Court Opinion

ID: 9627653
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 08:49:45.234709+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:06:48.012775
License: Public Domain

GOLDEN, Justice.
Appellants Thomas Russell Cooney and Lora John Cooney (Cooneys) appeal from the district court’s W.R.C.P. 12(b)(6) dismissal of their complaint against appellees Deputy Park County Attorney Chris J. White, the State of Wyoming, the Wyoming Department of Probation and Parole (Department), and probation officer Robert Mayor, (appellees) alleging a civil rights claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1982), and various state claims under the Wyoming Governmental Claims Act, W.S. 1-39-101 through 1-39-108 (Cum.Supp.1985) (Claims Act)1, arising out of probation revocation proceedings. The trial court dismissed all counts in the Cooneys’ complaint against White on the basis that he, as a deputy county attorney, had absolute prosecutorial immunity from civil liability. It further dismissed the Cooneys’ counts alleging liability under the Claims Act against the State of Wyoming, the Wyoming Department of Probation and Parole, and Robert Mayor, because it found no waiver of immunity under the Claims Act as to those parties.
The Cooneys challenge both of these rulings. We are asked to decide (1) what level of immunity under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 will we extend to a deputy county attorney who performs activities associated with those proceedings and (2) whether under the Claims Act there has been a specific waiver of sovereign immunity as to the state claims.
We affirm.
I. FACTS
In 1985, Thomas Cooney pled guilty to writing bad checks in Park County, Wyoming. The district court accepted his guilty plea and sentenced him to five years of supervised probation, which required him to stay in regular contact with officers of the Wyoming Department of Probation and Parole. When sentenced, Mr. Cooney lived in Riverton, Wyoming, where his parole officer was Cindy Johnson. In September 1985, Mr. Cooney requested permission from the Department to move with his wife and child to Baroil because of a change in his job. Johnson granted Mr. Cooney permission to move and told him that he would be contacted by a Department officer in Rawlins for continued supervision under the terms of his sentence.
The Cooneys moved to Baroil in October 1985, and Johnson forwarded Thomas Coo-ney’s file to Tracy Reinke, a Department officer in Rawlins. Unknown to the Coo-neys, however, Johnson erroneously advised Reinke that Thomas Cooney and his family were now living in La Barge, Wyoming, instead of Baroil. Because of this erroneous advice, Reinke returned the Coo-ney file to Johnson in Riverton and instructed Johnson to forward it to the Department office in Evanston, Wyoming, the Department office with jurisdiction over probationers living in La Barge. On October 21, 1985, Johnson mailed the Cooney file to the Department office in Evanston where it was assigned to appellee Robert Mayor. After receiving the file, Mayor made unsuccessful attempts to locate Mr. Cooney in La Barge because the Cooneys were in Baroil.
In the meantime, Mr. Cooney, still unaware of the Department’s foul-ups, contacted Johnson several times by telephone inquiring about the contact he expected to receive from a Department officer in Raw-lins. Based on those calls, Johnson filed reports verifying Mr. Cooney’s compliance with the terms of his probation in October and November of 1985. During December *12891985, Mr. Cooney telephoned the Department office in Rawlins to contact Reinke about his probation.
In mid-January, 1986, Mayor contacted Johnson to inform her that he could not locate Mr. Cooney in his area. Unexplain-ably, Johnson told Mayor that Mr. Cooney had relocated to La Barge, Wyoming, in October 1985, and that she had not heard from him since his move. This incorrect information prompted Mayor on January 24, 1986, to call appellee Chris White, who was then deputy county attorney for Park County, Wyoming; Mayor told White that Mr. Cooney had not been in contact with his probation officers as required by the terms of his sentence and that he had moved from Riverton without Department permission. White asked Mayor to prepare a petition revoking Mr. Cooney’s probation.
On January 29, 1986, Johnson telephoned Mayor and told him that the Cooneys lived in Baroil, had permission from the Department to be there, and that Mr. Cooney had been in contact with her office during October and November 1985. Mayor then telephoned White and relayed those facts to him. Despite this information, White reiterated his request that Mayor draft the petition to revoke Mr. Cooney’s probation. Mayor followed White’s instructions and prepared a document entitled “Petition for Revocation of Probation and Bench Warrant” dated January 29, 1986. In that document, and despite his contrary knowledge, Mayor swore under oath that Mr. Cooney changed his address without the Department’s permission and failed to maintain contact with the Department after he moved. Mayor then forwarded the petition to White who presented it to the district court. Based on the petition, the district court issued a bench warrant for Mr. Coo-ney’s arrest on February 7, 1986.
On February 10, 1986, Mr. Cooney sent a letter to Reinke in an effort to comply with the terms of his probation. Similar contacts between Mr. Cooney and Reinke occurred during February and March 1986. In early March, Mr. Cooney requested permission from Reinke to move to Glasgow, Montana, to accept permanent employment. On March 11, 1986, Reinke sent Mr. Coo-ney written permission to move. Having received this permission, the Cooneys packed their belongings and prepared to move to Montana. On March 15, 1986, a highway patrol officer stopped Mr. Cooney, his wife, and child and arrested him pursuant to the bench warrant issued because of the information provided to the district court by Mayor and White. Mr. Cooney was taken to the Park County jail; Mrs. Cooney and their child were left stranded in Baroil with all of their belongings.
Mr. Cooney remained in the Park County jail until April 21, 1986, when the district court released him after denying the petition to revoke his probation. During his incarceration White and Mayor did nothing to inform the district court of their knowledge concerning Mr. Cooney’s compliance with the terms of his probation. They also did nothing to help get Mr. Cooney out of jail. In fact, during the time that Mr. Cooney was incarcerated, an attorney with the Park County Public Defender’s office requested that Mr. Cooney be released from jail until a hearing could be held to determine the accuracy of the information underlying the arrest warrant. White refused to honor that request.
After the Cooneys filed the necessary claim2 under the Claims Act, they filed *1290suit. The defendants responded with motions to dismiss under W.R.C.P. 12(b)(6). The district court granted the motions. The Cooneys appealed.
II. ANALYSIS
A. Standard of Review
When reviewing a W.R.C.P. 12(b)(6) dismissal, we accept the facts alleged in the complaint as true and view them more favorably toward the party opposing the motion below. Mummery v. Polk, 770 P.2d 241, 243 (Wyo.1989). A motion under this rule tests the legal sufficiency of the complaint, should be granted sparingly by the district courts and generally is not favored on appeal. Id. We recognize that a § 1983 action should not be dismissed upon the pleadings “unless it appears beyond doubt that plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Joseph v. Patterson, 795 F.2d 549, 551 (6th Cir.1986) (citing Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 1001-02, 2 L.Ed.2d 80, 84 (1957)).
B. Absolute Immunity for White 1. Imbler and Blake
The district court dismissed the § 1983 claim against White under W.R.C.P. 12(b)(6) after ruling that White’s status as a prosecuting attorney made him absolutely immune from suit, regardless of whether his actions actually deprived Mr. Cooney of a constitutional right, privilege, or immunity. The district court relied on Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 96 S.Ct. 984, 47 L.Ed.2d 128 (1976) and this court’s application of Imbler in Blake v. Rupe, 651 P.2d 1096 (Wyo.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1208, 103 S.Ct. 1199, 75 L.Ed.2d 442 (1983). It interpreted both of those cases as granting prosecutor White absolute immunity from civil liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for public policy reasons.3
