Justice Network Inc v. Craighead County

931 F.3d 753
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedJuly 26, 2019
Docket17-3770
StatusPublished
Cited by147 cases

This text of 931 F.3d 753 (Justice Network Inc v. Craighead County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Justice Network Inc v. Craighead County, 931 F.3d 753 (8th Cir. 2019).

Opinion

SMITH, Chief Judge.

The Justice Network Inc. (TJN) appeals from the district court's 1 dismissal of its *757 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit against Judge David Boling, in his individual and official capacity; Judge Tommy Fowler, in his individual and official capacity; Craighead County, Arkansas; the City of Jonesboro; and the Cities of Bay, Bono, Brookland, Caraway, Cash, Egypt, Lake City, and Monette. 2 The suit arises from Craighead County District Judges Boling and Fowler's implementation of an Amnesty Program forgiving all fees that probationers owed to TJN for probation services. We hold that Judges Boling and Fowler are entitled to judicial immunity on TJN's claims. Additionally, we hold that Judges Boling and Fowler are state government officials whose actions are not attributable to Craighead County or the City Defendants. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's dismissal of TJN's § 1983 suit.

I. Background 3

TJN is a private probation company, and it offers services to probation clients in Craighead County. Services offered to the probation clients include program and counseling coordination, public service work, random drug screening, curfew monitoring, or any other condition of probation ordered by the court. TJN also offers a variety of classes to its probation clients, including life skills, parenting skills, anger management, alcohol safety school, and drug offender school.

Since 1997, TJN has provided probation services to probation clients under the jurisdiction of the district and circuit courts of Craighead County. Since that time, it has also provided probation services to probation clients under the jurisdiction of the City Defendants' courts ("City Courts"). TJN's Jonesboro branch employed 12 full-time employees, all residents of Craighead County.

From 1997 until February 3, 2017, all misdemeanor offenders who had been charged in Craighead County District Court ("District Court") or the City Courts, and who required probation services, were placed under TJN's supervision. TJN contracted individually with each probation client. The Probation Fee Agreement set forth a $35 monthly fee for probation services and included a $15 monthly fee for the supervision of public service work (a typical condition of probation). A court order issued in conjunction with the Probation Fee Agreement directed each probation client to pay all probation supervision fees to TJN for each month of supervised probation.

If the probation client failed to abide by the probation order and failed to complete his or her court-ordered special conditions, TJN would file an affidavit with the court indicating what conditions were not completed. The Craighead County prosecutor and the judge would then countersign the affidavit. The judge of the District Court would order the probationer to pay restitution for all outstanding fees owed to TJN. The same process was followed in the City Courts, including the court order directing the probationer to pay fees to TJN. For cases pending in the District Court, the District Court would collect the fees that the probation clients owed to TJN and forward those funds to TJN. For cases pending in the City Courts, the City Courts would collect the fees that the probation clients owed and forward those funds to TJN. This system operated for nearly 20 years, from 1997 until 2016.

*758 In early 2016, Judges Boling and Fowler were elected Craighead County District Judges. During the election, Judge Boling stated that if he were elected, he would end the use of TJN's probation services in his court. Likewise, Judge Fowler stated during his campaign that he opposed the privatization of probation services.

On August 11, 2016, Judge Boling was reported in a local newspaper as stating "that he dismissed the case of one defendant on probation and 'purged' the remaining debt that had not paid." Compl. at 13, ¶ 81, Justice Network, Inc. v. Craighead Cty ., No. 3:17-cv-00169-JM (E.D. Ark. June 30, 2017), ECF No. 1. This "purged" debt included court costs and fees that the defendant owed to TJN pursuant to a contract between the defendant and TJN. On August 12, 2016, the local newspaper reported that Judge Boling said he would "consider nonpayment cases on a case-by-case basis." Id. at 14, ¶ 84 .

On December 7, 2016, the local newspaper reported that Judges "Fowler and Boling planned to implement an 'Amnesty Program' in January and February 2017." Id. at ¶ 86 . "As part of that program, [Judges] Fowler and Boling met with probation offenders who had outstanding fines that were due, to discuss payment options." Id. at ¶ 87 .

On January 26, 2017, the local newspaper reported that Judges Fowler and Boling had implemented a "temporary amnesty program," which "allow[ed] offenders who were delinquent on their payments to reset their payment plan." Id. at ¶ 88 . The fees owed to TJN were summarily stricken from each new order of probation. Judges Boling and Fowler forgave the fees owed to TJN as part of the "Amnesty Program." Id. at ¶ 90 . Judges Fowler and Boling also instituted a "Jail Credit" program. Id. at ¶ 91 . This program forgave the costs owed to the court and fees owed to TJN in lieu of time served in prison. "[M]any of the probation clients given 'Jail Credit' were never incarcerated." Id.

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Bluebook (online)
931 F.3d 753, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/justice-network-inc-v-craighead-county-ca8-2019.