Hairston v. Donahue et al

Filing 25

ORDER TO ISSUE THIRD PARTY SUBPOENA. Signed by Judge James D. Todd on 3/18/15. (Todd, James)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
EASTERN DIVISION
JAMES HAIRSTON,
Plaintiff,
VS.
MICHAEL DONAHUE, et al.,
Defendants.

)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)

No. 14-1109-JDT/egb

ORDER TO ISSUE THIRD PARTY SUBPOENA

Plaintiff James Hairston, an inmate at the Hardeman County Correctional Facility
(“HCCF”), in Whiteville, Tennessee, filed a pro se complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
On February 20, 2015, the court ordered service of process on Defendants Ben Benjamin,
Alicia Cox, and Kristie Howell. The summons for Kristie Howell has been returned as
unexecuted because she is on maternity leave [DE# 23].
When an indigent plaintiff has taken reasonable steps to identify and locate a
defendant, the court is responsible for ensuring that service is properly effected:
[Twenty-eight] U.S.C. § 1915(c) provides that the officers of the court “shall
issue and serve all process” when a plaintiff is proceeding in forma pauperis.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(c)(2) dovetails with § 1915(c) by providing that the court
must appoint a United States Marshal to serve plaintiff’s process “when the
plaintiff is authorized to proceed in forma pauperis pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915.” Together, Rule 4(c)(2) and 28 U.S.C. § 1915(c) stand for the
proposition that when a plaintiff is proceeding in forma pauperis the court is
obligated to issue plaintiff’s process to a United States Marshal who must in
turn effectuate service upon the defendants, thereby relieving a plaintiff of the

burden to serve process once reasonable steps have been taken to identify for
the court the defendants named in the complaint.
Byrd v. Stone, 94 F.3d 217, 219 (6th Cir. 1996). In the present case, Plaintiff has sufficiently
identified Defendant Howell. However, because of her maternity leave, she cannot be served
with process at HCCF.
The court hereby DIRECTS the Clerk to prepare a third-party subpoena for CCA and
deliver it to the Marshal for service, along with a copy of this order. The subpoena shall
direct Corrections Corporation of America, 10 Burton Hill Blvd., Nashville, TN 37215 to
supply the last known home address and telephone number of Defendant Kristie Howell,
who was employed at HCCF on or about February 11, 2014, and thereafter. This information
should be provided on or before May 1, 2015. Due to security and privacy concerns,
information provided by CCA in compliance with the subpoena shall not be made available
to Plaintiff, but shall be filed by the Clerk ex parte and under seal. A summons shall then
be re-issued and provided to the Marshal for service.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

s/ James D. Todd
JAMES D. TODD
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

2