Opinion ID: 2974290
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Classification Appeals Process

Text: The classification appeals process set forth “in the TDOC #400 policy series” is the proper mechanism by which to appeal “[c]lassification matters such as institutional placement,” except when a policy violation is alleged. APP 501.01(VI)(G). The classification appeals process was the correct avenue for Owens to pursue his complaint 3regarding his transfer, a matter of institutional placement, that did not allege any policy violation. , 4 The classification appeals process begins with written notice to an inmate who is being reclassified of a “scheduled hearing before the classification panel.” APP 401.08(VI)(A). The classification panel then holds a hearing, and the “[p]anel members shall sign the Classification Summary Form after the majority’s recommendations are concisely summarized and justified on the 3 The appellees explain that a policy violation would consist of the prison’s “failure to follow the procedures set forth in TDOC Policy #401.08 . . . (e.g., failure to [provide] written notice of classification hearing at least forty-eight hours in advance of hearing),” and that Owens’s complaint, which alleged an improper motive on the part of the prison officials in making the classification decision, did not allege a policy violation. Appellees Br. at 7. 4 Owens argues that he was not required to exhaust the classification appeals process to meet the PLRA’s exhaustion requirement because the requirement only applies to “mandatory remedies,” and the classification appeals process was not “mandatory.” Appellant Br. at 33 n.5. This argument misconstrues the PLRA and this court’s precedent. Although a remedy must be “available” in order for a prisoner to be required to pursue it to exhaust his claim, 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a); Wyatt, 193 F.3d 879, this does not mean that the prison must require the prisoner to exhaust his remedies for the remedy to be “available.” Generally, the prisoner would be free to choose not to exhaust his remedies; he would only be required to do so if he wants to file a complaint regarding the matter in federal court. Therefore, the permissive “may appeal a classification action” language in APP 401.08 is irrelevant to the consideration of the exhaustion issue. Owens misconstrues Baker v. Andes, No. Civ.A.6:04-343, 2005 WL 1140725, at  (E.D. Ky. May 12, 2005) (unpublished opinion), the unpublished district court opinion he cites to support his argument on this point. Baker held that a grievance system that was “only unpredictably and discretionarily available,” was “neither a mandatory nor an available” remedy under the PLRA. Id. Baker’s use of “mandatory” in this context, where the prison was only required to answer “‘legitimate complaints,’” can best be read to mean that it was not mandatory for the prison to consider the prisoner’s grievance, rather than that it was not mandatory for the prisoner to avail himself of the remedy, as Owens reads it. Id. No. 03-6559 Owens v. Keeling et al. Page 6 document.” APP 401.08(VI)(D). The warden can designate the classification panel chairperson to serve as the final authority for the classification action except when a “custody override is recommended” or “the chairperson is the dissenting member.” APP 401.08(VI)(E). A classification action can be appealed within forty-five days of the final action using a “Classification Appeal, CR3004, to which a copy of the classification documents must be attached.” APP 401.08(VI)(G). “When the chairperson is the final authority the inmate may appeal to the warden, who shall either uphold or veto the panel’s recommendations; in such cases, the warden’s decision is final and the appeal process is exhausted.” APP 401.08(VI)(G)(1). “When the warden is the final approving authority, the inmate may appeal to the Director of Classification Programs, who shall either uphold or veto the panel’s recommendations; in such cases, the decision of the director is final and the appeal process is exhausted.” APP 401.08(VI)(G)(2). Therefore, under APP 401.08(VI)(G), after the panel hearing and the receipt of the Classification Action Summary, submitting a Classification Appeal is the only procedure required for a prisoner to exhaust the classification appeals process. There is no written notice of the classification panel hearing nor any Classification Summary Form regarding Owens’s classification in the joint appendix or in the documents appended to the parties’ briefs on appeal, and thus it is uncertain whether Owens was provided with this documentation. In any event, Owens filed a Classification Appeal within the forty-five day limit. J.A. at 42-44 (Classification Appeal). Although Owens did not complete a pre-printed CR-3004 form for his Classification Appeal, he copied the format of the CR-3004 with near perfect precision, and his Classification Appeal follows the CR-3004 in all material respects. Therefore, the fact that5 his appeal was not made on the preprinted form has no impact on the exhaustion determination. Despite Owens’s contention that his Classification Appeal was “directed at both the Warden and the Director of Classification Programs,” Appellant Br. at 14, by marking a pound sign in the box to the left of “WARDEN” and making no mark next to “DIRECTOR OF CLASSIFICATION PROGRAMS,” by writing that he was “appealing the arbitrary decision made by this committee to the Warden of MTCX