WILLIAMS
v.
POLK COUNTY JAIL
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The Court held that a civil rights complaint must be dismissed without prejudice if the defendants are not identified by name, and a jail is not a suable entity.
Plaintiff, a pretrial detainee, filed a civil rights complaint alleging injury and denial of medical attention by unnamed transportation officers and …
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Plaintiff, a Florida pretrial detainee at Polk County Jail (“PCJ”), initiated this action by filing a civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Doc. 1). Plaintiff alleges that on September 21, 2023, he was injured when he was pushed to the ground by another inmate while shackled and exiting a transportation bus. He contends a transportation officer and a Sergeant refused him immediate medical attention and told him to either go back to his dorm or to confinement. After examining the complaint in accord with 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B), the Court concludes that the complaint must be dismissed without prejudice.1
The complaint does not identify the names of the individual defendants (the Sergeant and the transportation officer).2, Unknown persons cannot be served with process until they are identified by their names. It is not the Court’s responsibility to investigate the names and identities of unnamed defendants. Plaintiff must identify at least one defendant by name so that service of process can be accomplished.? If necessary, he then can attempt to identify other defendants through formal discovery. Accordingly, Plaintiff's civil rights complaint (Doc. 1) is DISMISSED without prejudice to filing a new complaint, in a new case with a new case number, that provides the name of at least one individual named as a defendant. The Clerk is directed to close this case. ORDERED in Tampa, Florida, on December 6, 2023.
halen 2 AJ ards Kn TO pl el [...] Charlene Edwards Honeywell United States District Judge
Copy to: Pro Se Plaintiff
process if it determines that the complaint is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary damages from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i)-(ait). * To the extent Plaintiff names Polk County Jail as a defendant, the jail is not a legal entity subject to suit. See, e.g., Monroe v. Jail, 2015 WL 7777521, at *2 (M.D. Fla. Dec. 3, 2015) (citing Chapter 30, Florida Statutes) (“Florida law does not recognize a jail facility as a legal entity separate and apart from the Sheriff charged with its operation and control.”). Plaintiff may be able to discover the names of the officers through PCJ’s grievance procedure.