Keith Lamont Farmer v. Tennessee Department of Correction, E2016-01327-COA-R3-CV

Keith Lamont Farmer, a TDOC inmate, sought judicial review via a common-law writ of certiorari after a 2014 disciplinary conviction and exhaustion of the agency appeal process.
Farmer filed an initial petition in Davidson County Chancery Court, which was later transferred to Bledsoe County Chancery Court.
The original petition did not state it was Farmer’s first application for the writ and was neither sworn to nor verified; Farmer lost at the agency level more than a year earlier.
TDOC moved to dismiss; the trial court granted dismissal under Tenn. R. Civ. P. 12.02, citing (1) no certification that the petition was the first application, (2) alleged falsities in Farmer’s affidavit of indigency, and (3) the petition was not sworn or verified.
The record contains a later, notarized petition (filed April 2016) that included the required recitation and oath, but it was filed well after the agency decision and after the original filing.
The Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal, holding the original petition was constitutionally defective for lack of oath/verification and thus the trial court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction; it rejected dismissal based on alleged falsities in the indigency affidavit as an improper ground here.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred in dismissing the certiorari petition for lack of jurisdiction	Farmer contended his petition was proper and should proceed despite procedural defects	TDOC argued the petition failed statutory/constitutional requirements (first-application recitation; oath/verification) so court lacked jurisdiction	Affirmed: petition defective for lack of oath/verification; trial court lacked jurisdiction; dismissal upheld
Whether the later-sworn petition cured the original defect	Farmer relied on the subsequently notarized petition in the record	TDOC argued timeliness and jurisdictional requirements were not met by a late filing	Held: the later petition was filed too late to cure the jurisdictional defect; original defect fatal
Whether alleged falsities in the affidavit of indigency warranted dismissal	Farmer implicitly disputed dismissal on this ground	TDOC asserted the affidavit contained falsities justifying dismissal under Tenn. Code Ann. § 41-21-804(a)(1)	Court: dismissal on indigency-falsity ground was improper here; but overall dismissal stands due to jurisdictional defect
Whether pro se status mitigates statutory/constitutional defects	Farmer, pro se, argued for liberality in construing his filings	TDOC relied on strict statutory and constitutional requirements for certiorari petitions	Court: pro se liberality limited; constitutional oath requirement is jurisdictional and cannot be waived

Northland Ins. Co. v. State, 33 S.W.3d 727 (Tenn. 2000) (standard for reviewing motions to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction)
Meighan v. U.S. Sprint Commc'ns Co., 924 S.W.2d 632 (Tenn. 1996) (subject-matter jurisdiction principles)
Talley v. Bd. of Prof'l Responsibility, 358 S.W.3d 185 (Tenn. 2011) (constitutional requirement that certiorari petitions be supported by oath or affirmation)
McCarver v. Ins. Co. of Pa., 208 S.W.3d 380 (Tenn. 2006) (jurisdictional requirements cannot be conferred by waiver or consent)
Beck v. Knabb, 1 Tenn. (1 Overt.) 55 (Tenn. 1804) (historical recognition that oath/affirmation is mandatory for certiorari)