Canfield v. Cook County
| Decision Date | 23 June 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. A94A0576,A94A0576 |
| Parties | CANFIELD v. COOK COUNTY. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Rodney L. Allen, Moultrie, for appellant.
Ellis & Easterlin, George M. Peagler, Jr., Americus, for appellee.
John Grant Canfield brought suit against Cook County, Georgia, seeking damages for personal injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident on a county road. The trial court granted Cook County's motion to dismiss or in the alternative for summary judgment on the basis of sovereign immunity. Canfield appeals, and we affirm.
The 1990 amendment of Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Par. IX, extended sovereign immunity to all state departments and agencies, regardless of the existence of liability insurance. Donaldson v. Dept. of Transp., 262 Ga. 49, 50, 414 S.E.2d 638 (1992). The provisions of this paragraph apply to counties as subdivisions of the state. Toombs County v. O'Neal, 254 Ga. 390, 391(1), 330 S.E.2d 95 (1985); Gilbert v. Richardson, 211 Ga.App. 795(1), 440 S.E.2d 684 (1994). The 1990 amendment became applicable on January 1, 1991 to causes accruing after that date. Donaldson, supra; Parker v. Wynn, 211 Ga.App. 78, 438 S.E.2d 147 (1993). Canfield acknowledges that his motorcycle accident occurred after January 1, 1991.
Canfield cites no authority for his contention that waiver of sovereign immunity by the purchase of liability insurance should survive its removal from the constitution by the 1990 amendment. This contention is directly counter to the expressed intent in amending the constitution to remove the waiver provision and in enacting a state Tort Claims Act under the terms of that amendment. See Curtis v. Bd. of Regents, 262 Ga. 226, 227, 416 S.E.2d 510 (1992). The Georgia Tort Claims Act, OCGA § 50-21-20 et seq., declares "the state shall only be liable in tort actions within the limitations of this article and in accordance with the fair and uniform principles established in this article." OCGA § 50-21-21(a). The Act defines "State" specifically to exclude counties. OCGA § 50-21-22(5). This action accordingly is barred by the doctrine of sovereign immunity.
Canfield's allegation of nuisance does not create a basis for liability. A county cannot be liable for a nuisance except in the context of a taking of private property for public purposes amounting to inverse condemnation. DeKalb County v. Orwig, 261 Ga. 137, 138(1), 402 S.E.2d 513 (1991). Nor do Canfield's constitutional claims have merit. Robinson v. City of Decatur, 253 Ga. 779(1), 325 S.E.2d 752 (1985), overruled on other grounds, Martin v. Ga. Dept. of Public Safety, 257 Ga. 300, 303, n. 1, 357 S.E.2d 569 (1987) (application of former Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Par. IX). ...
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