and MTCC,” by repeatedly addressing the warden in his appeal letter, and by stating in his complaint that he addressed his appeal to the warden, Owens has indicated that he was addressing his Classification Appeal only to the warden. J.A. at 42-44 (Classification Appeal) (emphasis added), J.A. at 14 (Compl. ¶ 19). To whom the Classification Appeal is addressed matters because the Classification Appeal must be addressed to the person one step above the person who had final authority over the disputed classification action. See APP 401.08(VI)(G) (stating that the inmate appeals to the warden if the committee chairperson is the final authority but to the director of classification programs if the warden is the final authority). The evidence provided to this panel does not clearly indicate who the final authority was in Owens’s case. It would be fair to assume, however, that Szostecki, the committee chairperson, was the final authority because Owens’s case was not one that required the warden to serve as the final authority, see APP 401.08(VI)(E), and it appears from Owens’s complaint that Szostecki issued the recommendation without the warden’s involvement. J.A. at 13 (Compl. ¶ 14). Though the warden of MTCX never responded to Owens’s Classification Appeal, J.A. at 14 (Compl. ¶ 22), Owens did everything he could to exhaust this remedy. Owens met his burden of showing that he administratively exhausted the classification appeals process. In his complaint, Owens asserted that he met with the classification panel and that 5 APP 401.08(VI)(G) requires that “a copy of the classification documents must be attached” to the Classification Appeal. Owens claims that he “filed an Inmate Classification Appeal that [was] not properly . . . answered by prison officials.” J.A. at 8. Because Owens has sufficiently “detailed the [administrative grievance] process followed and the outcome in the complaint,” Knuckles El, 215 F.3d at 642, and “[t]he appellees do not dispute [Owens]’s account of the administrative steps he completed,” Appellees Br. at 6 n.1, nor claim that Owens failed to attach the required documentation to his classification appeal, Owens properly exhausted this complaint. No. 03-6559 Owens v. Keeling et al. Page 7 he “filed a classification appeal to the Warden of the Institution,” J.A. at 13, 14 (Compl. ¶¶ 12-14, 19), and he alerted the court that his complaint was “not properly answered by prison officials.” J.A. at 8 (Form Compl. at 3), 14 (Compl. ¶ 22). In addition, Owens states, see Appellant Br. at 14-15, and defendants do not dispute, see Appellees Br. at 6 n.1, that he submitted, among other documents, the following documents to the district court: (1) Owens’s Inmate Grievance, dated September 18, 2002, J.A. at 24; (2) Howard’s response that Owens’s grievance was non-grievable, dated September 19, 2002, J.A. at 23; (3) Owens’s Classification Appeal, dated September 13, 2002, J.A. at 42; and (4) Goodgine letter to Owens, dated August 20, 2003, J.A. at 63. Although the correct procedure to be followed for Owens’s classification-related complaint might not have been evident to the district court because the TDOC policies were not submitted to the district court, it is now clear that Owens did exhaust the available administrative remedy: the classification appeals process. The complaint and the documents that accompanied it were sufficient for Owens to meet his burden of proving exhaustion. Owens submitted documentation that the prison determined his Inmate Grievance to be non-grievable and that he filed a Classification Appeal, the proper action to exhaust the classification appeals process. Owens also submitted a letter from Goodgine stating that he considered Owens’s request for a transfer “a finalized issue.” J.A. at 63 (Goodgine Mem. to Owens). The district court erred by failing to consider Owens’s pursuit of the classification appeals process and the pleading and documentation that evidenced this pursuit, and thus erroneously concluded that Owens failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. Finally, even if Owens did not formally exhaust the classification appeals process, we deem him to have exhausted this remedy because he never received a response to his Classification Appeal from the warden, the official responsible for reviewing and either upholding or reversing the classification panel’s decision under APP 401.08(VI)(G)(1). See Boyd v. Corr. Corp. of Am., 380 F.3d 989, 996 (6th Cir. 2004) (holding “that administrative remedies are exhausted when prison officials fail to timely respond to a properly filed grievance”). Any response Owens did receive from prison officials regarding his transfer was not timely, as the first response specifically addressing his transfer was not until March 12, 2003, J.A. at 51 (Maloney Letter to Owens), and thus was insufficient. See Boyd, 380 F.3d at 996. We need not address Owens’s argument that the dismissal of his claim under these circumstances violated his right to due process because the reinstatement of his complaint will prevent any process being denied to him. We also decline to address the defendants’ arguments regarding the sufficiency of Owens’s complaint. This matter is not properly before us as the defendants never filed a motion to dismiss and thus the district court did not consider this issue. After the reinstatement of Owens’s complaint, the sufficiency of the complaint can be addressed in the district court should the defendants choose to raise this issue.