Jeffery A. Vaughn, Plaintiff-appellant, v. Officer R.h. Allnutt, Defendant-appellee, 905 F.2d 1533 (4th Cir. 1990)

Jeffery A. Vaughn, an inmate at the Henrico County Jail, appeals the district court's order dismissing this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action for failure to demonstrate administrative exhaustion. Acting pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1997e, the district court ordered appellant to exhaust administrative remedies and to advise the court within 90 days of the result of the administrative proceedings. It warned appellant that failure to advise the court regarding exhaustion would result in dismissal of the action. The district court dismissed the case without prejudice upon expiration of the 90-day period, concluding that appellant had not complied with its order. We vacate and remand.

Because appellant's civil action is against a police officer for conduct unrelated to appellant's incarceration, exhaustion of administrative remedies was not required.^*  Requiring administrative exhaustion in this case, therefore, was error. The court should have proceeded to consideration of appellant's motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis.

We deny the motion for appointment of counsel, vacate the judgment below, and remand for further proceedings. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal arguments are adequately presented in the materials before the court and the decisional process would not be significantly aided by oral argument.

VACATED AND REMANDED.