________________ 

RANDY MCCOLLUM; RONNIE 

MCCOLLUM, 

 Plaintiffs - Appellants, 

v. 

FRANK MCCOLLUM; DONNIE 

MCCOLLUM, 

 Defendants - Appellees. 

No. 21-3231 

(D.C. No. 2:21-CV-02493-HLT-GEB) 

(D. Kan.) 

_________________________________ 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT*

_________________________________ 

Before HARTZ, BALDOCK, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges. 

_________________________________ 

Plaintiffs/Appellants Randy McCollum and Ronnie McCollum, citizens of 

Kansas proceeding pro se, filed a civil action against Defendants/Appellees Frank 

McCollum and Donnie McCollum, fellow citizens of Kansas.1

 In their complaint, 

* After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined 

unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of 

this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore 

ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding 

precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral 

estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with 

Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1 and Tenth Circuit Rule 32.1. 

1

 Because all of the parties share the same last name, we refer to the parties by 

their first names. Further, because Randy and Ronnie proceed pro se, “we liberally 

construe [their] filings, but we will not act as [their] advocate.” James v. Wadas, 724 

F.3d 1312, 1315 (10th Cir. 2013). 

FILED 

United States Court of Appeals 

Tenth Circuit 

April 19, 2022

Christopher M. Wolpert 

Clerk of Court

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Randy and Ronnie seemingly asserted claims based on fraud/embezzlement, the 

failure to repay a loan, and elder abuse/physical injury. The district court issued an 

order to show cause why subject-matter jurisdiction existed over the action. Randy 

and Ronnie answered the show cause order, indicating the fraud/embezzlement 

underlying one of their claims involved crop insurance funds regulated by the United 

States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”). But Randy and Ronnie did not identify 

any federal statute creating a private right of action. The district court dismissed the 

action for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, and Randy and Ronnie appeal. We 

affirm. 

I. BACKGROUND 

 Randy and Ronnie filed a complaint that identified themselves, as well as 

Frank and Donnie, as citizens of Kansas. In their complaint, Randy and Ronnie 

advanced a claim for “embezzlement,” alleging in July 1998, Frank used Ronnie’s 

social security number to obtain USDA crop insurance funds, but Frank retained all 

of the crop insurance funds for his personal use. ROA Vol. I at 7. Randy and Ronnie 

also advanced a claim sounding in contract law based on Frank’s and Donnie’s 

alleged failure to repay a $5,000 loan for a tractor. Finally, through their complaint, 

they advanced a claim for “elder[] abuse[]” against Frank based on an unspecified 

incident in November 2008. Id. at 8. 

 Relative to jurisdiction, Randy and Ronnie checked off the box on the 

complaint form for a civil or equal rights action arising under 28 U.S.C. § 1343. The 

district court issued an Order and Notice to Show Cause, in part directing Randy and 

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Ronnie to identify how the court could take subject-matter jurisdiction over the 

action where the action did not appear to advance a claim for the deprivation of a 

civil right. Randy and Ronnie responded to the order by scribbling several notations 

onto the order and returning it to the district court. In one place, they indicated 

“USDA & crop insurance[,] [t]hey are Federal Busines[s].” Id. at 33. In another 

place, they wrote “Frank McCollum put a hay hook 2 inches in the top of Randy[] 

McCollum[‘s] head. We are getting x-rays from Eureka, KS hospital. [T]his is 

attempt[ed] murder.” Id. And Randy and Ronnie submitted to the district court a copy 

of 7 U.S.C. § 1515, which pertains to a crop insurance fund program. Randy and 

Ronnie, however, did not identify how their action involved the alleged deprivation 

of a civil right. 

 The district court dismissed the action for want of subject-matter jurisdiction. 

In support of this conclusion, the district court observed there was not diversity of 

citizenship between the parties and the claims advanced by Randy and Ronnie, 

although partially involving monies distributed by a federal agency, sounded in state 

tort and contract law. Randy and Ronnie appeal, advancing the same statements they 

presented in response to the district court’s order to show cause. 

II. DISCUSSION 

 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), a district court may 

dismiss a complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Where, as here, a district 

court dismisses an action for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction without taking 

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evidence, we review the dismissal de novo. Pueblo of Jemez v. United States, 790 

F.3d 1143, 1151 (10th Cir. 2015). 

 “The burden of establishing subject-matter jurisdiction is on the party asserting 

jurisdiction.” Montoya v. Chao, 296 F.3d 952, 955 (10th Cir. 2002). Thus, Randy and 

Ronnie needed to identify a basis upon which the district court could take jurisdiction 

over their case and reach the merits of their claims. “The district courts of the United 

States . . . are ‘courts of limited jurisdiction. They possess only that power authorized 

by Constitution and statute.’” Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Servs., Inc., 545 U.S. 

