Opinion ID: 172792
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Rector's authority as a Special Ranger under Oklahoma law

Text: At all times relevant to Bowling's claims against him, Rector was commissioned by the OSBI as a Special Officer known as a Ranger. (App. at 468, 469-71.) Pursuant to Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 74, § 150.13, this commission authorized Rector to enforce[]. . . the provisions of the Oklahoma Statutes relating to larceny of domestic animals, livestock or farm and ranch equipment or supplies. ( Id. at 468.) Oklahoma law provides that with respect to enforcement of those provisions of the Oklahoma Statutes, Special Rangers shall have the same authority as any other peace officer. Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 74, § 150.13(A). In denying Rector's motion for qualified immunity on this claim, the district court assumed that Bowling's version of events was correct. Mindful that [i]t is not [our] job . . . to determine whether the record supports the district court's factual assumptions, Dixon, 553 F.3d at 1301, we ask, in our de novo review, simply whether Rector's alleged conduct in excess of his statutory authority violated Bowling's clearly established rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.