ORDER AND JUDGMENT
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R.App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
Willie Brown was stopped by a police officer for a minor traffic violation. He refused to present his driver’s license and, as a result,- was arrested and spent a night in jail. At some point, his vehicle was searched by another officer and an open bеer can was discovered in the cab of his pick-up truck. Brown brought this case against the two officers, Scott Fisher and J.J. Weber, and the County of Miami, Kansas, claiming a violation of his rights under the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. The district court allowed Weber to answer out of time, and then granted summary judgment in
I. BACKGROUND
At 9:30 p.m. on February 25, 2004, Miami County Deputy Sheriff Scott Fisher stopped Brown’s truck because the passenger-side headlight was not illuminated.
Fisher arrested Brown, frisked him, handcuffed him, and placed him in the patrol car. Fisher then went to Brown’s truck and found Brown’s billfold in the briefcase. He searched the billfold in Brown’s presence and discovered Brown’s valid Kansas driver’s license. At this point, Deputy Sheriff J.J. Weber arrived on-scene. Fisher rеmoved Brown from the patrol car and Weber questioned Brown about his driver’s license. Thereafter, Fisher transported Brown to the police station, which took between fifteen and twenty minutes. While Brown was in transport, Weber searched Brown’s truck and found an open, non-alcoholic beer can in the passenger area.
At the station, Brown was issued a citation for driving with an open alcoholic beverage container and for failing to display a driver’s license upon demand. Brown refused to post a $35.00 bond and spent the night in the Miami County Jail. Brown was released the next morning.
On June 27, 2005, Brown filed a complaint against Fisher, Weber and Miami
On appeal, Brown argues the district court erred by: (1) allowing Weber to answer out of time; (2) granting summary judgment to Fisher and Weber; and (3) dismissing Brown’s claims against the County. We first consider Brown’s claims against the County, and then his claims against Fisher and Weber.
II. DISCUSSION
A. The County of Miami
Brown filed his complaint on June 27, 2005. On July 1, 2005, Brown’s process server served a copy of the summons and complaint upon an emрloyee of the Clerk of the District Court of Miami County, Kansas. On July 6, 2005, Brown filed a proof of service upon Miami County, based upon serving the Clerk of the District Court. Brown never served the Miami County Clerk or any member of the governing body of Miami County.
The district court dismissed Brown’s claims against the County without prejudice because Brown failed to properly serve the summons and complaint upon the County within 120 days of filing as required by Rule 4(m) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“If service of the summons and complaint is not made upon a defendant within 120 days after the filing of the complaint, the court, upon motion or on its own initiative after notice to the plaintiff, shall dismiss the action without prejudice as to that defendant or direct that service be effected within a specified time....”). While the court did not directly consider the merits of Brown’s claims against the County, it did remark in a footnote that Brown had not alleged any policy or action by the county which violated his constitutional rights. On May 9, 2006, the district court entered a separate judgment, dismissing without prejudice Brown’s claims against the County.
1. Jurisdiction
Before we consider the district court’s dismissal of Brown’s claims against
In Amazon, we explained “[although a dismissal without prejudice is usually not a final decision, where the dismissal finally disposes of the case so that it is not subject to further proceedings in federal court, the dismissal is final and appeal-able.”
Here, it appears the district court did not intend to dismiss Brown’s entire cause of action and finally dispose of his case. The court’s order allowed Brown to re-file and properly serve his complaint upon the County. The court even indicated in a footnote what Brown might need to do to survive a motion to dismiss as to his claims against the County. Presumptively then, the order of dismissal was not final and appealable.
On July 28, 2005, Weber filed a motion to answer out of time, claiming excusable neglect on account of defective service. The district court granted Weber’s motion without opinion, allowing Weber to file and serve his answer within five days of the date of the order. The court later granted Fisher and Weber’s motions for summary judgment, holding the defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law on Brown’s сlaim for violation of his rights under the Fourth Amendment (according to the court, the only viable claim) because Fisher had probable cause to arrest Brown and it was therefore reasonable for Fisher and Weber to search the passenger compartment of Brown’s vehicle.
1. Jurisdiction
We continue to examine our jurisdiction. See Amazon,
In Bristol, we held the fact that two (of twenty-one) defendants were not considered in the district court’s order and judgment “does not prevent the decision of the district court from being final.” Id. We explained “[t]hese unserved defendants were never made parties to this lawsuit. It was not necessary for the district court to enter an order dismissing them prior to its entry of the order and judgment.” Id. (citations omitted). Bristol was cited by the Eleventh Circuit in Insinga v. LaBella, where it held when “final judgment has been entered as to all defendants who have been served with process and only unserved defendants remain, the district court’s order may be considered final under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 for purposes of perfecting an appeal.”
In Federal Savings & Loan Insurance Corporation v. Tullos-Pierremont, the Fifth Circuit expanded upon this analysis.
