Alabama Supreme Court hears arguments over state immunity for sheriffs and deputies

The Supreme Court of Alabama heard argument in Florence over whether Article I, Section 14 of the Alabama Constitution shields sheriffs and their deputies from civil damages when performing duties in the line and scope of their employment.

The question at the center of the argument was whether the court should reaffirm a line of precedents that treat sheriffs — and, by judicially recognized extension, their deputies — as indistinguishable from the state for liability purposes, or instead limit immunity for deputies to a qualified or “state-agent” form tied to compliance with law and scope of authority.

Petitioner counsel, Mr. Irving, urged the court to reaffirm long-standing precedent and argued that “this case is about whether this court will affirm its long standing precedent granting state immunity to a sheriff and a deputy sheriff when acting within the line and scope of their duties.” Irving summarized earlier decisions that, he said, treat sheriffs as constitutional officers whose actions are effectively the actions of the state.

Robert Overing,…