Boston v. Kitsap County, No. 15-35296 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging claims arising out of injuries he sustained while he was housed in the county jail. On appeal, the county and Conmed, a private contractor, challenged the district court's denial of their motion to dismiss the complaint as time-barred. Plaintiff argued that the applicable statute of limitations was tolled under RCW 4.96.020. The court held that RCW 4.96.020 is a special statute of limitations as opposed to a typical tolling provision, and thus it is not applicable to claims filed under section 1983. Therefore, the court found that plaintiff filed his federal complaint after the applicable three-year statute of limitations had expired, and that his section 1983 claims were thus time-barred. Accordingly, the court reversed the district court's order and remanded with instructions to dismiss the section 1983 claims.
Court Description: Civil Rights. The panel reversed the district court’s order denying defendants’ motion to dismiss and remanded with instructions to dismiss plaintiff’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims as time barred. Plaintiff’s substantive claims arose out of injuries he sustained between January 3, 2011, and February 14, 2011, while housed at the Kitsap County Jail. On January 3, 2014, plaintiff submitted a tort claim to Kitsap County pursuant to Washington’s presentment statute, RCW 4.96.020. After receiving no response from the County, plaintiff filed a federal lawsuit on March 10, 2014. The magistrate judge determined that because plaintiff had filed a claim prior to expiration of the statute of limitations, under the tolling provision set forth in RCW 4.96.020, he was entitled to 60 additional days in which to file his § 1983 action. The panel held that RCW 4.96.020 does not operate to toll the state’s general residual limitations period applicable to § 1983 actions because RCW 4.96.020 is a special statute of limitations as opposed to a typical tolling provision. As a result, the panel held that plaintiff filed his federal complaint after the applicable three-year statute of limitations had expired, and that his § 1983 claims were thus time barred and consequently should be dismissed. BOSTON V. KITSAP COUNTY 3
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