Lawsuits target Sheriff's Department

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HUNTSVILLE — A pair of lawsuits filed in recent weeks target the Scott County Sheriff’s Department and are connected to investigations of drug activity.

Both complaints were filed in Scott County Circuit Court.

The latest was filed on Jan. 4 by Garry Stanley, of Winfield, and names the Tenessee Methamphetamine Task Force and Scott County Sheriff’s Department as defendants, along with individual officers of both law enforcement agencies.

Stanley, who is represented by Wartburg attorney Andrew Hall, was charged with manufacturing and possession of methamphetamine on Dec. 31, 2008. He was arraigned in General Sessions Court on Jan. 14, 2009, but charges were dismissed in April 2009.

In the complaint, Stanley alleges that “what was thought to be manufactured methamphetamine turned out not to be actual methamphetamine.”

Stanley seeks damages related to pain and suffering, lost wages and legal expenses. A specific monetary amount is not stated in the complaint.

The second complaint was filed in December by Oneida residents Tracey L. Douglas and Chris Jenkins.

The couple filed the lawsuit against Scott County and the Sheriff’s Department, and seek to have personal property returned that was allegedly confiscated as the result of a Sheriff’s Department drug investigation.

Jenkins was originally charged with drug-related offenses. However, those charges were later dismissed. Tracey Douglas was not charged, nor was she a part of the investigation.

The lawsuit alleges that the couple lost “all of their property located in the residence and all of their property located outside the residence.”

The plaintiffs seek to have the property returned, as well as compensatory and punitive damages.