ALONZIE WIGGINS, PETITIONER,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT

Fla. 3d DCA | 2012-05-30
No. 3D11-3368
Before WELLS, C.J., and SHEPHERD and ROTHENBERG, JJ.
89 So. 3d 1054 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2012)

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Synopsis

Wiggins filed a petition for writ of mandamus challenging the Department of Corrections' denial of jail-time credits in the wrong circuit court. The appellate court granted certiorari, quashed the trial court's erroneous order, and remanded with instructions to transfer the case to the proper venue in Leon County.


Holding

The court granted the petition for writ of certiorari, quashed the trial court's erroneous order, and remanded with instructions that the case be transferred to the Circuit Court for the Second Judicial Circuit in Leon County, which is the proper venue for mandamus proceedings against the Department of Corrections.


Headnotes

[1] An inmate claiming the Department of Corrections failed to provide correct jail time credit must first seek relief through the inmate grievance procedure.

[2] After exhausting administrative remedies, an inmate challenging a sentence-reducing credit determination by the Department of Corrections may seek relief in circuit court…

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Key Quotes

“Where, as here, an inmate claims that the Department failed to provide him the correct credit for jail time served in the county jail after the imposition of sentence, and prior to being transferred to the custody of the Department, he must seek relief through the inmate grievance procedure set forth in section 921.161 of the Florida Statutes.”

Establishes the mandatory administrative exhaustion requirement for sentence credit disputes.

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Facts & Procedural History

Wiggins, an inmate, claimed the Department of Corrections failed to provide him correct credit for jail time served in the county jail after sentencin…

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Opinion of the Court
WELLS, Chief Judge.

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

WELLS, Chief Judge.

On consideration of the motion for rehearing, we withdraw this court’s prior *1055order denying Wiggins’ petition for writ of certiorari and substitute the following opinion in its place. For the reasons set forth below, we grant the petition and remand with instructions that the trial court transfer this case to the Circuit Court for the Second Judicial Circuit in Leon County, Florida.

Where, as here, an inmate claims that the Department failed to provide him the correct credit for jail time served in the county jail after the imposition of sentence, and prior to being transferred to the custody of the Department, he must seek relief through the inmate grievance procedure set forth in section 921.161 of the Florida Statutes. See Salazar v. State, 892 So.2d 545, 547 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005). Upon exhausting his administrative remedies, “if the inmate believes that the Department[’]s ruling was incorrect, the inmate may then file a petition for writ of mandamus directed to the Department of Corrections.” Id.; see also Bush v. State, 945 So.2d 1207, 1210 (Fla.2006) (footnotes omitted) (“When challenging a sentence-reducing credit determination by the Department ... once a prisoner has exhausted administrative remedies, he or she generally may seek relief in an original proceeding filed in circuit court as an extraordinary writ petition. In such a case, ... if the prisoner does not allege entitlement to immediate release, a petition for writ of mandamus is the proper remedy.”). Venue for the mandamus proceeding is in the Circuit Court for the Second Judicial Circuit in Leon County, where the Department of Corrections has its headquarters. See Bush, 945 So.2d at 1212-13; Salazar, 892 So.2d at 547.

Here, upon allegedly exhausting his administrative remedies provided through the inmate grievance procedure, Wiggins filed a petition for writ of mandamus against the Department of Corrections in the Circuit Court for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County. Instead of transferring the matter to the Leon County circuit court as it should have done, see Bush, 945 So.2d at 1214; Hartley v. McNeil, 52 So.3d 690 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010), the trial court erroneously treated the mandamus petition as a “Pro Se Motion for Clarification of Sentence” filed against the State of Florida and thereafter entered an “Order Clarifying Judgment and Sentence.”

We therefore grant the petition for writ of certiorari, quash the “Order Clarifying Judgment and Sentence” and remand this case with instructions that it be transferred to the Circuit Court for the Second Judicial Circuit in Leon County for further proceedings.


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