1 Courtof Appea ls Rule 10: Th is Co urt, with the c onc urren ce of a ll judge s partic ipating in the cas e, may affirm, rev erse o r mo dify the act ions of t

he t ria l cou rt by memorandu m opini on when a for mal opi nion woul d h ave no precedent ial value. When a case is deci ded by memorandum opinion, it shall be designa ted "MEMORANDUM OPIN IO N," sha ll not be published, and shall not be ci ted or relied on for any reaso n in a sub sequ ent unre lated c ase. 

### IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT NASHVILLE Assigned on

Briefs J uly 30, 2002 ANDRE MAYFIELD v. RICKY BELL, ET AL 

### . Appeal from the Chancery Court for Davidson County No. 00-1204-II Carol McCoy, Chancellor

No. M2001-00486-COA-R3-CV - Filed December 5, 2002
Appellan t, a pro se inmate in the Department of Corrections, appeals the dismissal by the chancellor of his case pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 41-21-812. We affirm the action of the chancellor. Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court Affirmed
W IL LI AM B. C AIN , J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which B EN H. C ANT RELL , P.J., M.S., and P ATRIC IA J. C OTT RELL , J., joined. Andred May field, Nashville, Tennessee, Pro Se. Paul G. Summers, Attorney Gene ral & Reporter; Arthur Crownover, I I, Senior Coun sel, f

or the appelle es, Ricky

Bell, Rob ert Walle

r, Chery l Donaldso n and Rich ard Mer chant. MEMORAN

DUM OP

INION 1

And re Mayfield fil ed this ac tion seek ing a wr it of cer tiorari c oncerning dec isio ns of th e Te nnessee Department of Corrections relative to his telephone usag e. The Chancery Cou rt o f Davidson County dismissed the case pursuant to Tenne ssee Code Annotated section 41-21-81 2. This sect ion provid

es: Filing of subsequent

lawsuits not pe rmitt

ed until expen ses paid . -- (a) Exceptas provided by subsection (b), and on notice of assessment of any

fees, ta xes,-2-

costs and expenses under this part, a clerk of a court may not accept for filing another claim by the sa me inmate until s uch prior fees , taxe s, costs a

nd other expenses are paid in full. (b) A court may a

llow an inmate who ha s not paid a ny costs or expenses assessedagains tthe inmate to file a claim for injunctive relief seeking to enjoin an act or fa il ure to act that crates a substantial threat of irre parable injury

or serious physical harm to the inmate. [Acts 1996, ch. 913, § 1.] T.C.A. § 41-21-812 (1997 replacement). The chancellor held in dismissing this case:
A review o f court r

ecords r eveals t hat, fro m 1997 until

the present, Petitioner has filed tw elve separa te actions in the Davidson County Chance ry Courts. A computer list of these cases is attachedhereto and incorporated by reference herein. Th e pres ent case is the only one that is currently active. Unpaid costs have been assesse d again st Petitione r for all of the cl osed cas es. Tennessee law p rov ides that “a clerk of a court may not accept for filing another claim by the same inmate until such prior fe es, taxes, costs and other expenses are paid in full.” T.C.A. § 41-21-812. This case, which was file d in April 2000, was inad

vertent ly a llowed to proceed despite theabove statutory prohibition. While T.C.A. § 4 1-21-81 2 (b) set s forth a n exceptio n for ca ses wher e an inma

te seeks injunctive relief

to prevent

irrepa rable in jury or serious phy sical ha

rm, there is no such claim in the present action. Ac co rd in gl y, this actio n is dismisse d. Costs are assessed against Petitioner. Appended

to the Ord

er of Dis missal is a tabulation of the trial court records indicating the following cases f

iled by Andre Ma

yf ield and t erminate d with cost s taxed ag ainst him which rem ain unpaid.

Case 00-2650-Par t II : 08/24/2000 - M ayf

ield, Andre

#128982 vs Bell , Ricky

et al. Case 00- 209 3-P art II : 07/ 03/ 200 0 - M ayfie ld, Andr e #1 289 82 v s Co wan, Ton ya Case 00-1204-Par

t II : 04/17/2000 - M ayf

ield, Andre

#128982 vs Wa

rden Rick y L. B ell et al

. Case 98-3464-Par

t I : 11/20/1998 - May

field, Andre #128982 v s Correct ions Comm

issioner/D onal Cam

pbell Case 98-3463-Par

t II : 11/20/1998 - M ayf

ield, Andre

#128982 vs State

of Tenne ssee et

al. Case 98-3462-Par

t III: 11/20/1998 - Mayf

ield, Andre

#128982 vs Bra

ndon, Howard Chairma

n et al. Case 98-2275-Par

t I : 07/28/1998 - Ma

yfie ld, Andre #128982 vs Strick land, C / Ca

pt et al. Case 98-1046-Par

t III: 04/03/1998 - Mayf

ield, Andre

#128982 vs Mathe

ny, Bec ky et al. Case 98- 38- Par t II I : 0 1/0 7/1 998 - Mayf iel d, An dre #12 898 2 vs C owan , Tan ya Case 97-4150-Par

t II : 12/16/1997 - M ayf

ield, Andre

#128982 vs. Vance , Tomm y et a l. Case 97-3851-Par

t II : 11/20/1997 - M ayf

ield, Andre

vs Elam , David C et al. Case 97-3311 -

Part III: 10/07/1997 - Mayf ield, Andre

vs State of Tenne ssee et

al. The action at

bar discloses no substantial threat of irreparable injury or serious physical ha

rm to Mr. Mayfield.-3-

The purpose of the statutes relative to unpaid c our t costs is to discourage the filing of meritless law suits and affirmance of trial court dismissal is proper. Davis v. Holland , 31 S.W.3d 574 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000). The judgment of the trial court is af firmed and the case is remanded to the trial court for collecti on of cost s. Costs of the

appeal a re asse ssed ag ainst the a

ppellant

.

___________________________________ WILL IAM B. CAI

N, JUDGE