Hereford v. Jefferson County
| Decision Date | 23 August 1991 |
| Citation | 586 So.2d 209 |
| Parties | George L. HEREFORD and Terry Lynn Parks v. JEFFERSON COUNTY, et al. 1900708. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Alicia K. Haynes, Birmingham, for appellants.
Charles S. Wagner, Asst. County Atty., Birmingham, for appellee Jefferson County.
J. Fred Wood, Jr. and Terry McElheny of Dominick, Fletcher, Yeilding, Wood & Lloyd, P.A., Birmingham, for appellees Walter Brandon and Al Finley.
On September 15, 1985, William Blevins, a prisoner in the Jefferson County jail serving a sentence of life without parole, was mistakenly released instead of William Blevins McCrary, also a prisoner at the jail, who was to have been released pursuant to a suspension of his sentence. On October 14, 1985, Blevins robbed George Hereford and Terry Parks at the Quality Auto Parts store, which they own and operate. Blevins was later arrested and convicted of the robbery.
Hereford and Parks sued Jefferson County; Melvin Bailey, individually and in his capacity as sheriff of Jefferson County; Deputy Ernest Poelnitz; Deputy Walter Brandon; Deputy Al Finley; and Deputy Deidre Poole, alleging negligence and wantonness in releasing Blevins. The trial court entered a summary judgment for Poelnitz, to which the plaintiffs consented, and, on Poole's motion, severed the claim against her. On August 21, 1990, the trial court entered a summary judgment for all of the remaining defendants. Hereford and Parks appeal.
Our first inquiry is whether the defendants are immune from suit. If they are, then the judgment for them was proper. In Parker v. Amerson, 519 So.2d 442 (Ala.1987), the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals asked this Court to decide whether a sheriff is an employee of a county for purposes of holding the county vicariously liable. We held that a sheriff is an employee of the state, rather than a county, based on the following constitutional provision: "The executive department shall consist of a governor ... and a sheriff for each county." Article V, § 112, Alabama Constitution of 1901. As executive officers, sheriffs have sovereign immunity under Article I, § 14, of the Alabama Constitution, which reads: "[T]he State of Alabama shall never be made a defendant in any court of law or equity." The only exceptions to such immunity are for actions brought against a sheriff:
"(1) to compel him to perform his duties, (2) to compel him to perform ministerial acts, (3) to enjoin him from enforcing unconstitutional laws, (4) to enjoin him from acting in bad faith, fraudulently, beyond his authority, or under mistaken interpretation of the law, or (5) to seek construction of a statute under the Declaratory Judgment Act if he is a necessary party for the construction of the Statute."
519 So.2d at 443. None of those exceptions applies here.
We also held in Parker v. Amerson, supra, that Ala.Code 1975, § 14-6-1, which made a sheriff civilly liable for the acts of his jailer, was unconstitutional as being in derogation of Article I, § 14, of the Alabama Constitution. Applying the holdings of that case to the instant case, we are...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
McMilliam v. Monroe County Alabama
...v. Colbert County, 620 So.2d 623, 626 (Ala.1993); Boshell v. Walker County Sheriff, 598 So.2d 843, 844 (Ala.1992); Hereford v. Jefferson County, 586 So.2d 209, 210 (Ala.1991). 6 Seventeen of the forty judicial circuits in Alabama contain more than one county, including the circuit in which ......
-
McMillian v. Johnson
...598 So.2d 843 (Ala.1992) (applying immunity to sheriff sued in his official capacity for assault and false arrest); Hereford v. Jefferson County, 586 So.2d 209 (Ala.1991) (dealing with liability of sheriff in his official and individual capacities for negligently or wantonly releasing a dan......
-
Horton v. Morgan Cnty. Sheriff's Dep't
...The Alabama Supreme Court reached the same conclusion with regard to tort claims against deputy sheriffs in Hereford v. Jefferson County, 586 So. 2d 209, 210 (Ala. 1991) (citing Mosely v. Kennedy, 245 Ala. 448, 450, 17 So. 2d 536, 537 (1944) (stating that, "[i]n general, the acts of the dep......
-
Wright v. Bailey
...suit, in his official capacity, for negligent performance of his statutory duties. See Ala. Const., art. 1, § 14. In Hereford v. Jefferson County, 586 So.2d 209 (Ala.1991), we held that deputy sheriffs are immune from suit to the same extent as sheriffs. In Hereford, we relied upon Mosely v......