Opinion ID: 4127141
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Claim Against Kent County

Text: Scott also alleges a claim against Kent County for its failure to supervise corrections officers, which he argues allows the officers to continuously violate inmates’ constitutional rights. See Monell v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs. of the City of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 690-91 (1978) (holding that municipalities and local governments can be sued under § 1983 for constitutional deprivations made pursuant to governmental customs or policies). The district court determined that because Scott had not established that a constitutional violation occurred with respect to his -9- No. 16-1587, Scott v. Kent County claims alleged against Lyons, his claim against the County must be dismissed. See Blackmore v. Kalamzoo Cty., 390 F.3d 890, 900 (6th Cir. 2004) (“A municipality or county cannot be liable under § 1983 absent an underlying constitutional violation by its officers.”) (citing City of Los Angeles v. Heller, 475 U.S. 796, 799 (1986)). The district court also determined, in the alternative, that Scott’s claim against Kent County failed for lack of evidence, and we affirm its judgment on this basis. A plaintiff making a “failure to supervise” claim must establish that “(1) the training or supervision was inadequate for the tasks performed; (2) the inadequacy was the result of the municipality’s deliberate indifference; and (3) the inadequacy was closely related to or actually caused the injury.” Ellis ex rel. Pendergrass v. Cleveland Mun. Sch. Dist., 455 F.3d 690, 700 (6th Cir. 2006). To support his failure to supervise claim, Scott only offers evidence that Kent County does not conduct yearly performance evaluations on its corrections officers. This is not sufficient to prevail under a failure to supervise theory. We affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Kent County in Scott’s municipal liability claim.