Opinion ID: 2972797
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Liability of Commissioner Mark Sullivan

Text: Defendant Mark Sullivan has moved for summary judgment on the basis that Knott has not alleged that Sullivan, the Athens County Commissioner, participated in any manner in any of the challenged searches and that Sullivan cannot be held liable under a theory of respondeat superior. We agree. Based upon our review of the record, it appears that Sullivan’s involvement in this case came well after the searches at issue in this case. Indeed, it appears that Sullivan’s only action was to respond to a letter from Knott by suggesting that she raise her concerns regarding the Malcolm homicide investigation with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, the Ohio Ethics Commission, the Athens County Prosecutor’s Office, and/or the court handling her son’s criminal proceedings. Knott has not articulated how this amounts to a violation of her constitutional rights. Hence, the district court did not err in entering summary judgment in favor of Sullivan in his personal capacity. See, e.g., Miller v. Calhoun County, 408 F.3d 803, 817 n.3 (6th Cir. 2005) (“Because § 1983 liability cannot be imposed under a theory of respondeat superior, proof of personal involvement is required for a supervisor to incur personal liability.”); Bellamy v. Bradley, 729 F.2d 416, 421 (6th Cir.) (“[Section] 1983 liability of supervisory personnel must be based on more than the right to control employees. Section 1983 liability will not be imposed solely upon the basis of respondeat superior. There must be a showing that the supervisor encouraged the specific incident of misconduct or in some other way directly participated in it. At a minimum, a § 1983 plaintiff must show that a supervisory official at least implicitly authorized, approved or knowingly acquiesced in the unconstitutional conduct of the offending subordinate.”), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 845 (1984).