546, 552 (2005) (quoting Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 511 U.S. 375, 

377 (1994)). Generally speaking, through 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1332, “Congress 

granted federal courts jurisdiction over two general types of cases: cases that ‘arise 

under’ federal law, § 1331, and cases in which the amount in controversy exceeds 

$ 75,000 and there is diversity of citizenship among the parties, § 1332(a).” Home 

Depot U. S. A., Inc. v. Jackson, 139 S. Ct. 1743, 1746 (2019). Where Randy and 

Ronnie alleged in their complaint that they and Frank and Donnie are all citizens of 

Kansas, ROA Vol. I at 6, the action could not arise in diversity jurisdiction. 

Accordingly, Randy and Ronnie needed to satisfy § 1331’s federal-question 

jurisdiction for the district court to possess authority to entertain the action. See 

Caterpillar Inc. v. Williams, 482 U.S. 386, 392 (1987) (“Absent diversity of 

citizenship, federal-question jurisdiction is required.”). 

 “The presence or absence of federal-question jurisdiction is governed by the 

‘well-pleaded complaint rule,’ which provides that federal jurisdiction exists only 

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when a federal question is presented on the face of the plaintiff’s properly pleaded 

complaint.” Id. Additionally, for a plaintiff to invoke federal-question jurisdiction, 

the “cause of action must either be (1) created by federal law, or (2) if it is a 

state-created cause of action, its resolution must necessarily turn on a substantial 

question of federal law.” Nicodemus v. Union Pac. Corp., 318 F.3d 1231, 1235 (10th 

Cir. 2003) (internal quotation marks omitted). 

 “The ‘vast majority’ of federal-question jurisdiction cases [are those where] a 

‘suit arises under the law that creates the cause of action.’” Id. at 1236 (quoting 

Merrell Dow Pharms. Inc. v. Thompson, 478 U.S. 804, 808 (1986)). Here, while 

Randy and Ronnie alleged, relative to their embezzlement claim, that the USDA 

played a role in distributing to Frank the money at issue, they did not identify any 

federal statute providing for a private federal cause of action for the facts they 

alleged in their complaint.2

 Nor did they identify any federal statute relative to claims 

based on a loan, elder abuse, or attempted murder. Accordingly, Randy and Ronnie, 

having not identified a federal statute creating a private right of action, needed to 

demonstrate their claims involved a substantial question of federal law. See Morris v. 

2

 Randy and Ronnie attempted to rely upon 7 U.S.C. § 1515. To be sure, this 

provision does provide for an enforcement action where an individual engaged in 

fraud or provided false information when obtaining funds from the Federal Crop 

Insurance Corporation. 7 U.S.C. § 1515(h); see also 7 U.S.C. § 1502(b)(5) (defining 

Corporation as used in § 1515(h)). But the provision gives authority to the Secretary 

of Agriculture to pursue such an action, not a private individual. See 7 U.S.C. 

§ 1515(h)(3), (4). And Congress giving authority to a federal agency to enforce 

violations of a federal program can cut against the existence of a private right of 

action. See Middlesex Cnty. Sewerage Auth. v. Nat’l Sea Clammers Ass’n, 453 U.S. 

1, 13–14, 22 (1981). 

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City of Hobart, 39 F.3d 1105, 1111 (10th Cir. 1994) (concluding that where plaintiff 

did not identify federal law creating cause of action for contract claim, “federal 

jurisdiction will lie only if resolution of th[e] breach of contract claim requires 

resolution of a substantial question of federal law”). 

 “When making the determination of whether a nonfederal claim turns on a 

substantial question of federal law, courts should exercise ‘prudence and restraint.’” 

Id. (quoting Merrell Dow Pharms. Inc., 478 U.S. at 810). “[F]ederal jurisdiction can 

be found in state-law created causes of action if the right to relief turns on the 

construction of a federal law.” Id. “Nevertheless, the ‘mere presence of a federal 

issue in a state cause of action does not automatically confer federal-question 

jurisdiction.’” Id. (quoting Merrell Dow Pharms. Inc., 478 U.S. at 813). Randy and 

Ronnie did not identify any question of federal law, substantial or otherwise, 

underlying their claims based on a loan, elder abuse, and attempted murder. Nor can 

we imagine any such question of federal law exists where these claims are inherently 

and entirely state-law in nature. And, although the “embezzlement” claim allegedly 

involved funds distributed by a federal agency, nothing on the face of Randy’s and 

Ronnie’s complaint or their response to the show cause order suggested resolution of 

the claim would entail interpreting any federal law. Rather, the claim appeared to 

focus on whether Frank had Ronnie’s permission to use Ronnie’s social security 

number and retain the federal crop insurance funds, or if Frank entered into an 

agreement with Ronnie to perform the administrative tasks necessary to obtain the 

crop insurance funds on Ronnie’s behalf and then distribute all or part of the funds to 

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Ronnie. ROA Vol. I at 7–8. Accordingly, if Randy’s and Ronnie’s claims may be 

heard in any court, they would need to present the claims in a state court rather than a 

federal court. 

III. CONCLUSION 

We AFFIRM the district court’s dismissal of Randy’s and Ronnie’s action for 

want of subject-matter jurisdiction.

Entered for the Court 

Carolyn B. McHugh 

Circuit Judge 

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