Following a nearly decade-long expulsion based on his religious beliefs, Stephen Jarrard will soon resume his volunteer ministry at Polk County Jail in Georgia. Since 2016, Jarrard has been barred from the ministry program because jail officials personally disagreed with Jarrard’s religious views. Notre Dame Law School’s Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic represented Jarrard in his successful appeal to the Eleventh Circuit and recently secured an agreement allowing him to return to his ministry in the jail.
Jarrard has served as a volunteer minister at jail and prison facilities in Georgia for nearly 20 years, including for a number of years as part of a volunteer program that invites community members to share their beliefs with inmates at the Polk County Jail. Through his own ministry, Jarrard shares God’s word and the Gospel with interested prisoners by engaging them in discussions about the Bible. That work has been central to Jarrard’s calling as Church of Christ evangelist.
“I’d rather preach in a jail or prison than I would at a church any day. People at church think, ‘Oh, yeah, I’ve heard that before,’ whereas the incarcerated, their eyes are open like nobody’s ever taught them that before,” said Jarrard. “Prison ministry matters to me because many of the people I minister to have reached the end of the road with their lifestyles—whether that’s crime, drugs, alcohol, or something else. Many of them aren’t just looking for a way out of jail, they’re looking for a way to transform their lives.”
Beginning in 2016, however, County Sheriff Johnny Moats and former Chief Jailer Al Sharp banned Jarrard from the Jail’s ministry program because they personally rejected his views on baptism. As a member of the Church of Christ, Jarrard believes that baptism is necessary for salvation and must be performed by full immersion. In 2019, Moats told Jarrard in writing that those views were not welcome in the Jail because they contradicted Moats’s own interpretation of the Bible. According to the letter, the Jail’s “stance” was that prisoners could wait until after their release to be baptized because baptism is not necessary to secure salvation.
In January 2020, Jarrard sued the county officials, challenging his exclusion from the ministry program under the First Amendment. The trial court dismissed his claim, holding that Jarrard’s religious expression was not entitled to First Amendment protection because his ministry was essentially the County’s own speech to control.
Jarrard appealed the district court’s rejection of his claim, and in September 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed the lower court’s decision. The appellate court agreed with Jarrard that the First Amendment prohibits officials from excluding Jarrard simply because they disagree with his beliefs. The court returned the case for trial to have a jury determine whether Jarrard was excluded for that impermissible reason.
Last month, the parties agreed to settle Jarrard’s claims and executed an agreement that will finally allow Jarrard to return to his ministry within the Jail. The County also agreed to pay Jarrard an undisclosed sum of money.
“We are proud that Stephen will finally be able to return to his life’s calling, helping those study and live out their beliefs, even while imprisoned,” said John Meiser, faculty director of the Lindsay & Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic, who argued Jarrard’s Eleventh Circuit appeal. “He has been denied that basic freedom for far too long—leaving both him, and those to whom he ministers, to suffer.”
Jarrard echoed the importance of standing up for these fundamental constitutional rights. “We have to fight for our freedoms, just like how we got them. People fought for them, and we have to fight to keep them.”
Notre Dame Law School’s Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic led his appeal, alongside Zack Greenamyre of Mitchell Shapiro Greenamyre & Funt, LLP, and Gerald Weber of Law Offices of Gerry Weber, LLC.
“We are grateful for our partnership with John, Meredith, and all of the students,” said Greenamyre. “We were thrilled when they stepped in quickly and skillfully to lead the appeal. But we were all the more impressed when, after having secured a precedent setting appellate victory, the team was ready to join us in the trenches for trial a long way from home. Their dedication got the result for Stephen that we always believed in, even when it seemed remote.”
“We hope that Stephen’s legal win will serve as a reminder that all faiths should be respected behind prison walls,” added Weber.
Students from the Clinic were also involved in every step of the case, from drafting briefs to helping prepare for oral argument to negotiating a resolution.
“Working with Stephen has been an incredibly meaningful experience for our students,” said Meredith Kessler, managing attorney for the Religious Liberty Clinic. “They’ve had the opportunity to craft a successful federal appeal involving thorny legal issues and to help secure a victory for our client. Our Clinic exists for exactly these purposes: to train Notre Dame law students in the practice of law and to represent those, like Stephen, who live out their faith in service to their communities.”
Jarrard expressed his deep appreciation for the Clinic’s legal representation that led to his return to the ministry program. “It didn’t cost me a dime. My wife and I are on a low fixed income and didn’t have the money to fight, so to have organizations like the Clinic is a blessing.”
About the Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Clinic
The Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic is a teaching law practice that educates, forms, and prepares Notre Dame law students to become the rising generation of religious liberty leaders by training students in the practice of the law as they defend religious freedom for all people.
Under the guidance of Law School faculty and staff, students work on a broad variety of legal matters to promote religious freedom on behalf of individuals and organizations of all beliefs—both domestically and abroad. The Clinic represents clients from all faith traditions to promote not only the freedom for people to hold religious beliefs but also their fundamental right to express those beliefs and to live according to them. Learn more about the work of the Clinic here.