Opinion ID: 884424
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Department of Corrections

Text: The United States Supreme Court has held that municipalities and local government units are among those persons to whom 42 U.S.C. § 1983 applies. See Monell v. New York City Dep't of Social Serv. (1978), 436 U.S. 658, 690, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 2035, 56 L.Ed.2d 611, 635. States and other governmental entities, on the other hand, are considered arms of the state and, as a result, they are not persons within the meaning of § 1983. See Will v. Michigan Dep't of State Police (1989), 491 U.S. 58, 70, 109 S.Ct. 2304, 2312, 105 L.Ed.2d 45, 57. The exclusion of states and arms of the state from the term person contained in § 1983 is based on the immunity from suit provided to states by the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution. See Will, 491 U.S. at 66, 109 S.Ct. at 2309-10. The Department is an entity within the executive branch of government in the State of Montana (State). See §§ 2-15-102(4) and X-XX-XXXX, MCA. Thus, it is a governmental entity which is considered an arm of the state and not a person for § 1983 purposes. See Will, 491 U.S. at 70, 109 S.Ct. at 2312. Orozco argues that § 2-9-305(2), MCA, required him to join the Department in this action and, therefore, that the District Court erred in concluding that it was not a proper § 1983 defendant. The Department did not respond to Orozco's argument but, in any event, Orozco misreads the statute. Section 2-9-305(2), MCA, requires governmental entity employers to defend and indemnify employees sued for misconduct committed in the course and scope of the employees' office or employment, including employees against whom a § 1983 action is brought. It does not refer to, or require, joinder of a governmental entity when an employee of that entity is sued. See § 2-9-305(2), MCA. Although the heading of § 2-9-305, MCA, contains the language Governmental entity to be joined as defendant, nothing in the text of the statute relates to or supports that portion of the heading. We have held that the text of the statute takes precedence over the title in matters of statutory interpretation. See ISC Distrib., Inc. v. Trevor (1995), 273 Mont. 185, 196, 903 P.2d 170, 177. Orozco's contention that, under § 2-9-305(2), MCA, the Department was a proper party in his § 1983 action is also without merit. The statute addresses actions brought against employees; it does not relate to the propriety or impropriety of suing governmental entities, and the law is clear that § 1983 does not apply to arms of the state. See § 2-9-305(2), MCA; Will, 491 U.S. at 70, 109 S.Ct. at 2312. We hold that the District Court correctly concluded that the Department is not a person within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 1983.