Dotson v. Chester

• Decision Date: 11 July 1991
• Docket Number: Nos. 90-6858,90-6900,s. 90-6858
• Citation: 937 F.2d 920
• Parties: Michael N. DOTSON, Wayne Musgrove, and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Lemuel CHESTER; Jack Colbourne; Charles Dayton; William I. Wingate; Calvin Travers, in their individual and official capacities as members of the Board of County Commissioners of Dorchester County, Defendants-Appellants, and Donald Satterfield; Phillip H. McKelvey, Sheriff of Dorchester County, Defendants (Two Cases).
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 920

937 F.2d 920

Michael N. DOTSON, Wayne Musgrove, and all others similarly

situated, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Lemuel CHESTER; Jack Colbourne; Charles Dayton; William

I. Wingate; Calvin Travers, in their individual and

official capacities as members of the Board of County

Commissioners of Dorchester County, Defendants-Appellants,

and

Donald Satterfield; Phillip H. McKelvey, Sheriff of

Dorchester County, Defendants (Two Cases).

Nos. 90-6858, 90-6900.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued March 4, 1991.

Decided June 5, 1991.

As Amended June 20 and July 11, 1991.

James Patrick Gillece, Jr., argued (Roger D. Redden and Lynett M. Phillips, on brief), Piper & Marbury, Baltimore, Md., for defendants-appellants.

Nevett Steele, Jr., Nevett Steele, Jr., P.A., argued (Patricia L. Ingram, Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, on brief), Towson, Md., for plaintiffs-appellees.

Before PHILLIPS and MURNAGHAN, Circuit Judges, and BRITT, District Judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina, sitting by designation.

MURNAGHAN, Circuit Judge:

The Dorchester County Commissioners appeal from a district court order holding the County responsible for attorneys' fees and expenses allocated to the Sheriff of the Dorchester County Jail in a suit over jail conditions brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. The suit had been settled by a stipulated agreement without determining whether the County or the State should pay the Sheriff's portion in the event that the Sheriff did not pay. ¹ The Commissioners also appeal from a court order requiring the payment of additional attorneys' fees and costs attributable to the appellees' attempts to collect the original fee award first from the Sheriff, and subsequently from the County.

We agree with the district court's conclusion that, under state law and the county code, the Sheriff possesses final policymaking authority for the County in his operation of the County Jail, and the County can be held responsible for attorneys' fees and expenses arising out of his actions. In addition, we find that the judge acted within his discretion in awarding the additional attorneys' fees and expenses accrued in collection efforts.

I.

On November 19, 1987, Michael Dotson and other inmates (the "inmates") of the Dorchester County Jail (the "County Jail") filed a 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 suit against the County Commissioners of Dorchester County (the "Commissioners") and Jail Administrator, Donald Satterfield, alleging unconstitutional conditions in the County Jail and seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. On February 1, 1988, after the Commissioners brought a motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 19 for failure to join a necessary party, the complaint was amended to include Sheriff Phillip H. McKelvey. On October 3, 1988, the parties settled the case by a Settlement Agreement which permitted allocation of legal fees and costs between the Commissioners and the "Sheriff." ² For the purposes of the Settlement Agreement, the "Sheriff" referred to the Sheriff and the Jail Administrator; we shall follow suit. A month later, the district court approved the Settlement Agreement. On November 23, the judge concluded that, under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988, the inmates were the "prevailing party" and awarded them $101,420.75 in attorneys' fees and $30,220.62 in expenses.

On January 20, 1988, the judge allocated the fees proportionally between the Commissioners and the Sheriff according to his perception of their relative responsibility. The Sheriff bore approximately four-fifths of the fees and costs; the Commissioners bore the remaining one-fifth. ³ The judge explained that the division reflected his belief that the Commissioners were "not responsible for the supervision, management, regulation and day-to-day control of the Dorchester County Jail." The Commissioners paid their portion.

The Sheriff did not pay his share. The inmates attempted to garnish the Sheriff's assets; however, they discovered that he had insufficient assets in his official capacity. On April 3, 1989, the inmates brought a writ of garnishment against Dorchester County's bank account to obtain the amount allocated to the Sheriff. The district court quashed the writ, apparently believing that the Sheriff's two insurance policies would cover the necessary sum. The court later acknowledged that it had "encouraged counsel to pursue" recovery from the insurance policies. Memorandum Op., Aug. 29, 1990, at 2. After further legal investigation, however, the inmates ultimately concluded, and the judge appears to have accepted, that recovery would not be forthcoming from the insurance carriers.

