Board of the County Commissioners of Bryan County, Oklahoma v. Jill Brown et al.

Decided April 28, 1997. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 95-1100 · 520 U.S. 397 (1997) · Cited 7,185 times

Holding

The county is not liable for Sheriff Moore’s isolated decision to hire Burns without adequate screening, because respondent has not demonstrated that the decision reflected a conscious disregard for a high risk that Burns would use excessive force in violation of respondent’s federally protected right.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs. · 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
• City of Canton v. Harris · 489 U.S. 378 (1989)
• Pembaur v. City of Cincinnati · 475 U.S. 469 (1986)
• City of Oklahoma v. Tuttle · 471 U.S. 808 (1985)
• City of St. Louis v. Praprotnik · 485 U.S. 112 (1988)
• Owen v. City of Independence · 445 U.S. 622 (1980)
• Monroe v. Pape · 365 U.S. 167 (1961)
• City of Newport v. Fact Concerts, Inc. · 453 U.S. 247 (1981)
• Jett v. Dallas Independent School District · 491 U.S. 701 (1989)
• Estelle v. Gamble · 429 U.S. 97 (1976)
• Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co. · 398 U.S. 144 (1970)
• Daniels v. Williams · 474 U.S. 327 (1986)
• United States v. Gaudin · 515 U.S. 506 (1995)
• Continental T. v. Inc. v. GTE Sylvania Inc. · 433 U.S. 36 (1977)
• United States v. Arnold, Schwinn & Co. · 388 U.S. 365 (1967)
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Inc. v. Hydrolevel Corp. · 456 U.S. 556 (1982)
• City of Springfield v. Kibbe · 480 U.S. 257 (1987)
• United States v. Bramblett · 348 U.S. 503 (1955)
• Hubbard v. United States · 514 U.S. 695 (1995)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Davis Ex Rel. LaShonda D. v. Monroe County Board of Education · 526 U.S. 629 (1999)
• Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District · 524 U.S. 274 (1998)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1997). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).