A federal judge has dismissed a case brought by a woman who alleged she was illegally denied an abortion while she was an inmate in Maury County.

The federal judge did not decide whether the county's decision was legal, but said Kei'Choura Cathey waited too long to file her case after being notified she would not be provided an abortion.

Her lawsuit was filed more than one year after notification, and thus it was beyond the Tennessee statute of limitations, a May 5 order from U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe B. Brown reads.

The order ends the federal case against Maury County and its sheriff, Bucky Rowland. The judge in his ruling allowed Cathey to pursue a claim of negligence against the county in a state court, but that also could be subject to the statute of limitations, according to Daniel Murphy, Maury County attorney.

Murphy said the judge made the right decision according to law.

The woman's lawyer, Lee Brooks of Columbia, did not return a call or email Thursday.

Background: Woman, denied abortion while in jail, sues Tennessee sheriff

The nation's top court has protected abortion as a woman's right. But other court rulings have left a patchwork as to what responsibility jails have to provide the procedure or access to them.

Cathey filed the lawsuit in December alleging violation of her constitutional rights while she was a jail inmate a year earlier.

Columbia police records say Cathey and three others lured a man to a home to steal drugs and money and then shot him. Cathey, 29, was arrested in the case in July 2015 and found out weeks later she was pregnant, according to her lawsuit.

Rowland then denied Cathey an abortion, or transportation to get one, unless the abortion was "medically necessary to save the mother's life or the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest," according to the lawsuit.

Cathey wasn't able to post her bond until January 2016, and then it was too late for the procedure. She had the baby in April 2016.

Rowland notified Cathey's lawyer of his denial on Aug. 30, 2015, and it was not until December 2016 — about 15 months later — that Cathey filed her federal case.

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Reach Stacey Barchenger at sbarchenger@tennessean.com or 615-726-8968 and on Twitter @sbarchenger.