Mr. Carr first argues that the district court should not have dismissed his amended complaint before it had been served on the defendants. This argument is without merit. Congress enacted certain screening procedures for a district court to use in all civil actions "in which a prisoner seeks redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity." 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). Under these procedures, a district court is required to review the prisoner's claims "before docketing, if feasible." Id. Thus, the district court is not required to serve the defendants before reviewing and, in appropriate cases, dismissing sua sponte a prisoner's complaint. See Christiansen v. Clarke, 147 F.3d 655, 658 (8th Cir. 1998) (holding that the screening provisions of the PLRA are constitutional and that district courts may dismiss meritless claims before serving defendants).

1. Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies

Mr. Carr next argues that the district court erred by dismissing his complaint for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. The Prison Reform Litigation Act ("PLRA") provides that "[n]o action shall be brought with respect to prison conditions under section 1983 of this title . . . until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted." 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). The prisoner must exhaust all administrative remedies available even if administrative procedures "would appear to be futile at providing the kind of remedy sought." Jernigan v. Stuchell, 304 F.3d 1030, 1032 (10th Cir. 2002). Additionally, when a prisoner chooses to bring multiple claims regarding prison conditions, "§ 1997e(a) requires that all available prison grievance remedies must be exhausted as to all of the claims. . . . [T]he presence of unexhausted claims . . . require[s] the district court to dismiss [an] action in its entirety without prejudice." Ross v. County of Bernalillo, 365 F.3d 1181, 1188-89 (10th Cir. 2004).

Here, the district court held that Mr. Carr had not exhausted his administrative remedies with respect to his second claim that prison officials retaliated against him by convicting him of misconduct, and dismissed his complaint without prejudice. It reasoned that even though Mr. Carr had appealed the misconduct conviction, this appeal "merely upheld the conviction; it did not address whether or not he was being retaliated against for filing a grievance." Rec. doc. 14, at 4 (Dist. Ct. Order, dated Nov. 30, 2005). On appeal, Mr. Carr urges that he did, in fact, exhaust all administrative remedies available to him because when he appealed the misconduct conviction, he specifically argued that prison officials instituted the charges in order to retaliate against him for filing grievances.

Mr. Carr is correct; his appeal did indeed address his argument that the misconduct conviction was a form of retaliation for writing a grievance. See id., doc. 12, at 14 (Am. Compl., filed Oct. 14, 2005). Nonetheless, Mr. Carr did not exhaust all available administrative remedies, as required by the PLRA. Although the Colorado Department of Corrections ("DOC") regulations explain that the "grievance procedure may not be used to seek review of [misconduct] convictions," DOC Admin. Regs. 850-04(IV)(A)(4), they also specify that the grievance procedure may be used to allege acts of retaliation. "Reprisals for the good faith use of or participation in the grievance procedure are prohibited. An offender shall be entitled to file a new grievance alleging that such a reprisal occurred." Id. 850-04(IV)(B)(1)(c). Because Mr. Carr could have filed a grievance specifically concerning the retaliation, there was an available administrative remedy that he did not utilize.

The grievance system is an important part of the administrative process that cannot be overlooked by prisoners. The grievance process entails a documented conversation between the prisoner and prison officials, requiring each to explain their point of view, and fulfils the purpose of the exhaustion requirement ­ to give prison officials a chance to handle a prisoner's complaints internally and to create an administrative record to help courts resolve the complaints that end in a lawsuit. See Porter v. Nussle, 534 U.S. 516, 525 (2002). In contrast, when a prisoner appeals a misconduct conviction, the prison officials need only provide a cursory explanation of why the prisoner's appeal fails: this fails to fulfill the purposes of requiring exhaustion of administrative remedies when the grievance process is also available.

This case in particular illustrates how proper use of the grievance process provides courts with better, more detailed information about what occurred at the administrative level. With respect to Mr. Carr's third claim, which it appears he did exhaust, he received a four paragraph letter from a Step III Grievance Officer reviewing his claim: the letter explained how the prison has responded, and stated that he had exhausted his administrative remedies with respect to this issue. In contrast, the inmate appeal form, which Mr. Carr submitted as documentation of his attempt to his exhaust administrative remedies with respect to his claim of retaliation, merely requires a prison official to check a box stating that the conviction is "upheld," and includes space for only a very short explanation. Rec. doc. 12, at 14 (Inmate Appeal Form, case number 03-323, dated July 10, 2003).

Because Mr. Carr did not use the grievance system to report the alleged retaliation, he did not exhaust his available administrative remedies with respect to this claim.

^*. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court generally disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order and judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.

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