On April 20, 1990, the inmates once again began to look to the County's assets and notified the Commissioners by letter of their intentions to garnish the bank account. ⁴ On April 29, the Commissioners moved for immediate injunctive relief to prohibit garnishment. The judge denied the motion on June 19, 1990, in an order holding that "Dorchester County is a municipality subject to liability under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 and that Sheriff McKelvey is a policymaker for the county when operating the Dorchester County Jail...." Memorandum Op., June 19, 1990, at 1. ⁵ The Commissioners appealed to the Fourth Circuit.

On June 27, 1990, the district court quashed the inmates' second attempt to garnish in light of the appeal. The court, however, did not stay the June 19, 1990 order.

On July 16, 1990, the inmates asked the district court to award fees and expenses pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988 for their attempts to "execute the judgments rendered against Sheriff McKelvey." On August 29, the district court found the Sheriff and the County responsible for $31,773.90 in supplemental fees and $1451.42 in costs. ⁶ The court did not apportion the award, noting "this court has already held that Dorchester County is ultimately liable for any judgment entered against these defendants." Memorandum Op., August 29, 1990, at 9-10. The Commissioners have also appealed that order.

The appeal before us consequently involves (1) the order that the County was ultimately liable for the fee awards against the Sheriff and (2) the order that the County was responsible for additional attorneys' fees and costs arising from the inmates' attempt to collect the initial fees judgment against the Sheriff.

II.

On appeal the Commissioners first argue that the Sheriff is a state policymaker under state laws and regulations when he is operating the County Jail and the State is liable for the Sheriff's portion. The Commissioners insist that they have only limited power over the County Jail under state law, that the State sets standards for the County Jail, and that the County's funding responsibility cannot create County liability. The Commissioners also claim that the Settlement Agreement prevented the County from being liable for the Sheriff's portion. Second, the Commissioners argue that 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988 does not permit what they term "third party debt collection efforts."

The inmates, in turn, claim that the Sheriff is a county policymaker when operating the County Jail. The inmates argue that, even if the Sheriff is a state official in some respects, he is, nevertheless, the final policymaker for the County with respect to the County Jail and therefore, can create county liability. The inmates also allege that the County Jail is a county facility over which the Sheriff has management responsibilities, undiminished by state guidance. In addition, the inmates claim that Sec. 1988 permits the award of attorneys' fees arising from attempts to collect the original award. They argue that a contrary result would render meaningless the original right to attorneys' fees.

III.

The Settlement Agreement's provision on fee apportionment is not determinative of the appeal; it does not prevent the County from being liable for the Sheriff's portion. The Settlement Agreement apportioned fees between two entities--the Commissioners and the Sheriff. The apportionment may have been desirable at the time, and agreed to by the inmates, because of the widely held belief that the Sheriff's insurance policies would cover the Sheriff's portion. The apportionment, however, was not intended to determine liability between the County and the State. It was concerned only with the method of collection, not intending to limit the responsibility of the County by foreclosing liability should the Sheriff fail to pay. Until the inability to collect on the insurance policies became apparent, the precise dimensions of the Sec. 1983 issue did not confront the parties. The Settlement Agreement does not prevent the County from bearing ultimate responsibility for the Sheriff's portion.

The inmates also seek to garnish the County 's bank account. Although the decision that the County is responsible does affect the Commissioners because they are the official representatives of the County such a technical decision is not the same as one concluding that the Commissioners have additional liability because their policies alone created the situation. See City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 389, 109 S.Ct. 1197, 1205, 103 L.Ed.2d 412 (1989). We must therefore confront the question, should the State or County be liable for the judgment rendered against the Sheriff arising out of the Sheriff's operation of the County Jail?

Under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, counties, like other local government entities, can be sued for violations of constitutional rights. See Monell v. Dept. of Social Services of City of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 690, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 2035, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978); Pembaur v. City of Cincinnati, 475 U.S. 469, 483 n. 12, 106 S.Ct. 1292, 1300 n. 12, 89 L.Ed.2d 452 (1986). The violation, however, must bear some relation to the county's "policy or custom." Monell, 436 U.S. at 690-91, 98 S.Ct. at 2035-36; see City of St. Louis v. Praprotnik, 485 U.S. 112, 124 n. 1, 108 S.Ct. 915, 924 n. 1, 99 L.Ed.2d 107 (1988)....