King v. Iowa Dep't Of

• Decision Date: 26 March 2010
• Docket Number: No. 09-1912.,09-1912.
• Parties: James Winn KING, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. IOWA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

598 F.3d 1051

James Winn KING, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. IOWA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 09-1912.

United States Court of Appeals
Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: Jan. 14, 2010.
Filed: March 26, 2010.

Anna Jeanne Dey, argued, Angela L. Campbell, on the brief, Des Moines, IA, for appellant.

Mark Hunacek, AAG, argued, Des Moines, IA, for appellee.

Before LOKEN, Chief Judge, JOHN R. GIBSON and WOLLMAN, Circuit Judges.

[598 F.3d 1052]

LOKEN, Chief Judge.

James King, an inmate at the Newton Correctional Facility (NCF), was a member of an inmate crew ordered to clean up effluents after a clogged toilet in one of the cells caused a floor drain in the common area to overflow. He filed multiple inmate grievances as a result of this incident and, some two months later, commenced this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 seeking money damages and court-ordered testing for diseases. The district court¹ dismissed the action, concluding that King failed to exhaust "such [prison] remedies as are available." 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). King appeals. Reviewing the court's interpretation of § 1997e(a) de novo, we affirm. See Gibson v. Weber, 431 F.3d 339, 341 (8th Cir.2005) (standard of review).

Section 1997e(a), as amended by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996, provides that "[n]o action shall be brought with respect to prison conditions under [§ 1983] by a prisoner confined in any jail, prison, or other correctional facility until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted." "Congress enacted § 1997e(a) to reduce the quantity and improve the quality of prisoner suits; to this purpose, Congress afforded corrections officials time and opportunity to address complaints internally before allowing the initiation of a federal case." Porter v. Nussle, 534 U.S. 516, 524-25, 122 S.Ct. 983, 152 L.Ed.2d 12 (2002). Available grievance procedures must be exhausted even if the relief the inmate seeks under § 1983 was not available through those procedures. Booth v. Churner, 532 U.S. 731, 737-41 & n. 6; 121 S.Ct. 1819, 149 L.Ed.2d 958 (2001).

NCF follows a mandatory four-step grievance procedure adopted by the State of Iowa Department of Corrections. See Policy No. IO-OR-06. An inmate must first seek to resolve the problem informally. If this fails, the inmate may file an Offender Grievance Complaint on a prescribed form, stating the reason for the grievance and the action requested. A grievance officer investigates the grievance and either replies to the inmate in writing or refers the matter to a grievance committee. An inmate may appeal the Grievance Response by the grievance officer or grievance committee to the warden or superintendent, who must respond within fifteen days and state reasons for his decision. If the inmate remains dissatisfied, he may appeal to the Grievance Appeal Coordinator, who must ensure that there is a response to the appeal from the appropriate source within thirty days. The entire process "will not exceed 103 days unless extensions have been given."

King's first grievance complained that he was required to clean raw sewage for three-and-one-half hours, leaving him with burning eyes and a stomach ache. In the "Action Requested" part of the grievance form, King wrote, "Check Health; Improve protocol on bio clean up." Three weeks later, a grievance officer issued a Grievance Response stating that King raised "valid issues" regarding training and protective equipment that would be reviewed with the prison's Safety and Health Consultant, and suggesting that King "kite Health Services" if he was experiencing medical issues. That same day, King filed a second grievance complaining that he was not trained...