Opinion
Case No. 6:05-cv-431-Orl-28KRS.
July 8, 2005
ORDER
This cause is before the Court on the motion by Defendant Orange County Sheriff's Office ("Sheriff's Office") to dismiss Counts V (Negligent Supervision) and VII (False Imprisonment) of Plaintiff Marta Tosi's Complaint (Doc. 7). Upon careful consideration, the Court has determined that the critical issue in adjudicating the motion of the Sheriff's Office as to both Counts V and VII is whether the Sheriff's Office is a legal entity subject to suit under Florida law. See Dean v. Barber, 951 F.2d 1210, 1214 ("Sheriff's departments and police departments are not usually considered legal entities subject to suit.") (internal quotations and citation omitted);Florida City Police Dept. v. Corcoran, 661 So. 2d 409, 410 ("Where a police department is an integral part of the city government as the vehicle through which the city government fulfills its policing functions, it is not an entity subject to suit.") (citing Dean; Post v. City of Fort Lauderdale, 750 F. Supp. 1131, 1132 (S.D. Fla. 1990); Eddy v. City of Miami, 715 F. Supp. 1553, 1556 (S.D. Fla. 1989)). While resolution of this issue depends on "the law of the state in which the district court is held," Dean, 951 F.2d at 1214, neither the motion of the Sheriff's Office nor Plaintiff's response discuss the legal status of Sheriff's Offices or Departments under Florida law.
In its motion to dismiss, the Sheriff's Office characterizes at least one of the counts alleged against it as a section 1983 claim. Lest there be any continuing confusion on the matter, no such claim has been made against the Sheriff's Office. It is somewhat curious, in fact, that the Sheriff's Office would think otherwise given that its own notice of removal (Doc. 2) in this case clearly recognized that the only claim which formed the basis for this Court's original jurisdiction was Count III — a section 1983 claim, brought solely against Deputies Campbell and Buford.
Given the parties' failure to properly brief the issue which the Court has identified as critical to resolving the motion of the Sheriff's Office, the Court cannot make an informed ruling at this time. The parties shall instead submit memoranda to the Court, not in excess of ten (10) pages in length, which brief the issue of whether the Sheriff's Office is a proper party to this suit. The parties are further ordered to submit such memoranda by July 19, 2005.
DONE and ORDERED.