United States of America v. Kevin Kerr

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 22-1694
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United States of America
lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee
v.
Kevin Kerr
lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Western District of Missouri - Springfield
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Submitted: December 6, 2022
Filed: December 9, 2022
[Unpublished]
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Before LOKEN, GRUENDER, and ERICKSON, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.

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Kevin Kerr appeals after a magistrate judge1 issued an order denying without
prejudice his motion seeking discharge from civil commitment, or in the alternative,
to return to a prior facility.
Upon careful review, we conclude this court lacks jurisdiction over the appeal,
as Kerr did not timely seek review of the magistrate’s order by the district court, and
thus there is no final, appealable order before this court. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291
(courts of appeals have jurisdiction over appeals from final decisions of district
courts), 636(b)(1)(A) (allowing district courts to “designate a magistrate judge to hear
and determine any pretrial matter pending before the court”; party may file written
objections to magistrate’s recommendation within 14 days); Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a)
(party may not assign as error defect in magistrate judge’s order on nondispositive
matter if not timely objected to); United States v. O’Laughlin, 31 F.4th 1042, 1044
(8th Cir. 2022) (concluding district court’s order of reference to magistrate judge
citing § 636(b) and Local Rule 72.1 was not sufficient to convert magistrate’s order
to final order for purposes of § 1291; dismissing appeal for lack of jurisdiction).
Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
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1The Honorable David P. Rush, United States Magistrate Judge for the Western
District of Missouri.
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