David A. Dodson v. Marsha McLane and Management and Training Corporation

District Court, W.D. Texas·Decided July 27, 2026·No. 1:25-cv-01162·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS AUSTIN DIVISION

DAVID A. DODSON, § Plaintiff, § § v. § A-25-CV-01162-RP § MARSHA McLANE and MANAGEMENT § AND TRAINING CORPORATION, § Defendants. §

ORDER

Before the Court are Plaintiff David A. Dodson’s pro se complaint filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (ECF No. 1); Defendant Management & Training Corporation’s (MTC) Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 14); Plaintiff’s Application for a Preliminary and/or Temporary Injunction (ECF No. 17); Defendant Marsha McLane’s Motion to Dismiss and Brief in Support (ECF No. 22-23); and Plaintiff’s response to Defendant McLane’s motion to dismiss (ECF No. 30). Upon review of the parties’ pleadings, the Court grants Defendants’ motions to dismiss and denies Plaintiff’s application for a preliminary and/or temporary injunction. I. BACKGROUND In 2013, a jury found Plaintiff to be a sexually-violent predator (SVP) and a court ordered him to into civil commitment.1 Plaintiff is currently under the supervision of the Texas Civil Commitment Office (TCCO) and resides at the Texas Civil Commitment Center (TCCC) in Littlefield, Texas. In his complaint, Plaintiff names two defendants: Marsh McLane, TCCO Executive Director; and MTC, which manages the daily operations at the TCCC.

1 Plaintiff was originally civilly-committed as a SVP in 2008; however, that judgment was reversed on appeal and remanded for a new trial. See In re Commitment of Dodson, 311 S.W.3d 194, 195 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 2010, pet. denied). After a new trial, Plaintiff was again found to be an SVP and ordered to civil commitment. In re Commitment of Dodson, 434 S.W.3d 742, 744 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 2014, pet. denied). In his complaint, Plaintiff alleges that his original commitment order stated he was to be “civilly committed … in accordance with Tex. Health & Safety Code § 841.081 for outpatient treatment and supervision, [which] shall continue until the behavioral abnormality has changed…” (ECF No. 1 at 4-5.) From May 2009 until September 1, 2015, Plaintiff states he resided at the Southeast Texas Transitional Center (STTC). At the STTC, Plaintiff alleges he was allowed to

leave the facility unsupervised on numerous occasions, and that he utilized public transportation to travel to grocery stores and the like. He states that, while at the STTC, he never committed a criminal act equivalent to a felony or misdemeanor. Plaintiff states that, on June 17, 2015, the Texas Legislature amended the Sexually Violent Predators Act (SVPA) and required courts to modify SVP’s commitment orders if they conflicted with the amendments. Plaintiff alleges that his committing court never issued an order for him to be placed in inpatient treatment. Plaintiff states that, on September 1, 2015, Defendant McLane’s agents ordered him to board a bus and transported him to Littlefield, Texas, where he was locked up in the TCCC. He states that, on October 21, 2015, the committing court signed an order placing

him in a tiered treatment program as well as an amended order of civil commitment. Plaintiff alleges that neither order placed him into inpatient treatment or authorized McLane and MTC to confine him at the TCCC. Plaintiff alleges the inpatient treatment scheme at TCCC violates his substantive and procedural due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. He states that, since 2015, only 16 individuals have been conditionally released from the TCCC whereas 33 individuals have died in custody. Plaintiff alleges the SVPA makes McLane the sole authority on determining whether an individual will receive inpatient or outpatient treatment, but because she is neither a judge, psychiatrist, nor sex offender therapist, she does not have the necessary professional judgment to 2 make this decision. Plaintiff argues the implementation of the SVPA’s 2015 amendments renders the statute punitive in nature. Plaintiff states that TCCO requires Plaintiff and other individuals in the TCCC to pay 33% of his income to TCCO, including money sent from family and friends, money earned through the Resident Work Program, and all federal income. He alleges that, in 2020, he was required to pay

33% of his federal stimulus money. He alleges the committing court ordered the State of Texas to pay all costs related to his civil commitment and treatment. Plaintiff alleges that the TCCC is not an accredited treatment facility and thus requiring Plaintiff to pay for his treatment there is unconstitutional because the treatment does not provide him with a meaningful opportunity for rehabilitation. Plaintiff further states he is required to pay for a GPS monitor while confined at the TCCC. Plaintiff states that he filed an affidavit of indigency in 2008. Plaintiff further alleges that McLane and MTC have deliberately misclassified him as an independent contractor rather than employee, thus requiring him to pay the full amount for his Social Security and Medicare. Plaintiff alleges McLane and MTC control all of Plaintiff’s work

and thus he is an employee, not an independent contractor. Plaintiff alleges that MTC deliberately falsifies his income on his Form 1099 because they do not account for the 33% that is automatically deducted from his pay. In support, Plaintiff attaches his Form 1099s from 2020-2024. Plaintiff alleges that no court has ordered him to pay restitution. Finally, Plaintiff alleges that the Texas Legislature “did away with” penile plethysmographs (PPG) and polygraph examinations in Senate Bill 746, and that McLane’s treatment program is punitive and de facto criminal because it establishes child safety zones, mandates who Plaintiff can associate with, where he can live and work, and requires him to pass PPG and polygraph examinations to advance in treatment and be released. 3 Plaintiff raises the following claims: 1. Defendant McLane violated Plaintiff’s substantive and procedural due process rights when she ordered him to be placed into inpatient treatment in the TCCC without a court order for inpatient treatment. Plaintiff has a liberty interest in outpatient treatment.

2. From May 1, 2019, to present, MTC violated Plaintiff’s liberty interest to remain free from its total confinement facility. Plaintiff is unlawfully and falsely imprisoned by MTC in the TCCC.

3. McLane is unconstitutionally punishing Plaintiff by forcing Plaintiff into inpatient treatment despite his court order for outpatient treatment and supervision.

4. McLane is also unconstitutionally punishing Plaintiff by forcing him to pay 33% of all his income for treatment, housing, and GPS fees, in violation of his substantive due process rights.

5. McLane and MTC are subjecting Plaintiff to punitive conditions of confinement that are identical to or even more restrictive than those to which criminals are subjected.

6. McLane has violated Plaintiff’s constitutional right to adequate sex offender treatment by exercising total control over whether Plaintiff participates in inpatient or outpatient treatment.

7. McLane has implemented policies and practices that resulted in the taking of Plaintiff’s property in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. This includes TCCO’s Policy 3.5, “Cost Recovery Policy,” which requires Plaintiff and all other civilly committed persons to pay 33% of their income to TCCO. Policy 3.5 is not reasonably related to Plaintiff’s treatment and supervision. Policy 3.5 is also unconstitutional because it defines income to include long term disability benefits, retirement income, federal stimulus checks, pay received while working at the TCCC, and gifts from family and friends.

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David A. Dodson v. Marsha McLane and Management and Training Corporation, (W.D. Tex. 2026).

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