Denton v. Thrasher

Opinion

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5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA 9 CASE NO. 3:20-cv-05968-TSZ-JRC 11 Plaintiff, ORDER DIRECTING 12 v. SUBMISSION OF SERVICE INFORMATION FOR UNSERVED 14 Defendant. 15 16 The District Court has referred this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights action to United States 17 Magistrate Judge J. Richard Creatura. The Court’s authority for the referral is 28 U.S.C. § 18 636(b)(1)(A) and (B), and local Magistrate Judge Rules MJR3 and MJR4. 19 Plaintiff, proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis (“IFP”), initiated this matter on 20 September 29, 2020 (Dkt. 1) and filed an amended complaint on October 29, 2020 (Dkt. 14). On 21 October 30, 2020, the Court directed service of plaintiff’s amended complaint on the named 22 defendants. Dkt. 15. All defendants with the exception of defendant “Dr. Peterson” have 23 appeared through counsel and have filed waivers of service. Dkts. 19–37, 40, 43, 46, 47, 51. 24 1 Defendants’ counsel has filed a notice stating that the Department of Corrections has been unable 2 to identify a current or former employee named Dr. Peterson, and counsel has been unable to 3 locate a State of Washington employee by this name. Dkt. 38. As a result, defendant Dr. Peterson 4 has not been served in this matter and is not subject to the Court’s jurisdiction.

5 Although the Court has directed service of the summons and complaint, plaintiff still 6 bears the burden of providing accurate and sufficient information to effect service. See Walker v. 7 Sumner, 14 F.3d 1415, 1422 (9th Cir. 1994), overruled on other grounds by Sandin v. Conner, 8 515 U.S. 472 (1995); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 4. When an IFP plaintiff fails to provide the Court 9 with accurate and sufficient information to effect service of the summons and complaint, it is 10 appropriate for the Court to sua sponte dismiss the unserved defendant. See Walker, 14 F.3d at 11 1421–22. 12 Plaintiff is directed to provide the complete name and address for defendant Dr. Peterson 13 so the Court can effect service. This information must be provided to the Court on or before 14 April 12, 2021 or the Court may recommend dismissal of Dr. Peterson from this action without

15 prejudice. 16 Dated this 11th day of March, 2021. 17

18 A 19 J. Richard Creatura 20 United States Magistrate Judge

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