Joseph Evener 242179 v. Craig Hughes, Warden
This text of Joseph Evener 242179 v. Craig Hughes, Warden (Joseph Evener 242179 v. Craig Hughes, Warden) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
Opinion
RENDERED: MARCH 22, 2024; 10:00 A.M. NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
Commonwealth of Kentucky Court of Appeals NO. 2023-CA-1205-MR
JOSEPH EVENER APPELLANT
APPEAL FROM FRANKLIN CIRCUIT COURT v. HONORABLE THOMAS D. WINGATE, JUDGE ACTION NO. 23-CI-00347
CRAIG HUGHES, WARDEN; COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY; AND VICTIMS COMPENSATION BOARD APPELLEES
OPINION AFFIRMING
** ** ** ** **
BEFORE: COMBS, LAMBERT, AND MCNEILL, JUDGES.
COMBS, JUDGE: Joseph Evener, pro se, appeals the order of the Franklin Circuit
Court dismissing his petition for declaration of rights. After our review, we affirm.
Following a crime spree in January 2020, Evener was indicted in
Clinton Circuit Court on several charges. Based on Evener’s plea of guilty, the
circuit court entered judgment on August 12, 2021. The court found that the victim of Evener’s crimes sustained serious physical injury during a robbery, and
Evener was sentenced to serve twenty-years’ imprisonment.
The victim’s sister, acting as her legal representative, filed a claim
with the Public Protection Cabinet’s Crime Victims Compensation Board (the
Board). The Board was created to indemnify needy victims of criminal acts who
might otherwise incur financial hardship and become dependent on public aid.
KRS1 49.270. The Board has the authority to pay claims for certain expenses
incurred because the victim sustained injury. KRS 49.370(3). Any award made to
the victim must be reduced by the amount that the victim received from insurance,
public funds, or any recovery from (or on behalf of) the person who committed the
crime. KRS 49.390(1). Payment of benefits to a victim by the Board “creates a
debt due and owing to the state by any person found to have committed such
criminal act in either a civil or criminal court proceeding in which he is a party.”
KRS 49.470(1).
As part of its investigation, the Board learned that Evener’s eighty-
three-year-old victim sustained numerous injuries to her face and body as a result
of closed-fist punches. Her injuries included a broken jaw and a broken femur.
The victim required a blood transfusion and more than three months of
1 Kentucky Revised Statutes.
-2- rehabilitation. In an order issued by the Board’s chairman, she was awarded
$7,409.80.
In correspondence dated September 19, 2022, the Board notified
Evener that he owed a debt to the Commonwealth in the amount awarded to his
victim. The Board specifically advised him that the debt was separate and apart
from any restitution that he had been ordered to pay by the circuit court. Evener
was informed that he had a right to protest. He was provided specific information
concerning the method by which he could do so and the relevant deadlines. The
Board warned Evener that if he failed either to protest the debt or to pay it, the
Public Protection Cabinet’s Office of Claims and Appeals would take legal action
to intercept his wages. The record does not contain a court order or judgment
permitting the Board to collect on this debt. Attached was a form payment
agreement pursuant to which Evener could agree to pay $10 per month to the
Board until the debt was paid. Evener did not respond.
Eventually, the Office of Claims and Appeals filed a Notice of
Intercept with Southeast State Correctional Complex, where Evener was
incarcerated. The provisions of KRS 44.030(1) prohibit the state from paying
money to any person who is indebted to the state. Therefore, the prison began
deducting sums from Evener’s state pay (consistent with provisions of Correction
Policies and Procedures) and forwarding those amounts to the Board.
-3- On April 20, 2023, Evener tendered to the Franklin Circuit Court a
petition for declaration of rights. “Hon Craig Hughes, warden Commonwealth of
Kentucky” was the only named respondent. Evener’s motion to proceed in forma
pauperis was granted, and he forwarded a $10.00 filing fee to Franklin Circuit
Court. In the body of his complaint, Evener sought an order directing the
Department of Corrections to cease deducting funds from his prison account and to
reimburse him for sums already subtracted.
Two civil summonses issued. The first summons named “Natalie
Life” of the Office of Claims and Appeals as defendant. John Atha (a postal
technician at the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet) signed for the
mail upon its delivery on May 25, 2023. The return receipt did not indicate that
service was made by certified mail, restricted delivery, or registered mail. The
second summons was to be served by certified mail on Craig Hughes, the Warden
at Southeastern State Correctional Complex.
On June 14, 2023, Natalie Lile (a staff attorney employed by the
Office of Claims and Appeals) and the Office of Claims and Appeals made special
appearances and filed a motion to dismiss. Counsel observed that neither Lile nor
the Office of Claims and Appeals was named in the caption of Evener’s petition
for declaration of rights and that no specific allegations were made against Lile.
Moreover, the petition included only “passing reference to the Crime Victims
-4- Compensation Board, one of the three boards housed within [the Office of Claims
and Appeals].” Finally, counsel noted that Evener’s demand for relief was directed
only at the Department of Corrections. Based on these factors, counsel challenged
the sufficiency of service of process and the court’s jurisdiction over Lile and the
Office of Claims and Appeals.
On August 21, 2023, Evener filed a motion “to amend and supplement
the tendered pleadings” in which he explained that he wanted appellate review of
the Board’s decision. He contended that his legal aide’s failure to understand the
proper procedure to do so resulted in the denial of his right to appeal in violation of
both state and federal constitutional provisions. Evener asked the court to dismiss
the Department of Corrections as respondent and to restyle the action as an appeal
from the Board’s decision.
On August 28, 2023, Hughes filed a motion to dismiss. Hughes
argued that Southeastern State Correctional Complex properly intercepted state
funds paid to Evener. By order entered September 11, 2023, the circuit court
ordered the petition dismissed. This appeal followed.
On appeal, Evener argues that the Franklin Circuit Court erred by
dismissing the petition because the Board’s action deprived him of due process,
violated principles related to the separation-of-powers doctrine, and breached his
plea agreement by requiring that he pay restitution. Because no action was
-5- properly commenced against the Board, we agree that the circuit court lacked the
necessary jurisdiction. Consequently, it did not err by dismissing the action.
Jurisdictional issues are questions of law and thus are reviewed de
novo. Appalachian Reg’l Healthcare, Inc. v. Coleman, 239 S.W.3d 49 (Ky. 2007).
Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI
Related
Cite This Page — Counsel Stack
Joseph Evener 242179 v. Craig Hughes, Warden, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/joseph-evener-242179-v-craig-hughes-warden-kyctapp-2024.