*1291The plain language of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 is deceptively simple because it makes no mention of immunity from liability.4 The appellate history of the provision, however, reveals that its application necessarily invokes traditional common-law defenses of official immunity which extend absolute immunity to prosecutors in certain situations. Imbler, 424 U.S. at 418, 96 S.Ct. at 989, 47 L.Ed.2d at 136 (citing Tenney v. Brandhove, 341 U.S. 367, 71 S.Ct. 783, 95 L.Ed. 1019 (1951)). See also Yaselli v. Goff, 275 U.S. 503, 48 S.Ct. 155, 72 L.Ed. 395 (1927).
Imbler involved a § 1983 action in which Imbler, an exonerated criminal defendant, sought damages against a prosecuting attorney for the prosecutor’s alleged knowing use of false testimony and suppression of material evidence to obtain an illegal conviction. Imbler, 424 U.S. at 415-16, 96 S.Ct. at 987-88, 47 L.Ed.2d at 134-35. The prosecutor successfully moved for dismissal under F.R.C.P. 12(b)(6) on the ground that he was absolutely immune from civil liability and the Ninth Circuit affirmed. Id., 424 U.S. at 416, 96 S.Ct. at 988, 47 L.Ed.2d at 135. On certiorari review of that dismissal, the United States Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether a prosecutor is absolutely immune from civil liability under § 1983 by focusing on the various functions that a prosecutor serves in society and the balance which must exist between protecting the integrity of those functions and protecting private citizens from prosecutorial abuse. Id., 424 U.S. at 421-24, 96 S.Ct. at 990-92, 47 L.Ed.2d at 138-40. After completing this review, the Court held:
It remains to delineate the boundaries of our holding. As noted, the Court of Appeals emphasized that each of respondent’s challenged activities was an “integral part of the judicial process.” The purpose of the Court of Appeals’ focus upon the functional nature of the activities rather than respondent’s status was' to distinguish and leave standing those cases, in its Circuit and in some others, which hold that a prosecutor engaged in certain investigative activities enjoys, not the absolute immunity associated with the judicial process, but only good-faith defense comparable to the policeman’s. We agree with the Court of Appeals that respondent’s activities were intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process, and thus were functions to which the reasons for absolute immunity apply with full force. We have no occasion to consider whether like or similar reasons require immunity for those aspects of the prosecutor’s responsibility that cast him in the role of an administrator or investigative officer rather than that of advocate. We hold only that in initiating a prosecution and in presenting the State’s case, the prosecutor is immune from a civil suit for damages under § 1983.
Id., 424 U.S. at 430-31, 96 S.Ct. at 994-95, 47 L.Ed.2d at 143-44 (citations and footnotes omitted).
Courts and commentators generally agree that this holding structured a functional analysis. Cleavinger v. Saxner, 474 U.S. 193, 201, 106 S.Ct. 496, 501, 88 L.Ed.2d 507, 514 (1985). This court adopted the functional analysis in Blake. In Blake this court extended absolute immunity to a county and prosecuting attorney who employed and supervised an investigator to check both court and penitentiary records, investigated matters preliminary to initiating the prosecution, and presented the prosecution of the state’s case of perjury charges against a juror. Blake, 651 P.2d at 1104. Relying on Imbler and decisions following that case, this court determined that the prosecutor’s challenged activities were intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process. In that regard, this court found it significant that the ill-fated prosecution concerned possible *1292“perjury by a prospective juror, arising in a judicial proceeding by failure to disclose [on voir dire examination] a conviction of felony.” Id. at 1106. In this court’s view, the integrity of the judicial process was at stake in the prosecutor’s performing the investigative function. Therefore,
not only do we have an investigation involving the initiation of a criminal prosecution, but a prosecution resulting from alleged in-court perjury. We therefore find a greater involvement of the judicial function than the usual investigation by a prosecutor in preparation for initiation of the criminal process by filing of a complaint and trial.
Id. at 1106.
The functional analysis requires a cautious judicial application because “[ajbsolute immunity flows not from rank or title or ‘location within the Government,’ but from the nature of the responsibilities of the individual official.” Cleavinger, 474 U.S. at 201,106 S.Ct. at 501, 88 L.Ed.2d at 514 (emphasis added; citation omitted). It probes the character of the ultimate decisions required by any prosecutor who would make decisions in the situation in question; allegations of malice, self-interest, vindictiveness and the like will not defeat absolute immunity for protected prosecutorial functions. Myers v. Morris, 810 F.2d 1437, 1446 (8th Cir.), cert, denied, 484 U.S. 828, 108 S.Ct. 97, 98 L.Ed.2d 58 (1987); Ybarra v. Reno Thunderbird Mobile Home Village, 723 F.2d 675, 678 (9th Cir.1984), and numerous cases cited therein. Therefore, the reviewing court must not allow its focus on the functional character of the prosecutorial conduct at issue to be skewed by an emotional response to a particularly abusive fact situation. There is no bad faith exception to absolute prose-cutorial immunity for prosecutorial conduct that meets the Imbler requirements. See Imbler, 424 U.S. at 427, 96 S.Ct. at 993, 47 L.Ed.2d at 141. See also Taylor v. Kavanagh, 640 F.2d 450, 452 (2d Cir.1981), cert. denied sub nom. Barbera v. Schlessinger, — U.S. -, 109 S.Ct. 1338, 103 L.Ed.2d 808 (1989) (soliciting and suborning perjured testimony does not create liability in damages for prosecutorial conduct functionally qualifying for absolute immunity under Imbler); Lee v. Willins, 617 F.2d 320, 322 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 861, 101 S.Ct. 165, 66 L.Ed.2d 78 (1980) (falsifying evidence and coercing perjured testimony); Campbell v. State of Maine, 787 F.2d 776, 778 (1st Cir.1986).
The functional approach has proven to be a somewhat difficult standard to apply because of the limited scope of the Imbler holding. In Imbler, the Court recognized there would be administrative and investigative prosecutorial conduct not done in furtherance of a prosecutorial function that demands the protection of absolute immunity. Imbler, 424 U.S. at 430-31, 96 S.Ct. at 995, 47 L.Ed.2d at 143-44. See also Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. 478, 513-16, 98 S.Ct. 2894, 2914-16, 57 L.Ed.2d 895, 920-22 (1978) (certain federal administrative officers are entitled to absolute immunity when they function analogous to pros-ecutorial functions protected under Imbler). However, the Court expressly reserved an explanation of the difference between the two classes of conduct noting only that: “Drawing a proper line between these functions may present difficult questions, but this case does not require us to anticipate them.” Id., 424 U.S. at 431, 96 S.Ct. at 995, 47 L.Ed.2d at 144 n. 33.5 As *1293the following discussion will illustrate, federal and state courts have been wrestling with those difficult questions ever since. The Eleventh Circuit recently remarked “[t]he dividing line is amorphous, and the process of determining on which side of the line particular kinds of conduct fall has proceeded on a case-by-case basis.” Marx v. Gumbinner, 855 F.2d 783, 789 (11th Cir.1988). The Cooneys’ § 1983 action against prosecutor White requires that we venture into this difficult legal terrain.
In their appeal the Cooneys contend that the deputy county attorney’s wrongful conduct was his decision to have Mr. Cooney arrested and detained in jail for thirty-eight days. They argue that the deputy county attorney’s activities of assisting the Department, of using the perjured probation revocation petition to obtain a bench warrant for Mr. Cooney’s arrest, and of causing Mr. Cooney to be arrested and detained were administrative in nature and not the functional equivalent of the prosecutor’s role as an advocate in a criminal proceeding. If they are correct, the deputy county attorney enjoys qualified, not absolute, immunity in their civil rights action.

