A Louisiana inmate's battle to reclaim his lost personal property has been dismissed by the court. Rickey Barnes filed a complaint against the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections on October 13, 2022, in the 19th Judicial District Court for East Baton Rouge Parish, seeking damages and other relief.
The case stems from an incident on April 20, 2022, when Barnes was going through the intake process at Raymond Laborde Correctional Center (RLCC). According to Barnes, he had ten laundry bags of personal property that he needed to sort through to decide what to keep, mail home, or destroy. He alleges that after sorting items in seven of the bags, a colonel at RLCC ordered his property be taken away and threatened him. Subsequently, seven boxes of his property were mailed to his mother’s house; however, Barnes claims that crucial legal documents were missing and had been "trashed" by prison officials.
Barnes pursued administrative remedies as required by Louisiana law. On May 14, 2022, he filed a request under Louisiana’s administrative remedy procedure (ARP), which was denied in both the first step response on June 14, 2022, and the second step response on August 30, 2022. Dissatisfied with these outcomes, Barnes sought judicial review in October of the same year.
In his petition for judicial review filed on October 13, 2022, Barnes sought not only a review but also a hearing, damages, a declaratory judgment, and an injunction. However, on February 9, 2023, the district court dismissed his claim for damages without prejudice due to improper venue and failure to state a cause of action. The court also dismissed individual defendants named in their personal capacities.
The Department responded by denying all claims on May 4, 2023. On September 1, 2023, a Commissioner recommended dismissing Barnes's appeal with prejudice at his cost. The Commissioner found no evidence supporting Barnes's claims that the Department’s actions were arbitrary or capricious or that they violated any statutory or constitutional rights.
Barnes argued fraud in document preparation during an October traversal but failed to provide sufficient evidence. After de novo review on October 8, 2023—the district court affirmed the Department’s decision and dismissed Barnes’s petition with prejudice.
Representing himself pro se from Cottonport was Rickey Barnes while Robert R. Rochester Jr., based in Baton Rouge represented the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. The case was presided over by Judge Kelly Balfour under docket number 724592 with Judges Wolfe Miller and Greene overseeing the appellate decision.