Opinion ID: 4171849
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Serve Oestreich and Perry

Text: “We review the district court’s dismissal for untimely service for an abuse of discretion.” Espinoza v. United States, 52 F.3d 838, 840 (10th Cir. 1995). At the time Mr. McMiller filed his complaint, Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m) gave a plaintiff 120 days to serve a defendant.3 Rule 4(m) states that if a defendant is not timely served, the court “must dismiss the action without prejudice against that defendant or order that service be made within a specified time. But if the plaintiff shows good cause for the failure, the court must extend the time for service for an appropriate period.” Id. The district court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing Oestreich and Perry. Mr. McMiller failed to timely serve them, and thus the magistrate judge 3 Rule 4(m) was amended effective December 1, 2015 to require service within 90 days of filing. Mr. McMiller filed his complaint on June 19, 2014, so the previous 120-day deadline applies. 9 extended the time for service until August 7, 2015. When that additional time expired, the magistrate judge ordered Mr. McMiller to show cause by January 14, 2016 why Oestreich and Perry should not be dismissed. Mr. McMiller responded by accusing the served defendants of helping to evade service for Oestreich and Perry. The magistrate judge correctly rejected that argument as failing to show good cause, noting that a plaintiff may show good cause if a defendant evades service, but there is no authority for extending that principle to a third party who is alleged to be helping another evade service. See Cox v. Sandia Corp., 941 F.2d 1124, 1125 (10th Cir. 1991) (recognizing that good cause may be shown when a defendant evades service). On appeal, Mr. McMiller contends he could not serve Oestreich and Perry because he was “denied [a] discover[y] right.” Aplt. Br. at 4. This argument is meritless because the magistrate judge granted in part his “Motion for Extension of Time and Request [for] Disclosures and Discovery,” Dist. Ct. Doc. 36, directing the served defendants to provide any additional contact information on Oestreich and Perry. Based on their sealed response, the magistrate judge ordered the Marshals Service to attempt service, but Oestreich could not be served with the updated contact information, and the only information regarding Perry indicated that an employee with that name left employment at CCF in 2003. This does not establish cause because for more than a year, Mr. McMiller was unable to effect service, despite the court’s efforts to provide him with additional information. See Scott v. Hern, 216 F.3d 897, 912 (10th Cir. 2000) (holding that plaintiff failed to establish cause where he had discovery for nearly a year). “It is the plaintiff’s responsibility to 10 provide the United States Marshal with the address of the person to be served[.]” Fields v. Okla. State Penitentiary, 511 F.3d 1109, 1113 (10th Cir. 2007). Still, the magistrate judge considered whether a permissive extension of time was warranted by policy considerations or Mr. McMiller’s pro se status. See Espinoza, 52 F.3d at 841-42 & n.8 (holding that even absent good cause, a court must consider whether policy considerations or a plaintiff’s pro se status “might weigh in favor of granting a permissive extension of time” to effect service). The magistrate judge determined there was no justification for another extension, notwithstanding Mr. McMiller’s pro se status, because Oestreich and Perry were entitled to summary judgment in any event on exhaustion grounds. Under these circumstances, the district court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing Oestreich and Perry for untimely service.