2. Application of Imbler and Blake

Against the backdrop of Imbler and Blake, we must determine whether the deputy county attorney’s challenged activities “were intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process,” and, therefore, were “functions to which the reasons for absolute immunity apply with full force.” Imbler, 424 U.S. at 430, 96 S.Ct. at 995, 47 L.Ed.2d at 143.

Probation Revocation as part of Criminal Proceedings

Without question, the sentencing court’s granting of probation, supervision of the probationer’s service of probation, and involvement in probation revocation proceedings are well within the judicial phase of the criminal process. “Probation” is defined as “a sentence not involving confinement which imposes conditions and retains authority in the sentencing court to modify the conditions of the sentence or to resentence the offender if he violates the conditions.” W.S. 7-13-401(a)(x) (emphasis added). To assist the sentencing judge in his consideration of whether to grant probation to an offender, the judge may direct the prosecuting attorney or the state probation and parole officer to investigate and report to him concerning factors which he may weigh. W.S. 7-13-303. The sentencing judge may place the offender on probation under such terms as the judge deems appropriate. W.S. 7-13-302, 304, 305. “The sentencing judge has continuing jurisdiction over a probationer and inherent power to revoke probation granted. Knobel v. State [576 P.2d 941, 943 (Wyo.1978) ]; State v. Reisch ([491 P.2d 1254,1255 (Wyo.1971) ]) * * Smith v. State, 598 P.2d 1389, 1390 (Wyo.1979). In Smith we recognized, “a trial judge’s sentencing duties in a particular case are not over and a criminal ease wherein probation is granted not closed until a defendant has satisfactorily served his probation period or his probation revoked.” Id. at 1391. We further observed that
probation is a matter over which the sentencing judge takes a personal hand. His decision is one that he has made upon the basis of his own judgment of the defendant’s potential. He has retained control over the defendant’s conduct because of an intimate acquaintance with defendant as a person gained through his own observation in the courtroom and a special study of his background. No one is in a better position than the sentencing judge to accomplish the objects of probation and keep track of its progress. The supervision of probation, through his probation officers, is one of the most important duties per*1294formed by the trial judge. It is one of his functions in which he cannot be completely impersonal. So there are compelling reasons for the particular judge allowing probation to trace and retain an individual concern over each defendant in whom he has placed his confidence.
* * * * * *
The probation revocation proceeding of February, 1979, was only a continuation of the guilty plea proceedings held in June, 1978 * * *.

Id.

