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Howard v. City of Atmore12/12/2003
"....
"THE FOLLOWING FIELD COMMUNICATIONS PROCEDURE SHALL BE ADHERED TO BY ALL PERSONNEL:
"....
"ADMISSIONS PROCEDURE
"Admission procedures for the municipal jail are as follows:
"....
"7. The dispatcher on duty shall make periodic jail checks on inmates at least twice an hour and more often if needed or circumstances call for additional checks. The monitor camera will constantly be operating and observed by dispatchers. Dispatchers, DO NOT release inmates for any reason except for an emergency evacuation (follow procedure for emergency evacuation plan).
"....
"RESPONSIBILITY OF DISPATCHER/JAILERS
"Dispatcher/Jailers shall be responsible for the following:
"1. Adhering to all guidelines set forth in these procedures.
"2. Enforcing and implementing all guidelines.
"....
"10. Making checks of intoxicated persons, drug addicts, physical and mental health risks and suicidal risks every thirty minutes. These rounds shall be documented on the radio log.
"11. Observe television monitors continuously, listen to the intercom, and check smoke detectors for safety and security purposes."
(Some boldface type and some emphasis omitted; emphasis added.)
Howard relies on paragraph 10, which appears in the portion of the order entitled "RESPONSIBILITY OF DISPATCHER/JAILERS." She argues that paragraph 10 required Officer Bryars to check on Bowens every 30 minutes, because, she insists, there was evidence from which Officer Bryars should have identified Bowens as a suicide risk, and because, she contends, there was evidence that those checks were not made. In response to this argument, the defendants state:
"There are no specific written instructions or statutes setting out how [Officer] Bryars should make a determination about whether an inmate is potentially suicidal. ... Therefore, the initial determination of whether an inmate should be placed into the category of a suicide watch is not controlled by any written instructions and the particular officer must use his discretion in the context of that situation to make an appropriate decision."
Appellees' brief, at 44-45 (emphasis added).
We agree with the defendants that Howard's reliance on paragraph 10 is misplaced. Whether an inmate is a "drug addict," a "physical or mental health risk," or a "suicide risk" must be determined on a case-by-case basis, and necessarily requires the exercise of judgment in each case. Thus, Officer Bryars's alleged noncompliance with paragraph 10 does not strip him of his cloak of State-agent immunity.
Howard, however, also relies on paragraph 7, which appears on the same page as paragraph 10, under the heading "ADMISSIONS PROCEDURE." Her reliance on paragraph 7 stands on better ground. Indeed, Bryars fails to address Howard's argument as it relates to paragraph 7.
Paragraph 7 simply states that the jailer/dispatcher "shall make periodic jail checks on inmates at least twice an hour," and requires constant observation of the "monitor camera." Unlike paragraph 10, paragraph 7 does not turn on the subjective observations or assessments of individual inmates, or contemplate the exercise of judgment by individual jailers. Thus, it applies to all inmates, rather than to certain at-risk persons, and does not apply on a case-by-case basis.
In cases decided after Cranman, this Court has held what was clearly implied in Cranman, namely, that a "State agent acts beyond authority and is therefore not immune when he or she 'fail to discharge duties
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