Durst v. Smith County et al

Filing 6

ORDER accepting Report and Recommendations for 4 Report and Recommendations. The lawsuit is dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute. Signed by District Judge J. Campbell Barker on 11/22/2024. (ndc)

No. 6:23-cv-00284
Jacob Durst,
Plaintiff,
v.
Smith County et al.,
Defendants.
ORDER
Plaintiff Jacob Durst, a former inmate of the Smith County Jail
proceeding pro se, filed this lawsuit complaining of alleged deprivations of his constitutional rights. The case was referred to
United States Magistrate Judge K. Nicole Mitchell.
On April 25, 2024, the magistrate judge issued a report recommending that the lawsuit be dismissed without prejudice for
failure to prosecute. Doc. 4 at 3. As the report pointed out, plaintiff has not contacted the court since June 2023. Id. at 2. A copy
of this report was sent to plaintiff at his last known address but
was returned as undeliverable because plaintiff had been discharged. Doc. 5.
The complaint form that plaintiff filed contains an instruction
stating: “Failure to notify the court of your change of address
could result in the dismissal of your case.” Doc. 1 at 2. The Local
Rules similarly state that a pro se litigant “must provide the court
with a physical address . . . and is responsible for keeping the clerk
advised in writing of his or her current physical address.” Local
Rule CV-11(d); see also Anderson v. Munger, No. 5:17-cv-175, 2019
WL 2929056, at *1 (E.D. Tex. July 8, 2019) (“The Court has no
duty to locate litigants, particularly where a litigant has been advised of his responsibility to keep a current address with the
Court.”).
It has been approximately seven months since the magistrate
judge issued her report, and to date, no objections have been filed.
-1-

Nor has plaintiff advised the court of his present mailing address
or current whereabouts.
When there have been no timely objections to a magistrate
judge’s report and recommendation, the court reviews it only for
clear error. See Douglass v. United Servs. Auto. Ass’n, 79 F.3d 1415,
1420 (5th Cir. 1996). Having reviewed the magistrate judge’s report, and being satisfied that it contains no clear error, the court
accepts its findings and recommendation. The lawsuit is dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute. All pending motions are denied as moot.
So ordered by the court on November 22, 2024.

J. C AM PB EL L B A RK ER
United States District Judge

-2-