With respect to the institution of probation revocation proceedings, if either the state probation and parole officer or a county attorney determines that consideration should be given to retaking or reincar-cerating a probationer who allegedly has violated a condition of probation, then that officer or county attorney shall notify the court. W.S. 7-13-408(a). Gronski v. State, 700 P.2d 777, 778 (Wyo.1985); Minchew v. State, 685 P.2d 30, 31 (Wyo.1984); Weisser v. State, 600 P.2d 1320,1323 (Wyo. 1979); Smith, 598 P.2d at 1390; and Unobel v. State, 576 P.2d 941, 943 (Wyo.1978). Either a probation officer or a county attorney may initiate the revocation proceedings:
in both instances the request for revocation [is] directed to the judge and, based upon the showing in the petition, it [is] the judge who [decides] whether or not to issue a warrant for the apprehension of the defendant. Furthermore, in both instances, it [is] the court that [decides] the ultimate revocation issue.
Weisser, 600 P.2d at 1323. Just as the granting of probation is addressed to the sound discretion of the sentencing judge, so is its revocation. Gronski, 700 P.2d at 778.
Our statutory provisions and our case law provide the proper due process protections to which a probationer faced with possible probation revocation is entitled. Among the many safeguards which our law affords the probationer in that circumstance are rights to written notice of the nature and content of the allegations, a probable-cause hearing before a judge, an opportunity to consult with any persons whose assistance he reasonably desires, confront and examine any person who has made allegations against him, counsel, present evidence on his own behalf, and a decision on the merits by the sentencing judge who makes a conscientious judgment after hearing the facts. See W.S. 7-13-305, 408; W.S. 7-6-104; Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. 778, 93 S.Ct. 1756, 36 L.Ed.2d 656 (1973); Minchew, 685 P.2d at 31-32. Although the decision to revoke probation is not based upon a “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard of proof, the sentencing judge’s revocation decision is reviewable under an abuse of discretion standard. Longwell v. State, 705 P.2d 336, 338 (Wyo.1985); and Minchew, 685 P.2d at 32.
In light of this review of the nature and substance of the imposition, supervision and revocation of probation under Wyoming law, we reject the Cooneys’ arguments that Mr. Cooney’s criminal case was closed and his criminal proceedings were at an end when deputy county attorney White performed his challenged activities. Although it is true that “[a] probation revocation hearing is not a trial on a new criminal charge,” we recognize it is “an extension of the sentencing procedure resulting from conviction of the basic charge, coupled with” the probationer’s due process entitlements. Minchew, 685 P.2d at 31. As we have shown, from the granting of probation through the supervision of probation to the revocation of probation, the sentencing judge has continuing jurisdiction over the probationer during the sentencing stage of the criminal proceeding. Without a doubt, this sentencing stage is an integral part of the judicial phase of the criminal process. We emphasize and add to that said earlier: “The supervision of probation, through his probation officers [and, we would add, the county attorney] is one of the most important duties performed by the trial judge.” Smith, 598 P.2d at 1391.

Intimate Association of Prosecutor’s Activities With Judicial Phase of Criminal Process

In our foregoing review of this important sentencing stage of the judicial phase of *1295the criminal process, we have specifically referred to the roles played by the probation officer and the county attorney. As we have shown, under Wyoming law these officials perform vital activities of informing the sentencing judge of possible probation violations and of presenting them to the judge under the probation revocation procedures. Due process safeguards abound during this stage when the judge receives the petition for revocation from the county attorney “and, based thereon, gives probable-cause consideration to the issuance of an arrest warrant, and thereafter conducts a hearing with the probationer present.” Weisser, 600 P.2d at 1323. Viewing deputy county attorney White’s challenged activities in this perspective, we reject the Cooneys’ argument that his challenged activities are not the functional equivalent of the prosecutor’s role as an advocate in a criminal proceeding. We are convinced that his challenged activities are advocatory and “intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process” and, therefore, “are functions to which the reasons for absolute immunity apply with full force.” Imbler, 424 U.S. at 430, 96 S.Ct. at 995, 47 L.Ed.2d at 143.
We find substantial support for our conviction in several decisions in the federal circuit courts of appeal. In Harris v. Menendez, 817 F.2d 737 (11th Cir.1987), an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the court relied on Imbler and extended absolute immunity to a state’s attorney who allegedly perjured himself and conspired with the judge and a deputy sheriff to have the probationer arrested without probable cause and to have his probation revoked. In Allen v. Thompson, 815 F.2d 1433 (11th Cir.1987) (per curiam), a civil rights action, the court extended absolute immunity to a United States Attorney and an assistant United States Attorney who, at the Federal Parole Commission’s request, wrote a letter to the Bureau of Prisons and the Parole Commission allegedly falsely advising that a prisoner was guilty of additional drug trafficking for which he had not been charged or convicted, which resulted in the prisoner’s parole eligibility date being enlarged and the prisoner’s being reclassified to receive special monitoring. Finding that the federal prosecutor’s activity of submitting information to the Federal Parole Commission falls within Imbler’s protection, the Court explained:
a probation officer is entitled to immunity when preparing and submitting a pre-sentence report in a criminal case. We noted that “[t]he report is an integral part of the sentencing process, and in preparing the report the probation officer acts at the direction of the court.”
Here, the prosecutor responsible for [the prisoner’s] case forwarded information about [the prisoner] to the Parole Commission at the Commission’s request. This duty is assigned to the U.S. attorney’s office as part of its role in the prosecution and sentencing of federal cases. Parole decisions are the continuation of the sentencing process, and the Assistant United States Attorney’s reports to the Parole Commission are part of that process. While not undertaken literally at the direction of the court, these activities are so intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process as to cloak the prosecutors with absolute immunity from suits for damages.
Id. at 1434.
In Hamilton v. Daley, 111 F.2d 1207 (7th Cir.1985), an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the court gave absolute immunity to an assistant state’s attorney who allegedly forced two complaining witnesses to testify although he knew their testimony would be false and who allegedly caused an arrest warrant to issue for an alleged probation violation. Relying on Imbler, the court said: “Probation revocation is a criminal proceeding. Prosecutors are absolutely immune from suit for initiating a prosecution and presenting the state’s case.” Hamilton, 111 F.2d at 1213. Addressing the probationer’s claim about the arrest warrant, the court observed, “ * * * we have long held that securing the attendance of witnesses is associated with the judicial process and that any claim against a prosecutor arising from that activity is barred by absolute immunity. Daniels v. Kieser, *1296586 F.2d 64, 69 (7th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 441 U.S. 931, 99 S.Ct. 2050, 60 L.Ed.2d 659 (1979).” Id. See also, Taylor v. Jones, 121 Cal.App.3d 885, 175 Cal.Rptr. 678 (1981), where the court extended absolute immunity to county district attorneys who, allegedly motivated by racial prejudice, were involved in revoking probation.
In our review of the more recent decisions of the federal circuit courts of appeals, we find the following courts extending absolute immunity to prosecutors who make decisions in connection with the initiation of criminal proceedings:

First Circuit

Campbell v. State of Maine, 787 F.2d 776 (1st Cir.1986) (prosecutor withholding exculpatory information in presenting case; bad faith exception does not exist).
Malachowski v. City of Keene, 787 F.2d 704 (1st Cir.), cert, denied, 479 U.S. 828, 107 S.Ct. 107, 93 L.Ed.2d 56 (1986) (city attorney prosecuting juvenile delinquency proceeding).

