Tenn. Ct. App. R. 10 provides:

1

The Court, with the concurrence of all judges participating in the case, may affirm, reverse or modify

the actions of the trial court by memorandum opinion when a formal opinion would have no

precedential value. When a case is decided by memorandum opinion, it shall be designated

“MEMORANDUM OPINION,” shall not be published, and shall not be cited or relied on for any

reason in any unrelated case.

Northcott v. Tenn. Dep’t of Corr., No. 01A01-9707-CH-00355, 1998 WL 205224, at *1 (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr.

2

29, 1998) (No Tenn. R. App. P. 11 application filed).

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT NASHVILLE

Assigned on Briefs October 24, 2005

RICHARD L. NORTHCOTT v. TENNESSEE BOARD OF PROBATION

AND PAROLE ET AL.

Appeal from the Chancery Court for Davidson County

No. 03-2983-I Claudia Bonnyman, Chancellor

No. M2004-00524-COA-R3-CV - Filed January 12, 2006

This appeal involves a prisoner seeking to be released on parole. After the Tennessee Board of

Probation and Parole declined to grant him parole, the prisoner filed a petition for a common-law

writ of certiorari in the Chancery Court for Davidson County seeking judicial review of the Board’s

decision. The trial court dismissed the petition on the ground that it was not timely filed, and the

prisoner appealed. We agree with the trial court’s conclusion that the petition was not timely filed.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court Affirmed

WILLIAM C.KOCH,JR., P.J., M.S., delivered the opinion of the court, in which WILLIAM B.CAIN and

PATRICIA J. COTTRELL, JJ., joined.

Richard L. Northcott, Only, Tennessee, Pro Se.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E.Moore, Solicitor General; and Pamela

S. Lorch, Senior Counsel, for the appellees, Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole, Charles

Traughber, Sheila Swearingen, Ray Maples, Larry Hassel, and Townsend Anderson.

MEMORANDUM OPINION1

Richard L. Northcott was convicted in July 1981 of criminal sexual conduct in the first

degree and is serving a life sentence at the Turney Center Industrial Prison in Only, Tennessee. On 2

February 18, 2003, the Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole (Board) declined to parole him, and
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Mr. Northcott pursued an internal administrative appeal of this decision. The Board denied Mr.

Northcott’s administrative appeal on July 25, 2003. 

Mr. Northcott filed a petition for a common-law writ of certiorari in the Chancery Court for

Davidson County on October 8, 2003. The petition was dated October 1, 2003. The Board filed a

motion to dismiss on the ground that the petition had not been filed within the sixty-day period

required by Tenn. Code Ann. § 27-9-102 (2000). The trial court granted the Board’s motion and

dismissed the petition. Thereafter, Mr. Northcott filed a Tenn. R. Civ. P. 59.04 motion asserting that

the time for filing his petition should be tolled because he was unaware of the time limits in Tenn.

Code Ann. § 27-7-102. The trial court denied the motion, and Mr. Northcott has appealed.

The sixty-day time limit in Tenn. Code Ann. § 27-9-102 is mandatory and jurisdictional.

Hickman v. Tenn. Bd. of Paroles, 78 S.W.3d 285, 289 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001). The Board rendered

its decision on July 25, 2003, and thus the sixty-day limit required by Tenn. Code Ann. § 27-9-102

expired on September 23, 2003. Mr. Northcott executed his petition and filed it after September 23,

2003. Therefore, the trial court properly dismissed his petition and denied his Tenn. R. Civ. P. 59.02

motion.

We affirm the dismissal of the petition for a common-law writ of certiorari and remand the

case to the trial court for whatever further proceedings may be required. We tax the costs of this

appeal to Richard L. Northcott. We also find that Mr. Northcott’s petition for a writ of common-law

certiorari and subsequent appeal are frivolous in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 41-21-807(c),

-816(a)(1) (2003). 

______________________________ 

WILLIAM C. KOCH, JR., P.J., M.S.