WILLIAM DANTE, APPELLANT,
v.
TIMOTHY P. RYAN, DIRECTOR, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION, APPELLEE
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William Dante, an inmate, petitioned for a writ of mandamus to compel the Miami-Dade County Department of Corrections to provide annual teeth cleaning and fillings. The Florida Third District Court of Appeal denied the petition because Dante failed to exhaust available administrative remedies through the inmate complaint/grievance process before seeking judicial relief.
The court denied the petition for writ of mandamus without prejudice because Dante failed to exhaust administrative remedies. The court held that all administrative remedies must be exhausted prior to issuing an extraordinary writ, and if Dante believes he has not received adequate dental care after exhausting administrative remedies, he may petition for a writ of habeas corpus with the trial court and subsequently petition this court for a writ of mandamus.
[1] A petition for writ of mandamus requires the exhaustion of all available administrative remedies prior to issuance.
[2] Failure to allege or prove exhaustion of administrative remedies warrants denial of a petition for writ of mandamus.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Mandamus is a recognized remedy to require a public official, who is clothed with the authority, to discharge his duty.”
Establishes the general availability of mandamus as a remedy but implicitly sets up the requirement that it is extraordinary and subject to conditions.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDante is an inmate in the Miami-Dade County Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He sought a writ of mandamus to require the department to pr…
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LAGOA, Judge.
Appellant, William Dante (“Dante”), petitions this Court for a writ of mandamus compelling the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department to provide him with an annual teeth cleaning and fillings for tooth decay. Because Dante failed to exhaust his administrative remedies, we deny the petition for writ of mandamus.
“Mandamus is a recognized remedy to require a public official, who is clothed with the authority, to discharge his duty.” Alexander v. City of Coral Gables, 745 So. 2d 1004, 1005 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999) (citing City of Miami Beach v. Sunset Islands 3 & 4 Prop. Owners Ass’n, 216 So. 2d 509, 511 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968)). Prior to issuing an extraordinary writ, however, all administrative remedies must be exhausted. See Pope v. State, 898 So. 2d 253 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005). Based on the record before us, we find that Dante failed to allege, or prove, that he exhausted the administrative remedies available to him under the Inmate ComplainVGrievance process contained in the Inmate Handbook.1 Accordingly, we deny without prejudice the petition for writ of mandamus.
If after exhausting his administrative remedies, Dante believes that he has not received any, or adequate, dental care,2 he may file a petition for writ of habeas corpus with the trial court. Bradshaw v. Sandler, 955 So. 2d 1219, 1221 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007); see also Harvard v. Singletary, 733 So. 2d 1020, 1022 (Fla.1999) (stating that many writ petitions are more appropriately presented to the circuit court because resolution of the case requires fact-finding that appellate courts are ill-equipped to handle). If no relief is accorded at that juncture, Dante may file a petition for writ of mandamus with this Court.
Petition for writ of mandamus denied without prejudice.
. Pursuant to Department Standard Operating Procedures ("DSOP”) No. 15-001(111), "[t]he Classification Unit shall provide a copy of the Inmate Handbook that contains information regarding the inmate complaint/grievance process to each inmate during orientation [and] Inmate Grievance forms shall be readily available to all inmates.”
. DSOP No. 14-005 addresses the delivery of dental services to inmates confined within all of the detention facilities of the Metro-Dade Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Pursuant to DSOP No. 14 — 005(IV)(A), inmates "requiring dental care may request a dental examination and treatment by completing an ‘Inmate Request for Health Service’ form."
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Harvard v. Singletary, 733 So. 2d 1020 (Fla. 1999)
- City OF Miami Beach v. Sunset Islands 3 & 4 Prop. Owners Ass'n, Inc., 216 So. 2d 509 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968)
- Alexander v. The City OF Coral Gables, 745 So. 2d 1004 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)
- Pope v. State, 898 So. 2d 253 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005)
- Galloway v. State, 955 So. 2d 1219 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)