Second Circuit

Baez v. Hennessy, 853 F.2d 73 (2d Cir. 1988), cert, denied, — U.S. -, 109 S.Ct. 805, 102 L.Ed.2d 796 (1989) (assistant district attorney mistakenly initiated grand jury indictment and filed it with the court which later dismissed it when mistake was discovered).
Barr v. Abrams, 810 F.2d 358 (2d Cir. 1987) (assistant state attorney general initiated criminal contempt proceeding and obtained arrest warrant leading to an unlawful arrest and imprisonment before charges dropped).

Sixth Circuit

Joseph v. Patterson, 795 F.2d 549 (6th Cir.1986), cert, denied, 481 U.S. 1023, 107 S.Ct. 1910, 95 L.Ed.2d 516 (1987) (state prosecutors allegedly knowingly obtained issuance of criminal complaints and arrest warrants based on false, coerced statements).

Seventh Circuit

Henderson v. Lopez, 790 F.2d 44 (7th Cir.1986) (assistant state’s attorney on whose legal advice county sheriff unwar-rantedly arrested and jailed plaintiff who had earlier satisfied a contempt citation for failure to pay child support).

Eighth Circuit

Casey-El v. Hazel, 863 F.2d 29 (8th Cir. 1988) (state prosecutor allegedly withheld ballistics test results that would have established accused’s innocence). Williams v. Hartje, 827 F.2d 1203 (8th Cir.1987) (county prosecutor allegedly concealed autopsy report and threatened an eyewitness into giving false testimony at coroner’s inquest into a black prisoner’s death at the hands of his white jailers).
Myers v. Morris, 810 F.2d 1437 (8th Cir.), cert, denied, 484 U.S. 828, 108 S.Ct. 97, 98 L.Ed.2d 58 (1987) (county prosecutor allegedly knowingly offered false, misleading or perjured testimony and destroyed evidence, and without adequate investigation initiated and presented case in child sexual abuse proceedings).

Ninth Circuit

McCarthy v. Mayo, 827 F.2d 1310 (9th Cir.1987) (special deputy attorneys general initiated criminal proceedings allegedly with knowledge that the statute of limitations had run).
Ashelman v. Pope, 793 F.2d 1072 (9th Cir.1986) (alleged conspiracy between judge and prosecutor to predetermine outcome of a judicial proceeding). Demery v. Kupperman, 735 F.2d 1139 (9th Cir.1984) (state deputy attorney general allegedly induced witnesses to testify falsely in connection with medical license revocation administrative proceedings).

Tenth Circuit

Meade v. Grubbs, 841 F.2d 1512 (10th Cir.1988) (state attorney general failed to initiate a civil or criminal complaint against certain state officials for their alleged physical violence toward and de*1297nial of medical care for a prisoner in their custody).
Martinez v. Winner, 771 F.2d 424 (10th Cir. 1985) (prosecutor failed to investigate independently a suspect’s guilt).
Lerwill v. Joslin, 712 F.2d 435 (10th Cir. 1983) (city attorney initiated a prosecution for violations of state law he was not authorized to invoke; procured an arrest warrant from a justice of the peace who did not follow required state procedure in issuing the warrant, and advocated' excessive bail before a magistrate).

