Title: Brent Taylor
v.
Allen County Board of Commissioners, et al.
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: 23S-CT-00378
State: Indiana
Issuer: Indiana Supreme Court
Date: December 13, 2023

I N  T H E  
Indiana Supreme Court 
Supreme Court Case No. 23S-CT-378 
Brent Taylor, 
Appellant-Plaintiff, 
–v– 
Allen County Board of Commissioners, et al., 
Appellees-Defendants. 
Decided: December 13, 2023 
Appeal from the DeKalb Superior Court  
No. 17D02-2207-CT-35 
The Honorable Monte L. Brown, Judge 
On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals  
No. 23A-CT-131 
Per Curiam Opinion 
Chief Justice Rush and Justices Massa, Slaughter, Goff, and Molter concur. 
 
 
 
FILED
C L E R K
Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
Dec 13 2023, 3:11 pm
Indiana Supreme Court | Case No. 23S-CT-378 | December 13, 2023 
Page 2 of 3 
Per curiam.  
Brent Taylor sued the Allen County Board of Commissioners, the Allen 
County Public Defender’s Office, and two individual Allen County public 
defenders.  
The trial court dismissed Taylor’s action against the Allen County 
Board of Commissioners and granted judgment on the pleadings to the 
Allen County Public Defender’s Office and the individual public 
defenders. Taylor appealed the trial court’s order. Following extensions of 
time, his appellant’s brief and appendix were due to be filed by June 9, 
2023. Taylor timely filed a “Motion to File Appellant’s Brief and 
Appendix” on June 7 and tendered his brief and appendix with that 
motion. The Clerk then issued a Notice of Defect that specified three 
issues with Taylor’s brief and appendix that he needed to correct. The 
Notice of Defect gave Taylor, who is housed in the Indiana Department of 
Correction, twenty business days to submit corrected documents. Three 
days after the Clerk issued the Notice of Defect, the Indiana Court of 
Appeals issued an order dismissing Taylor’s appeal with prejudice. Taylor 
now seeks transfer and asks this Court to review the dismissal of his 
appeal. 
Discussion & Decision 
Indiana Appellate Rule 23 addresses correction of documents that are 
not compliant with the appellate rules: “Individuals who are incarcerated 
. . . and are not represented by an attorney must correct defect(s) no later 
than twenty (20) business days from the date of the Notice of Defect.” Ind. 
Appellate Rule 23(D)(1)(a). Indiana Appellate Rule 45 allows for an appeal 
to be summarily dismissed when an appellant’s brief is not timely filed. 
App. R. 45(D). The record here indicates that Taylor timely tendered his 
brief and appendix, and he had twenty days from the date on the Notice 
of Defect to cure the defects in those documents, making them due by July 
19, 2023. The record also shows the Notice of Defect’s deadline had not yet 
expired at the time Taylor’s appeal was dismissed.  
 
Indiana Supreme Court | Case No. 23S-CT-378 | December 13, 2023 
Page 3 of 3 
Conclusion 
Under these circumstances, we find Taylor’s appeal was prematurely 
dismissed. We grant transfer, vacate the Court of Appeals’ order 
dismissing Taylor’s appeal, and remand for the Court of Appeals to 
resume jurisdiction over this appeal. See App. R. 58(A).  
Rush, C.J., and Massa, Slaughter, Goff, and Molter, JJ., concur.  
A P PE LL AN T  P R O  SE  
Brent Taylor 
Michigan City, Indiana 
A TT O R N E YS F O R  AP P EL LE E  A LL EN  C OU N T Y  
B O A R D O F C OM MI SS I O NE RS  
Theodore T. Storer 
Alison M. Yeager 
Beers Mallers, LLP 
Fort Wayne, Indiana 
A TT O R N E YS F O R  AP P EL LE E S W IL LIA M LE B RA T O A N D   
G R E G O R Y  F UMA R OL O 
John C. Theisen 
Nathaniel O. Hubley 
Theisen Hubley Law 
Fort Wayne, Indiana