Suing Over an Infection Caused by a Court-Ordered Ankle Monitor

Attorney Answer

The most urgent thing in your case is not the lawsuit — it is a written notice deadline that can extinguish your claim against the state before you ever file.

Two different bodies of law are in play, and they have different requirements.

A "civil rights lawsuit" means 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which creates a federal claim against a person acting under color of state law who deprives someone of rights secured by the Constitution and federal law. But an injury by itself is not a constitutional violation. Courts require far more than carelessness: you would have to show officials knew about a serious medical problem and disregarded it — for example, that you reported the sore or the infection, asked for the device to be adjusted or removed, and were ignored while it got worse. If nobody was ever told, the federal claim is weak.

A negligence claim against the state agency responsible for the monitoring program runs through the New Mexico Tort Claims Act, NMSA 1978, § 41-4-1 et seq. Immunity is waived only where a specific provision of the Act says so. Written notice must be presented within ninety days under § 41-4-16, and suit must be commenced within two years of the occurrence under § 41-4-15(A). The ninety-day notice requirement is jurisdictional under § 41-4-16(B) — miss it and the claim is gone regardless of how strong it was.

What you can do

1. Get your medical records now — the diagnosis of cellulitis, the treating provider's notes, and anything tying the infection to the site of the device. 2. Photograph your leg and the monitor, dated, and keep photographing as it changes. 3. Put your complaint in writing to whoever supervises you — probation, pretrial services, or the monitoring company — asking that the device be moved, loosened, or removed for medical reasons. Keep a copy. This creates the notice record the federal claim depends on. 4. Present written notice of claim to the responsible government entity right away, under § 41-4-16. Do not wait to find a lawyer first. 5. Find out who actually supplied and fitted the device. If a private company did, that may be an ordinary negligence claim against a business, which the Tort Claims Act does not govern. 6. Take the records and photos to a personal injury lawyer and say the words "Tort Claims Act notice" so the deadline gets triaged immediately.

⏱ Time limits apply. The Tort Claims Act requires written notice within ninety days under NMSA 1978, § 41-4-16, and suit within two years of the occurrence under § 41-4-15(A). A § 1983 claim carries its own separate limitations period. Which dates control depends on your specific facts — when the injury occurred, who the defendant is, and when you knew of it — so get this in front of a lawyer rather than calculating it yourself.