Eleventh Circuit

Marx v. Gumbinner, 855 F.2d 783 (11th Cir.1988) (state attorney and assistant state attorney caused father to be arrested and jailed without probable cause when later blood tests revealed father could not have been the one who had sexually assaulted his four-year old daughter).
With reference to the level of immunity accorded probation officers involved in probation revocation proceedings, we note that the Fifth Circuit recently extended absolute immunity to parole officers.6 In Farrish v. Mississippi State Parole Board, 836 F.2d 969 (5th Cir.1988), an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the parolee was arrested on warrant issued by a municipal judge. A few days later, the parolee’s parole officer issued a paroled prisoner arrest warrant causing the parolee to be detained without bond. At his informal preliminary hearing the parolee requested the presence of the complaining witness. The parole officer and hearing officer said they could not compel the witness’s appearance. That witness did not appear; however, that witness's hearsay statement was presented along with other evidence. The hearing officer found probable cause to exist. The parolee was held in custody for the final revocation hearing before the state parole board. At that final hearing, held a month after preliminary hearing, the complaining witness did not appear and the parole board found no reasonable cause to revoke the parolee’s parole. The court concluded that the parole officer’s challenged activities were prosecutorial in nature and deserving of absolute immunity. Using Im-bler’s “functional” approach, the court determined that “the parole revocation process is indistinguishable from the initial parole process and, arguably, is even more adjudicatory in nature.” Id., at 974.- Contra, Ray v. Pickett, 734 F.2d 370 (8th Cir. 1984) (federal probation officer who allegedly falsified parole violation report given only qualified immunity; however, the federal probation revocation scheme in question was administrative in nature and substance, unlike Wyoming’s, which is judicial); and Galvan v. Garmon, 710 F.2d 214 (5th Cir.1983) (the court held that a state probation officer, who mistakenly prepared a motion to revoke probation and caused the probationer to be arrested and jailed for twenty days, was entitled to only qualified immunity). The Galvan court failed to explain satisfactorily why it believed the probation revocation stage of the criminal process was less intimately associated with the judicial phase .than the presentence stage. Both the presentence stage and the probation revocation stage are intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process under Wyoming law.
As we are not called upon in this case to decide the appropriate level of immunity to which a probation officer is entitled, under the circumstances of this case we need not further discuss Ray, Galvan, or the similar case of Wolfel v. Sanborn, 691 F.2d 270 (6th Cir.1982) (per curiam), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1115,103 S.Ct. 751, 74 L.Ed.2d 969 (1983), urged on us by the Cooneys as analogically supportive of their position. As we have explained, in view of the nature and substance of the sentencing procedure and the probation, supervision and probation revocation stages within that procedure, and in view of the closely related roles within that procedure played by the sentencing judge, the probation officer and *1298the county attorney, the county attorney’s challenged activities are advocatory, not administrative, and are intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process.
Because both the probation revocation stage and the presentence stage of the sentencing procedure are intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process, we find further substantial support for our holding in the numerous decisions extending absolute immunity to probation officers involved in the presentence stage of the sentencing process. Federal probation officers have been held absolutely immune in their preparation and submission of presentence reports. See Dorman v. Higgins, 821 F.2d 133 (2d Cir.1987); Tripati v. United, States Immigration and Naturalization Service, 784 F.2d 345 (10th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1028, 108 S.Ct. 755, 98 L.Ed.2d 767 (1988); Spaulding v. Nielsen, 599 F.2d 728 (5th Cir.1979). State probation officers have been held absolutely immune for their preparation and submission of presentence reports in other courts. Turner v. Berry, 856 F.2d 1539 (D.C.Cir.1988); Demoran v. Witt, 781 F.2d 155 (9th Cir.1985); Burkes v. Callion, 433 F.2d 318 (9th Cir.1970); Friedman v. Younger, 282 F.Supp. 710 (C.D.Cal.1968) (also extending absolute immunity to district attorneys); Hughes v. Chesser, 731 F.2d 1489 (11th Cir.1984), Shelton v. McCarthy, 699 F.Supp. 412 (W.D.N.Y. 1988). The Shelton court identified three factors which justify absolute immunity for state probation officers acts involving pre-sentence reports: (1) the nature of the function performed, (2) the impossibility of guaranteeing the accuracy of the information to be reported, and (3) the routine adversary review and judicial scrutiny of the reports. We think these last mentioned factors are equally applicable to the probation revocation stage and lend support to extending absolute immunity to the county attorneys who prepare and present petitions for revocation of probation to the judge. Shelton, 699 F.Supp. at 415.
The Ninth Circuit’s reasoning in Demo-ran which afforded immunity to a state probation officer who allegedly deliberately falsified a presentence report, applies as well to the deputy county attorney in this case. This reasoning is closely paralleled by the Tenth Circuit’s Tripati opinion, which involved a federal probation officer. Applying that reasoning here, we believe that the deputy county attorney’s challenged activities serve a function integral to the independent judicial process. He acts as an arm of the sentencing judge. He is required by law to investigate and report to the judge upon the circumstances of any possible probation violation. The prospect of damage liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 would seriously erode the county attorney’s ability to carry out his independent fact-finding function and thereby impair the sentencing judge’s ability to carry out his judicial duties.
A plethora of procedural safeguards surrounds the filing of a probation revocation petition. The petition is reviewed by the judge who makes an ex parte probable-cause determination. The probationer receives a copy of the petition and is entitled to counsel, to consult with persons whose assistance he reasonably desires, to confront complaining witnesses, to present evidence on his own behalf and to the sentencing judge’s decision on the merits after conscientiously hearing the facts. In addition to that first level of judicial review, the probationer is afforded review by this court to ensure that the sentencing judge’s revocation decision was not the result of an abuse of sound discretion.
We believe it evident that a deputy county attorney who assists the court in making these determinations during the sentencing process is performing activities which are exclusively for the benefit of the court. We hold, therefore, that these challenged activities are intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process and are functions to which the reasons for absolute immunity apply with full force.7
*1299We close our discussion of this issue with these words:
The purpose of absolute immunity is to protect the function of the prosecutor as the key participant in the criminal process. The doctrine involves a choice between protecting all prosecutors from harassing lawsuits over their official acts and providing redress for all injuries occasioned by those acts. When such a choice is made in the law, it is inevitable that someone will be hurt. But the choice must be made, and it has been long decided that it is better to allow a few wrongs to go unredressed than to expose all prosecutors to the risk of retaliation for their occasional honest mistakes. Gregoire v. Biddle, 177 F.2d 579, 581 (2d Cir.1949) (L. Hand, J.), cert. denied, 339 U.S. 949, 70 S.Ct. 803, 94 L.Ed. 1363 (1950).
Williams, 827 F.2d at 1208.
C. Claims Act Immunity for All Appellees
The district court dismissed the Cooneys’ state tort claims against all of the appellees after it concluded that no statutory waiver of sovereign immunity existed under the Claims Act upon which those claims could be based. The Claims Act did not create new causes of action against the State of Wyoming, its employees, agencies, or political subdivisions; rather, it statutorily affirmed the idea that those parties generally enjoy sovereign immunity from civil liability with the exception of certain conduct for which that immunity is specifically waived. Pickle v. Board of County Commissioners of County of Platte, 764 P.2d 262, 266 (Wyo.1988). Cf. Oroz v. Board of County Commissioners of Carbon County, 575 P.2d 1155, 1159 (Wyo. 1978). The Claims Act provides a “close-ended” waiver of immunity from liability, and an injured party suing an arm of the State of Wyoming under the Act must first establish that the conduct complained of fits into a specific statutory waiver of immunity for liability. W.S. l-39-104(a); Abelseth v. City of Gillette, 752 P.2d 430, 433 (Wyo.1988) (citing Boehm v. Cody Country Chamber of Commerce, 748 P.2d 704, 709 (Wyo.1987)).
*1300Appellees rested their motion to dismiss the Cooneys’ state tort claims on the assertion that the conduct complained of did not fit into any of the enumerated exceptions to immunity. They argued that the only applicable exception the Cooneys could assert would be the one set out in W.S. 1-39-112 (Cum.Supp.1985), which provided: “A governmental entity is liable for damages resulting from tortious conduct of law enforcement officers while acting within the scope of their duties.” (emphasis added). See 1986 Wyo.Sess.Laws ch. 74, § 2. Appellees also argued that a plain interpretation of this statute would be proper in light of this court’s opinion in Hurst v. State, 698 P.2d 1130, 1132-33 (Wyo.1985).
In Hurst, we faced the issue whether the plain language of the same statute subjected members of the Wyoming State Board of Parole or its parole officers to civil liability for their alleged negligence in allowing a parolee to leave the state, after which he committed numerous murders. This court’s analysis in Hurst noted that the legislature had not given the phrase “law enforcement officers” a statutory definition. Hurst, 698 P.2d at 1133. This court resolved that problem by looking to the plain meaning of “law enforcement officer” which led us to the phrase “peace officer.” Id. That phrase indicated a legislative intent to limit peace officers to those persons with the direct authority to make arrests or keep the peace, and this court upheld the trial court’s determination that parole officers were not vested with that kind of authority. That interpretation of the plain language of W.S. 1-39-112 (Cum.Supp. 1985) was also compared with case law from other jurisdictions defining the class of persons considered law enforcement officers, which case law generally supported that distinction. Id. at 1134. Relying on this information this court held that the waiver of sovereign immunity under the phrase “law enforcement officer” did not extend to the Parole Board or its officers. Id. Appellees have asserted that under either the unambiguous language of W.S. 1-39-112, or the holding in Hurst, or both, no statutory waiver of immunity existed to allow the Cooneys’ state tort claims.
The Cooneys have countered those arguments by urging a broader waiver of sovereign immunity under W.S. 1-39-112, premised on a review of its subsequent legislative history. They explained that this court published its opinion in Hurst in April 1985. In the next year, during the 1986 legislative session, the legislature amended W.S. 1-39-112 by substituting the phrase “peace officers” for “law enforcement officers.” That amendment became effective on March 18, 1986, three days after Mr. Coo-ney was incarcerated. The Cooneys further noted that the amendment went on to provide for an automatic repealer that would change the phrase “peace officers” back to “law enforcement officers” effective June 16, 1988. See 1986 Wyo.Sess. Laws ch. 74, § 4. The Cooneys theorized that this legislative maneuver was intended to create a two year time period during which the legislature could set up a state self-insurance program to provide monies to be available to pay for the liability of a “peace officer.” See W.S. 1-41-101 through 1-41-111 (Cum.Supp.1986). They also argued that the 1986 amendment’s automatic resuscitation of the phrase “law enforcement officer” into the current version W.S. 1-39-112 stands as evidence of legislative intent to give that phrase a broader meaning than the one articulated by this court in Hurst. Under this line of reasoning, they concluded that the legislature intended the phrase “law enforcement officers” in W.S. 1-39-112 to have a broader meaning from the inception of the statute and that it waived tort sovereign immunity for the appellees in this case and any other governmental officials who assert a more general authority to enforce the laws.
The district court considered the arguments of both parties on this issue and ruled for appellees. In its decision letter it rejected the Cooneys’ approach to statutory interpretation of W.S. 1-39-112, and dismissed their state tort claims against all appellees finding them to be barred by sovereign immunity.
*1301In this appeal, the Cooneys advance essentially the same arguments they made before the district court and candidly request that we overrule our decision in Hurst to reach the result they desire. The Cooneys’ theory is creative, but, stripped of its trappings, advocates placing this court in the role of legislative clairvoyant when the unambiguous language of the controlling statute, W.S. 1-39-112, plainly does not waive tort immunity for persons who are not “law enforcement officers” as we defined that phrase in Hurst The legislative intent that might have been lurking behind recent changes to the language in W.S. 1-39-112 is not a substitute for upholding a plain reading of an unambiguous statute. Hurst does that, and stare decisis demands that we follow Hurst in this case. We do not see any statutory waiver of sovereign immunity for appellees under the plain language of W.S. 1-39-112. We affirm the district court’s W.R.C.P. 12(b)(6) dismissal of the appellants’ complaint.
URBIGKIT and MACY, JJ., filed dissenting opinions.