While we decline to adopt the brightline rule, we hold the mеre fact that there may be subsequent adjudication between Brown and the County does not prevent the judgments as to Fisher and Weber from being final. It would be a different case if Brown had voluntarily sought the dismissal of his claims against the County. We have previously held a plaintiff cannot voluntarily dismiss some of its claims without prejudice in order to make a non-voluntary dismissal with prejudice ripe for review. See Cook v. Rocky Mountain Bank Note Co.,
2. Extension of Time to File an Answer
Brown contends the district court erred in рermitting Weber to file his answer out of time, and should have instead granted default judgment against Weber based on his failure to answer. Under Rule 6(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the district court may permit the late filing of an answer if it finds the late filing resulted from “excusable neglect.” We review a district court’s decision extending time to file for abuse of discretion. Panis v. Mission Hills Bank, N.A.,
3. Summary Judgment
The district court granted summary judgment to Fisher and Weber, concluding they were entitled to qualified immunity because Brown did not establish a violation of his rights under the Fourth Amendment. According to the district court, Fisher had probable cause to arrest
We review a district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo. United States ex rel. Bahrani v. Conagra, Inc.,
The district court correctly granted summary judgment to Fisher because his arrest of Brown was reasonable, as was his search of Brown’s vehicle. However, the district court erred in granting summary judgment to Weber because his search of Brown’s vehicle was not reasonable, as it was conducted while Brown was being transported by Fisher to the police station.
A. The Arrest
“If an officer has probable cause to believe that an individual has committed even a very minor criminal offense in his presence, he may, without violating the Fourth Amendment, arrest the offender.” Atwater v. City of Lago Vista,
The district court concluded Fisher had probable cause to arrest Brown for failing to display his driver’s license upon demand, in violation of state law. See Kan. Stat. Ann. § 8-244 (“Every licensee shall have his or her driver’s license in his or her immediate possession at all times when operating a motor vehicle, and shall display the same, upon demand of any ... peace officer....”). There are two difficulties with this conclusion. First, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to Brown, it is not cleаr that Brown refused to provide his license, as he testified he was looking for his license in his briefcase at the time of his arrest. Second, it is not clear that Fisher could detain Brown after finding Brown’s valid license. We have held “[i]f the police learn information that destroys their probable cause to arrest a defendant, the arrest may become illegal.” United States v. Edwards,
We need not resolve either of these difficulties, for we can affirm the district court on another basis supported in the record. See Felix v. Lucent Techs., Inc.,
B. The Searches of Brown’s Vehicle
While a sеarch conducted without a warrant is usually per se unreasonable, warrantless searches are permissible under certain “well-delineated exceptions.” United States v. Franco,
In United States v. Lugo, we discussed the rationale of Belton and Chimel, and held a warrantless search incident to an arrest is not valid if remote in time or place from the arrest.
In 2004, the Suрreme Court further defined when officers may search an automobile incident to a lawful arrest. See Thornton v. United States,
Reading Belton, Lugo and Thornton together, we have held that a warrantless search can be a lawful incident of an arrest where the arrestee is detained on-scene at the time of the search. See United States v. Brothers,
Here, the district court cited Belton and Thornton, but not Lugo. Of more concern, the district court did not distinguish between Fisher’s search of Brown’s vehicle and Weber’s search of Brown’s vehicle. The court stated: “Fisher had probable cause to arrest plaintiff, who was a recent occupant of the vehicle. It was therefore reasonable for the officers to searсh the passenger compartment.” (R. Vol. I, Doc. 40 at 11.) The court’s conclusion in this regard glosses over the fact that the two searches were not contemporaneous. Fisher searched Brown’s vehicle immediately after placing Brown in his patrol car, in order to retrieve Brown’s billfold. Weber, on the other hand, did not search Brown’s vehicle until after Fisher and Brown had left the scene.
In order to defeat Weber’s qualified immunity, Brown must establish not only that Weber’s actions violated his Constitutional rights, he must also demonstrate that the right at issue (here, to be fine from an unreasonable search) was clearly established at the time of the defendant’s unlawful conduct. See Medina,
We DISMISS Brown’s appeal of the dismissal of his claims against the County for lack of jurisdiction, REVERSE the grant of summary judgment to Weber and REMAND for proceedings consistent with this order and judgment. As to Fisher’s qualified immunity, the district court’s judgment is AFFIRMED.
Notes
This order and judgment is not binding precedent except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R.App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.
. We liberally construe Brown’s pleadings, on account of his pro se status, but we hold Brown to the same rules of procedure as other litigants. See Green v. Dorrell,
. Though not relevant to the issues raised on appeal, there was a fourteen-year-old passenger riding with Brown at the time of the stop.
. If Brown was convicted this action would be barred. Heck v. Humphrey,
. Pursuant to Rule 4(j)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, service upon a state, municipal corporation or other governmental organization is effected by delivering a copy of die summons and complaint to its chief executive officer or by serving the summons and complaint "in the manner prescribed by the law of that state.” Kansas law provides service upon a county is effected by serving оne of the county commissioners, the county clerk, or the county treasurer. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-304(d)(l).
. This is not inconsistent with prior cases in which we reviewed orders of dismissal with prejudice for failure to comply with the Federal Rules of Procedure. See, e.g., Nasious v. Two Unknown B.I.C.E. Agents,
. Brown’s claims against the County are subject to a two-year statute of limitations. See Wallace v. Kato, -U.S. -,
. This case has been cited with approval, though not in this Circuit. See, e.g., Garwood Packaging, Inc. v. Allen & Co.,
. It was not argued that Weber conducted an inventory search.
. Unpublished Orders and Judgments are not precedential. We mention Martinez as we would an opinion from another circuit. It is persuasive only to the extent of its reasoned analysis. See 10th Cir. R. App. P. 21.1(A).
. This is a disputed fact — Weber argues he did not search Brown’s vehicle, but saw the beer can in plain view from outside the truck. Weber did not argue, either in the district court or on appeal, that his search was an inventory search or that the beer can would have been the subject of inevitable discovery, though these appear to be reasonable arguments.
