Livingston v. Unified Government of Wyandotte County

── Livingston v. Unified Government of Wyandotte County ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: April 15, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 25-3041 Document: 48 Date Filed: 04/15/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT April 15, 2026 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court ADRIAN D. LIVINGSTON, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. No. 25-3041 (D.C. No. 5:23-CV-03032-EFM-BGS) UNIFIED GOVERNMENT OF (D. Kan.) WYANDOTTE COUNTY; WYANDOTTE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS; ADAM SOKOLOFF; TAYLOR HINES; (FNU) SANDERS; (FNU) CONTRERAS; DONALD ASH; DAVID THAXTON; CHARLES PATRICK; DWIGHT BAXTON, Defendants - Appellees, and TRACY MCCULLOUGH, Defendant. _________________________________ ORDER AND JUDGMENT * _________________________________ Before PHILLIPS, EID, and FEDERICO, Circuit Judges. After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined * unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.  Appellate Case: 25-3041 Document: 48 Date Filed: 04/15/2026 Page: 2 _________________________________ Plaintiff Adrian D. Livingston, an inmate in the Kansas Department of Corrections, filed a pro se lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 arising from his arrest and conviction on criminal drug charges. The district court dismissed several of his claims at the outset under the screening process required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(A) and later dismissed his remaining claims at the summary judgment stage. Mr. Livingston now appeals. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm. I. Background Two Kansas City, Kansas police officers stopped Mr. Livingston for a seatbelt violation in June 2019. One of the officers thought he smelled marijuana, conducted a search, and found drugs under the passenger seat. Mr. Livingston was taken into custody at the Wyandotte County Detention Center (WCDC) and was released on bond in November 2019, only to be returned to custody in August 2020 after failing to appear for a court date. During his pretrial detention, Mr. Livingston alleges he was held in a cell without adequate ventilation for 23 days and contracted COVID-19. Mr. Livingston was charged with three drug counts: possession with intent to distribute opiates, possession with intent to distribute a depressant, and possession of marijuana. After a one-day trial, the jury acquitted Mr. Livingston on the first two counts and found him guilty on the third. He was sentenced to time served but was not immediately released because WCDC’s inmate management system, known as BluHorse, inaccurately reflected that there was still an active detainer for 2  Appellate Case: 25-3041 Document: 48 Date Filed: 04/15/2026 Page: 3 Mr. Livingston. Later the WCDC discovered that the detainer had