Gresham v. Sanford

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS EL DORADO DIVISION

CLAY THOMAS GRESHAM PLAINTIFF

v. Civil No. 1:23-CV-01098-SOH-BAB NURSE KASEY SANFORD; DR. DEANNA HOPSON; C.O. TIBBS; CAPTAIN LISA WORLEY; TURN KEY HEALTH CLINICS, LLC DEFENDANTS

ORDER Having entered an order allowing the Plaintiff to proceed in forma pauperis, (ECF No. 2), and having received service addresses for Defendants Nurse Kasey Sanford and Dr. Deanna Hopson, this Court hereby directs the United States Marshal to serve the Complaint, (ECF No. 1), on Defendants Sanford and Hopson at the following address: c/o Alexandra G. Ah Loy Hall Booth Smith, P.C., 6301 Waterford Blvd., Ste. 200, Oklahoma City, OK 73118 Defendants may be served by certified mail with a return receipt requested. Defendants are to be served without prepayment of fees and costs or security therefor. Defendants are ordered to answer within twenty-one (21) days from the date of service.

If a service recipient will not accept service for a Defendant, the service recipient is DIRECTED to so advise the Court and provide the Court with the Defendant’s last known address and phone number. This information may be filed with the Clerk of the Court in response to this Order and may be filed under seal.

The Clerk is directed to prepare and issue summons and a USM 285 for each Defendant being served.

Further, this Court previously ordered that Turn Key Health Clinics, LLC (“Turn Key”) be added as a defendant to this action for the purposes of obtaining service addresses for the individual Turn Key defendants. (ECF No. 7). Having received a service address for those defendants, the Court hereby directs that the Clerk’s Office STRIKE Turn Key, LLC as a separate defendant to this action. The parties are CAUTIONED, however, that Plaintiff has identified all the defendants in their individual and official capacities. See (ECF No. 1). Official-capacity suits “generally represent only another way of pleading an action against an entity of which an officer is an agent.”

Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 165 (1985). The Order directing the Clerk to strike Turn Key, LLC is not intended as a reflection on the merits of Plaintiff’s individual and official capacity claims against Defendants Sanford and Hopson. Those claims remain pending. Defendant Turn Key’s Motion to Dismiss, (ECF No. 11), is therefore MOOT.

IT IS SO ORDERED this 5th day of December 2023.

/s/ Barry A. Bryant HON. BARRY A. BRYANT UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE