Opinion ID: 2545615
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Joseph

Text: Alabama law is clear that a county commissioner cannot be sued in his or her individual capacity. In Smitherman v. Marshall County Commission, 746 So.2d 1001, 1004 (Ala.1999), the Court stated: We first consider the trial court's ruling that the county commissioners and the county engineer are not amenable to suit in their individual capacities. The trial court relied on Cook v. St. Clair County, 384 So.2d 1 (Ala.1980), in which this Court held: `Counties are amenable to suit in tort under Code of Alabama, 1975, § 11-1-2. Because counties, as bodies corporate, act through their governing bodies, the county [commissions, the] commissioners likewise are subject to suit in tort, not in their individual capacities but only in their official capacities.' 384 So.2d at 7 (opinion on application for rehearing). It is therefore clear that the summary judgment was properly entered for the commissioners as to the claims against them in their individual capacities. (Footnote omitted.) We have not been asked to overrule Smitherman. Because Joseph, as a county commissioner, cannot, as a matter of law, be sued in his individual capacity, the summary judgment in his favor is due to be affirmed on this alternative ground. Because we have concluded that the County and the County Commission have no liability, the claims against Joseph in his official capacity are moot.