. Their claims included malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, abuse of probation revocation process, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

. The Cooneys commenced this action with a May 15, 1986, letter to appellee State of Wyoming as mandated by the Claims Act. That letter claim was filed on May 19, 1986, and denied by the State of Wyoming on September 5, 1986. The Cooneys filed a Claims Act claim against appellee Park County on March 13, 1987. They filed the complaint in this case on May 14, 1987. Appellees White and Park County filed a W.R.C.P. 12(b)(6) motion and an accompanying brief on June 15, 1987. By stipulation of the parties, appellees the State of Wyoming, the Department, and Mayor filed their motion to dismiss and supporting materials on July 15, 1987. The Cooneys filed a brief in opposition to those motions on July 30, 1987. The district court filed its decision letter on the appellees’ motions on November 10, 1987, in which it dismissed all claims against White and the Claims Act claims against Park County, the State of Wyoming, the Department, and Mayor for failure to state claims upon which relief could be granted under W.R.C.P. 12(b)(6). A corresponding order was filed on December 7, *12901987. The Cooneys then moved the district court to finalize its order on the motions to dismiss under W.R.C.P. 54(b) on December 15, 1987. The district court gave the parties notice concerning this motion and responses in opposition were filed by appellees the State of Wyoming, the Department and Mayor. The district court held a hearing on the matter on January 13, 1988, after which it granted the Cooneys' motion and entered an order to that effect on January 25, 1988. The Cooneys appealed that final order on February 1, 1988.
On its own motion, this court dismissed that appeal because the district court’s W.R.C.P. 54(b) certification did not contain at least a brief explanation for the district court’s conclusion to take that action. See Tader v. Tader, 737 P.2d 1065 (Wyo.1987). On remand the Cooneys made a W.R.C.P. 60(a) motion for a revised order. A revised final order was entered on June 7, 1988; this appeal was taken from that order.

