Kevin J. Collins v. Department of Corrections, 122 A.3d 955

Kevin J. Collins, a Maine State Prison inmate, filed three grievances; the Commissioner denied them on November 5, 2012, and Collins received notice that day.
Collins filed a Rule 80C petition for judicial review on December 5, 2012 (30 days after notice) and submitted an IFP application but did not attach the certified six‑month inmate account statement required by 4 M.R.S. § 1058(1).
The clerk docketed the petition; Collins later filed the certified account statement (December 20, 2012) and the Superior Court initially waived the filing fee, then reconsidered and ordered payment or dismissal; Collins ultimately paid the $150 fee.
The Department moved to dismiss the petition as untimely because Collins failed to file the certified account statement within the statutory 30‑day period required to obtain fee relief; the trial court dismissed the petition as untimely.
Collins appealed and sought appellate fee waiver but did not file the required certified six‑month account statement for the period preceding the appeal; the trial court again waived the appellate fee and the Department cross‑appealed that waiver and moved to dismiss Collins’s appeal as unperfected and untimely.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Collins’s Rule 80C petition was timely when he failed to file the certified six‑month account statement within 30 days after agency notice	Collins relied on filing practice and believed he had complied; he filed the certified statement shortly after the petition	Failure to file the certified account statement within the 30‑day statutory window renders the petition untimely under 5 M.R.S. § 11002(3) and 4 M.R.S. § 1058(1)	Petition was untimely; statutory filing requirement is jurisdictional to timely filing and supports dismissal
Whether Collins’s appeal to the Law Court was perfected without filing a certified six‑month account statement for the appeal period	Collins sought waiver of prepayment and did not submit the certified account statement for the six months preceding the appeal	Without the certified statement, Collins failed to comply with 4 M.R.S. § 1058(1) and M.R. App. P. timing requirements, so the appeal is unperfected/untimely	Appeal dismissed for failure to perfect/comply with timing requirements (M.R. App. P. 4(c))
Whether the Department’s appeal from the trial court’s waiver of the appellate filing fee remains justiciable	Collins argued waiver was appropriate	Department argued waiver violated § 1058 and sought review	Dismissed as moot because Collins’s appeal was dismissed; Department’s cross‑appeal not considered

Fournier v. Dep’t of Corr., 983 A.2d 403 (Me. 2009) (failure to file certified inmate account statement within statutory period renders Rule 80C petition untimely)
Bourke v. City of S. Portland, 806 A.2d 1255 (Me. 2002) (strict compliance with appellate timing rules is required)
Carroll F. Look Constr. Co. v. Town of Beals, 802 A.2d 994 (Me. 2002) (once‑justiciable controversies can become moot by subsequent events)