Jones v. McDaniel et al

Filing 134

ORDERED that Jones' # 129 Motion to Address Residual Costs is GRANTED in part. Defendants shall deposit the remaining $384.51 to which Jones is entitled into his account, but the Court declines to order Defendants to deposit this sum into any particular account. Signed by Judge Larry R. Hicks on 11/2/2015. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - DRM)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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*****

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CHRISTOPHER A. JONES,

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Plaintiff,

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v.

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E.K. McDANIEL, et al.,

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Defendants.

) 3:08-cv-00537-LRH-VPC
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) ORDER
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Before the Court is Plaintiff Christopher Jones’ (“Jones”) Motion for Order to Address

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Residual Costs Granted on Appeal. Doc. #129.1 Defendants filed a Response (Doc. #131), to

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which Jones replied (Doc. #132).

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On February 5, 2011, the Court adopted the Magistrate Judge’s Report and

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Recommendation (Doc. #110), which provided that Jones was entitled to costs in the amount of

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$278.36, and that the costs were to be deposited into Jones’ Trust 1 Account, as opposed to his

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Trust 2 Account. Doc. #115. After Jones appealed, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

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determined that Jones was entitled to $667.87 in costs. Doc. #124 at 2. Defendants acknowledge

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that having already received $278.36, Jones is entitled to the balance of $384.51. Doc. #131 at 2.

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However, Jones requests that this sum be deposited into his Trust 2 Account, rather than his

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Trust 1 account. Doc. #129 at 1.

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Jones’ request that the funds be deposited into his Trust 2 account is based on Nevada

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Department of Corrections (“NDOC”) Administrative Regulation (“AR”) 258, which governs

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“Prisoners’ Personal Property Fund.” Jones argued that the regulation listed “monetary
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Refers to the Court’s docket number.

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settlements” and “tort claims” as examples of the types of payments that should be made to the

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Trust 2 Account. The Court agreed, but noted that no statute mandated that proceeds of a lawsuit

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be deposited into a Trust 2 Account. Doc. #110 at 5. The court noted that Nevada Revised

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Statute § 209.241 orders the NDOC to deposit funds in the “Prisoners’ Personal Property Fund”

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but did not specify any particular method of deposit for tort claims or monetary settlements. Id.

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Noting that other statutes expressly stated when funds should be deposited in a particular

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account, the Court concluded that “the legislature would have expressly set forth the placement

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of monetary settlements and tort claims in a ‘Trust 2 account’ if it intended to do so.” Id.

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(quoting Tellis v. Godinez, 5 F.3d 1314, 1317 (9th Cir. 1993)).

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The Court again finds that it was not clearly erroneous or contrary to law for the

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Magistrate Judge to decline to order that the NDOC deposit the funds owed to Jones in a

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particular account. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A) (finding that a district judge may reconsider a

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magistrate judge’s pre-trial order only if it is “clearly erroneous or contrary to law”).

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Additionally, in affirming the Court’s denial of Jones’ request to place funds in the Trust 2

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Account, the Ninth Circuit stated that under Nevada law, “the district court’s authority to execute

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the judgment ends once it forwards the money to Jones.” Doc. #124 at 2 (citing Nev. Rev. Stat. §

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176.278(3)). The Court takes this to mean that it does not have the authority to order the NDOC

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to deposit funds owed to Jones into a particular account. Accordingly, the Court grants Jones’

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Motion to Address Residual Costs in part, but declines to order the NDOC to deposit funds into

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Jones’ Trust 2 Account.

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IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Jones’ Motion to Address Residual Costs (Doc.

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#129) is GRANTED in part. Defendants shall deposit the remaining $384.51 to which Jones is

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entitled into his account, but the Court declines to order Defendants to deposit this sum into any

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particular account.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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DATED this 2nd day of November, 2015.

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__________________________________
LARRY R. HICKS
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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