Hayes v. Faulkner County, Ark.

• Position: ACCESS TO COURT - Brief Article

U.S. District Court

INITIAL APPEARANCE

Hayes v. Faulkner County, Ark., 285 F.Supp.2d 1132 (E.D.Ark. 2003). An arrestee brought a [section] 1983 action against a county, sheriff and jail administrator, complaining of his long detention prior to an initial court appearance. The district court entered judgment in favor of the arrestee, finding that the county's detention policy was deliberately indifferent to the arrestee's constitutional rights. The court held that the sheriff did not possess the requisite level of personal knowledge to be individually liable, but that the jail administrator was not entitled to qualified immunity. The sheriff and jail administrator were responsible for the policy under which the sheriff's office submitted the names of those confined in jail to the court, and then waited for the court to schedule a hearing. The policy resulted in a 38-day delay for the arrestee, in violation of his Fourth Amendment right to a judicial determination of probable cause as a...