Rigato v. Exec. Dir. of Colo. Dep't of Corr.

Colorado Court of Appeals·Decided April 30, 2026·No. 24CA1860·Unpublished

Opinion

The summaries of the Colorado Court of Appeals published opinions constitute no part of the opinion of the division but have been prepared by the division for the convenience of the reader. The summaries may not be cited or relied upon as they are not the official language of the division. Any discrepancy between the language in the summary and in the opinion should be resolved in favor of the language in the opinion.

SUMMARY

April 30, 2026

2026COA33

No. 24CA1860, Rigato v. Exec. Dir. of Colo. Dep’t of Corr. — Civil Procedure — Time — Computation — Correctional Facility Quasi-Judicial Hearing Review — Limitations as to Time

A division of the court of appeals considers for the first time whether C.R.C.P. 6(a)(1), which provides that, if the last day of a deadline found in the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure “is a Saturday, a Sunday, or a legal holiday,” the deadline is calculated as “the end of the next day which is not a Saturday, a Sunday, or a legal holiday,” applies to actions subject to C.R.C.P. 106(b)’s twenty-eight-day deadline.

The division concludes that C.R.C.P. 6(a)(1)’s computation rule determines the actual deadline under C.R.C.P. 106(b) when the twenty-eighth calendar day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. The division distinguishes Brown v. Walker Commercial, Inc., 2022 CO 57, 521 P.3d 1014, in which the Colorado Supreme

Court held that C.R.C.P. 6(b) — which authorizes courts to grant motions for extension of time in civil cases under certain circumstances — cannot extend C.R.C.P. 106(b)’s filing deadline. The division explains that Brown does not apply to this case because C.R.C.P. 6(a)(1), unlike C.R.C.P. 6(b), governs the computation of deadlines and is not an extension of time rule.

For these reasons, the division reverses the district court’s order dismissing for lack of jurisdiction the plaintiff’s case challenging his prison disciplinary convictions.

COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS 2026COA33

Court of Appeals No. 24CA1860 Fremont County District Court No. 24CV18 Honorable Patrick W. Murphy, Judge

Nicholas A. Rigato, Plaintiff-Appellant, v.

Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Corrections and Warden of Fremont Correctional Facility,

Defendants-Appellees.

JUDGMENT REVERSED AND CASE REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS

Division V

Opinion by JUDGE LIPINSKY Tow and Bernard*, JJ., concur

Announced April 30, 2026

Nicholas A. Rigato, Pro Se

Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General, Kristin K. Lindemann, Assistant Attorney General II, Denver, Colorado, for Defendants-Appellees

*Sitting by assignment of the Chief Justice under provisions of Colo. Const. art. VI, § 5(3), and § 24-51-1105, C.R.S. 2025.

¶1 Plaintiffs in civil cases are granted only a limited amount of time in which to file their claims. As the Colorado Supreme Court explained, “As part of our adversarial legal system, we include limitation periods ‘to promote justice, discourage unnecessary delay, and forestall prosecution of stale claims.’” Brown v. Walker Com., Inc., 2022 CO 57, ¶ 34, 521 P.3d 1014, 1021 (quoting Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. v. Hartman, 911 P.2d 1094, 1096 (Colo. 1996)). But determining whether a case was filed by the applicable deadline can be challenging, as this case demonstrates.

¶2 Appeals of prison disciplinary convictions, which are governed by C.R.C.P. 106.5, must be filed in district court “not later than [twenty-eight] days after the final decision of the body or officer.” C.R.C.P. 106(b).

¶3 Nicholas A. Rigato, an inmate in the custody of the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC), filed a case in district court to appeal the April 29, 2024, decision of his prison’s administrative head upholding Rigato’s three disciplinary convictions. Twenty-eight calendar days after April 29 was Monday, May 27 — the 2024 Memorial Day holiday. Rigato filed his appeal on Tuesday, May 28 — the next business day following the holiday. The district

court dismissed Rigato’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction because Rigato filed it more than twenty-eight calendar days after the date of the administrative head’s decision.

¶4 We decide, for the first time in a published opinion, that C.R.C.P. 6(a)(1)’s calculation rule — if the last day of a deadline found in a rule of civil procedure “is a Saturday, a Sunday, or a legal holiday, . . . the period runs until the end of the next day which is not a Saturday, a Sunday, or a legal holiday” — applies to actions subject to C.R.C.P. 106(b)’s twenty-eight-day deadline. Accordingly, the deadline for Rigato to file an appeal in district court was Tuesday, May 28, 2024; Rigato’s appeal was timely; the district court had jurisdiction over the appeal; and the court erred by dismissing the case.

¶5 Thus, we reverse the district court’s dismissal of Rigato’s case and remand this matter to the district court for further proceedings.

I. Background

¶6 While Rigato was incarcerated at the Four Mile Correctional Center (the facility), DOC officials charged him with three violations of the Code of Penal Discipline. Rigato was found guilty of all three charges following a disciplinary hearing. Rigato appealed his

disciplinary convictions to the facility’s administrative head, who upheld Rigato’s convictions on Monday, April 29, 2024.

¶7 On May 28, Rigato filed in the district court a “[C.R.C.P.] 106.5 Complaint for Review of Quasi-Judicial Action of the [DOC],” together with a motion “requesting to file without prepayment of filing fee/service fee.” Rigato named the DOC’s executive director and other parties as defendants. (We refer to the defendants collectively as the “DOC.”)

¶8 Three days later, the district court rejected Rigato’s filings because Rigato had not paid the required filing fee and returned the documents to him.

¶9 Rigato refiled his papers in the district court, together with a new motion requesting to file without prepayment of filing and service fees, on June 10. One week later, a magistrate granted Rigato’s new fee motion and the court accepted Rigato’s papers, including his refiled complaint.

¶ 10 The DOC filed a motion to dismiss Rigato’s case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1) and C.R.C.P. 106(b). In the motion, the DOC argued that the district court lacked jurisdiction over the case because Rigato did not file his

complaint within twenty-eight calendar days of the administrative head’s decision.

¶ 11 The district court granted the motion to dismiss, concluding that “[t]imely filing in [Rigato’s] action expired twenty-eight days after the [administrative head’s] decision was made.” Under the court’s reasoning, Monday, May 27, was the deadline for Rigato’s case and he filed his complaint after that date. For this reason, the district court dismissed the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

¶ 12 On appeal, Rigato contends that he timely filed his case and the district court clerk erred by rejecting his original filings. We agree with Rigato’s first contention and, therefore, need not reach his second argument.

II. Analysis

A. Standard of Review

¶ 13 In appeals of orders dismissing civil actions for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, “we review legal conclusions de novo.” Grant Bros. Ranch, LLC v. Antero Res. Piceance Corp., 2016 COA 178, ¶ 15, 409 P.3d 637, 641. “Our standard of review when we

interpret the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure is [also] de novo.” In re Marriage of Durie, 2020 CO 7, ¶ 13, 456 P.3d 463, 468.

¶ 14 “Whenever it appears by suggestion of the parties or otherwise that the court lacks jurisdiction of the subject matter, the court shall dismiss the action.” C.R.C.P. 12(h)(3).

B. C.R.C.P. 106.5 Actions

¶ 15 C.R.C.P. 106.5 governs inmate appeals of decisions “resulting from a quasi-judicial hearing of any [DOC] facility.” C.R.C.P. 106.5(a). This rule applies to inmate appeals of prison administrators’ decisions upholding disciplinary convictions. See Garcia v. Harms, 2014 COA 154, ¶ 10, 410 P.3d 561, 565.

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