. Imbler identified those reasons as:
1) a prosecutor is more likely to be sued when he decides, rather than declines, to prosecute; thus, the desire to avoid liability would always slant a prosecutor’s conduct toward fewer prosecutions. This result clashes with the prosecutor’s public duty to enforce the law vigorously;
2) the volume of potential lawsuits poses a serious threat to a prosecutor’s decision making. Each time a prosecutor moves against an individual, he is exposed to an identifiable potential plaintiff. Conventional wisdom informs that, generally, criminal defendants are unlikely to view prosecutorial actions as having been taken in good faith. Consequently, any overturned action could generate a lawsuit. These damage claims against prosecutors may drain a disproportionately large amount of prosecutorial time — which would be better spent serving the criminal justice system;
3) qualified professionals may choose not to serve in the high-profile post of prosecutor because of an increased likelihood of untoward influences on the exercise of prosecu-torial discretion and the increased drain on prosecutorial time caused by lawsuits;
4) prosecutors may be more reluctant to admit weaknesses in their cases or to produce later-discovered exculpatory evidence. Appellate judges may be more reluctant to reverse convictions if to do so might spark damage suits;
5) in-place judicial review mechanisms satisfactorily operate to deter prosecutorial misconduct. Moreover, prosecutors are subject to professional discipline, formal removal proceedings and criminal liability; and
6) reexamination in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action of the many prosecutorial decisions made under time and information constraints would involve a retrying of the criminal charge before a jury different from the one who decided the criminal charge and would run the risk of conflicting decisions.
Id., 424 U.S. at 424-29, 96 S.Ct. at 992-94, 47 L.Ed.2d at 139-43.

. 42 U.S.C. § 1983 provides:
Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory, subjects or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.

. In Imbler, a plurality of the Court expressly stated:
We have no occasion to consider whether like or similar reasons require immunity for those aspects of the prosecutor’s responsibility that cast him in the role of an administrator or investigative office rather than that of advocate.33
******
"33 We recognize that the duties of the prosecutor in his role as advocate for the State involve actions preliminary to the initiation of a prosecution and actions apart from the courtroom. A prosecuting attorney is required constantly, in the course of his duty as such, to make decisions on a wide variety of sensitive issues. These include questions of whether to present a case to a grand jury, whether to file an information, whether and when to prosecute, whether to dismiss an indictment against particular defendants, which witnesses to call, and what other evidence to present. Preparation, both for the initiation of the criminal process and for trial, *1293may require the obtaining, reviewing, and evaluating of evidence. At some point, and with respect to some decisions, the prosecutor no doubt functions as an administrator rather than as an officer of the court. Drawing a proper line between these functions may present difficult questions, but this case does not require us to anticipate them.
Imbler, 424 U.S. at 430-31, 96 S.Ct. at 995, 47 L.Ed.2d at 144 (quoted in Blake, 651 P.2d at 1101-02 (emphasis added)).

. For revocation purposes no distinctions have been drawn between offenders on parole or offenders on probation. Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. 778, 782, 93 S.Ct. 1756, 1759, 36 L.Ed.2d 656, 661 (1973).

. Safeguards against prosecutorial misconduct, other than damages actions within 42 U.S.C. § 1983, exist outside the judicial process in the form of professional sanctions and criminal prosecutions. In Imbler, the Court made it a point to remind prosecutors that:
*1299This Court has never suggested that the policy considerations which compel civil immunity for certain governmental officials also place them beyond the reach of the criminal law. Even judges, cloaked with absolute civil immunity for centuries, could be punished criminally for willful deprivations of constitutional rights on the strength of 18 U.S.C. § 242, the criminal analog of § 1983. The prosecutor would fare no better for his willful acts. Moreover, a prosecutor stands perhaps unique, among officials whose acts could deprive persons of constitutional rights, in his amenability to professional discipline by an association of his peers. These checks undermine the argument that the imposition of civil liability is the only way to insure that prosecutors are mindful of the constitutional rights of persons accused of crime.
Id., 424 U.S. at 429, 96 S.Ct. at 994, 47 L.Ed.2d at 142-43 (citing ABA Code of Professional Responsibility § EC 7-13. and ABA Standards, supra, n. 24, §§ 1.1(c), (e), and Commentary, pp. 44-45) (other citations and footnotes omitted). Abusive Wyoming prosecutors are always subject to professional sanctions and criminal prosecutions. See Wyoming Rules for Professional Conduct of Attorneys at Law 3.3, 3.4, 3.8, 4.1, and 8.4 (1986).
Once properly investigated, these cases should be pursued by the Wyoming Bar and the Attorney General’s office with zeal. The deterrence to abusive prosecution that results from a proper disbarment and/or conviction is logically much more effective than a large punitive damages award in a § 1983 action. When analyzing prosecutorial immunity cases, we will not arbitrarily conclude that these contemporaneous remedies are necessarily ineffective or inadequate. Doing so would require this court to hold that we are incapable of policing prosecu-torial abuses properly investigated and presented to us by the Wyoming Bar, or that a majority of Wyoming prosecutors necessarily would violate their constitutional oaths rather than prosecute another lawyer. Conclusions of that character are untenable and must not be based on speculation. Compare Gray v. Bell, 712 F.2d 490, 501 (D.C.Cir.1983) (judicial supervision under the exclusionary rule and professional sanctions are often too attenuated from the judicial process to provide more than "hollow and ineffectual remedies.”). See also Higgs v. District Court In and For the County of Douglas, 713 P.2d 840, 856 (Colo.1985). They must come from the record or from judicially noticeable sources. Accord Briggs v. Goodwin, 569 F.2d 10, 24 (D.C.Cir.1977), cert, denied, 437 U.S. 904, 98 S.Ct. 3089, 57 L.Ed.2d 1133 (1978) (where the record indicated a four and one-half year lapse since the alleged prosecutorial misconduct without any official inquiry). Without record evidence to the contrary, we must assume that professional sanctions and criminal prosecution are remedies available to an aggrieved private citizen as a deterrent to prosecutorial abuses.

. An observation made in Mitchell, 472 U.S. at 522-23, 105 S.Ct. at 2813 that "the judicial process is largely self-correcting: procedural rules, appeals, and the possibility of collateral challenges obviate the need for damages actions to prevent unjust results" is undemonstrable in general occurrence as a nature of events in this country and clearly wrong here. Thirty-eight days in jail is proof of the erroneous observation. A most striking article is Greengard, Lawyer Discipline Today, 17 Barrister 11 (1990). Every appellate judge and lawyer involved in attorney discipline should read this article.