Rickey Barnes v. Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections

Judgment Rendered.-

Appealed from the
Judicial !
In and for the Parish of East Baton Rouge
State of Louisiana
Docket No. 724592

Rickey Barnes
t t i' t t

Uri Counsel forDefendant/
Appellee,

Baton Rouge,! Louisianaof Public
It Corrections

IkVIIINEMM

Rickey Barnes appeals the district court' s judgment dismissing his petition

for judicial review, with prejudice. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Mr. Barnes alleges that, on April 20, 2022, as he was going through the

intake process at Raymond Laborde Correctional Center (" RLCC"), he had teM

laundry bags of personal property and had to decide which property he woull

keep, mail home, or destroy. Mr. Barnes contends that after he had sorted items im
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threatened him. Seven boxes of Mr. Barnes' s property were mailed to his motherlM

house. However, he alleges his legal documents were not in those boxes and were

trashed" by prison officials. On May 14, 2022, Mr. Barnes filed a requea

pursuant to Louisiana' s administrative remedy procedure (" ARP"), RLCC- 2022-

440wherein he asserted he was threatened ® his legal documents and othco

personal property were destroyed. The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and

finding Mr. Barnes had time to sort through his property, stating no one witnessem
the colonel curse or threaten Mr. Barnes, and denying Mr. Barnes' s ARP. A

August 30, 2022, a second step response was issued, wherein the De-partment

denied Mr. Barnes' s request for relief.

On October 13, 2022, Mr. Barnes filed a "' Petition for Judicial Review,

seeking review of RLCC- 2022-440.' He also sought a hearing, damages, I

declaratory judgment, and an injunction. On February 9, 2023, the district court

dismissed Mr. Barnes' s claim for damages without prejudice, finding that it was

1 We note Mr. Barnes also sought review of RLCC-2022- 510. A 19th Judicial District
Court Commissioner issued a " Multiple Claims Order," which stated that an inmate is only
entitled to seek judicial review of a single administrative record in any single lawsuit and
directed Mr. Barnes to notify the court which single administrative record he sought review of
under his petition for judicial review, Mr. Barnes chose to pursue RLCC- 2022- 440,

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improperly combined with a request for judicial review, filed in the wrong venue,
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individuals named as defendants in Mr. Barnes' s petition in their individual

capacities with the Department remaining as the only defendant. The Department

filed an answer on May 4, 2023, denying Mr. Barnes' s claims.

On September 1, 2023, the Commissioner recommended the district court

affirm the Department' s decision and dismiss Mr. Barnes' s appeal, with prejudice,

at Mr. Barnes' s costs. 2 The Commissioner stated that the Department' s decision

was neither arbitrary or capricious, nor manifestly erroneous. Mr. Barnes filed a

traversal on October 3, 2023. Mr. Barnes asserted that the Department may hal

committed fraud in preparing documents that indicated he elected to send items

home and keep nine bundles of legal documents because he only signed oil

withdrawal form and one property sheet, but neither provided for bundles of legal

iocuments or personal property. He alleged the forms were filled out after hE-

signed them and the mail room decided which items to send to his mother' s house,

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evidence seriously, which is why he requested a hearing. On October 8, 2023, after

de novo review, the district court affirmed the Department' s decision in RLCC-

2022- 440 and dismissed Mr. Barnes' s petition for judicial review, with prejudice,

The Corrections Administrative Remedy Procedure, set forth in La. R.S.

15: 1171- 1179, provides the Department may adopt an administrative remedy

2 The office of the Commissioner of the 19th JDC was created by La. R.S. 13: 711 to hear
and recommend disposition of criminal and civil proceedings arising out of the incarceration of
state prisoners. The Commissioner' s written findings and recommendations are submitted to a
district judge, who may accept, reject, or modify them. La. R.S. 13: 713( 0)(5); Collins v.
Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, 2020- 0958 ( La. App. I" Cir. 4/ 16/ 21),
2021 WL 1438718, * 1 n.2 ( unpublished), writ denied; 2021- 00706 ( La. 10/ 12/ 21), 325 So. 3d
1067.

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procedure for receiving, hearing, and disposing of any and all complaints an'&

grievances by offenders against the state, the governor, the Department, or 112

employees.
The adopted procedures are the exclusive remedy for handling ti I-

complaints and grievances to which they apply. La. R.S. 15: 1171( B); see also

by the Department are set forth in LAC 22: 1. 325. Pursuant to these rules, offenders

must exhaust a two-step ARP before they can proceed with a suit in state court. La

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in the 19th Judicial District Court. See La. R.S. 15: 1177( A). On review of the

9-gency decision, the district court functions as an appellate court. Brown

Cir. 9/ 19/ 16), 277 So. 3d 326, 329. The district court' s review shall be confined to

the record and limited to the issues presented in the petition for review and the

On appellate review of a district court' s judgment in a suit for judicial

review under La. R.S. 15: 1177, no deference is owed by the court of appeal to the

factual findings or legal conclusions of the district court, just as no deference a

owed by the Louisiana Supreme Court to factual findings or legal conclusions of

the court of appeal. As such, the de novo standard of review shall be applied,

Colvin v. Louisiana Department of Public Safely and Corrections, 2023- 1175 ( La.

App. I" Cir, 5/ 31/ 24), 2024 WL 2971242, * 3 ( unpublished).

Now, after a de novo review, we find that Mr. Barnes' s petition for judicial I

review was properly dismissed. The administrative record demonstrates Mr.

Barnes signed an inventory form on April 20, 2022. The fonn specifies whether

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Mr. Barnes' s property was " kept," " stored," or " sent home." The form indicates

that Mr. Barnes kept a belt, books, combination locks, cosmetics,
earphone,3

glasses, bundles of mail, nail clippers, photo albums, a bowl, tobacco, work gloves,

and writing tablets. Further, a mail log indicates Mr. Barnes mailed seven packages

of property to his mother' s house. While Mr. Barnes argues the inventory sheet

was " fraudulently filled] out" and his legal documents were destroyed, there is no

evidence to support his self-serving assertions. Further, even if Mr. Barnes was

removed from the intake room without his property, that does not mean that his

property was destroyed. The administrative record contains statements from

which indicate Mr. Barnes was given sufficient time to decide what property tM

keep and what property to mail home. Colonel Nicholson, Sergeant Dauzat, arZ

Sergeant Gaspard each stated Mr. Barnes was told he could keep property th4o

would fit into two lockers and the remainder of his property had to be sent home.

This court' s review is limited to the administrative record and the petition

for judicial review. The burden of proof in any civil administrative appeal is with

the Petitioner. See Covingtonv. Vannoy, 2019- 1518 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 8/ 3/ 20), 310

So. 3d 2K 211. The administrative record and the petition for judicial review

contain conflicting assertions by Mr. Barnes and the Department, and Mr. Barnes

ails to show the Department' s decision in ARP No. RLCC- 2022-440 was

arbitrary, capricious,
manifestly erroneous, or that it was in violation of his

statutory or constitutional rights. Based on our thorough review of the

administrative record, we conclude the documentary evidence does not support Mr.

Barnes' s claim, and we find no error in the district court' s judgment affirming the

Department' s decision denying Mr. Barnes' s claim and dismissing his petition for

judicial review with prejudice.

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For the above and foregoing reasons, the October 8, 2023 judgment of the

Nineteenth Judicial District Court is affirmed. Costs of the appeal are assessed to

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