Cook v. Colquitt County Bd. of Educ.
| Decision Date | 06 February 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. S91A1269,S91A1269 |
| Citation | 412 S.E.2d 828,261 Ga. 841 |
| Parties | , 72 Ed. Law Rep. 425 COOK, GDN. v. COLQUITT COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION et al. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Neal Weinberg, Albany, for Trina Cook.
James C. Whelchel, Whelchel, Whelchel & Carlton, Moultrie, for Colquitt County Bd. of Educ.
We granted this application for interlocutory appeal to determine the propriety of the trial court's dismissal of the complaint against defendant Colquitt County Board of Education (Board). The trial court granted the Board's motion to dismiss on the ground that it is not a legal entity subject to suit.
In a long line of cases, we, and the Court of Appeals, have held that a county board of education, unlike the school district which it manages, is not a body corporate and does not have the capacity to sue or be sued. See, e.g., Smith v. Maynard, 214 Ga. 764, 769(2), 107 S.E.2d 815 (1959); Parker v. Bd. of Ed. of Sumter County, 209 Ga. 5(2), 70 S.E.2d 369 (1952); Foster v. Cobb County Bd. of Ed., 133 Ga.App. 768, 213 S.E.2d 38 (1975). The only exception to this rule, not applicable here, is where the legislature creates a school board by an act which gives that board the capacity to sue or be sued. Morman v. Board of Ed. of Richmond County, 218 Ga. 48, 49(1), 126 S.E.2d 217 (1962).
The plaintiffs contend that the foregoing rule was changed by the adoption of the Constitution of Georgia of 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Par. IX, which provides, in part, that
[s]overeign immunity extends to the state and all of its departments and agencies. However, the defense of sovereign immunity is waived as to ... those actions for the recovery of damages for any claim against the state or any of its departments and agencies for which liability insurance protection for such claims has been provided but only to the extent of any liability insurance provided.
They argue that under our holding in Thigpen v. McDuffie County Bd. of Ed., 255 Ga. 59, 335 S.E.2d 112 (1985), interpreting this constitutional provision, a school board is now a legal entity with the capacity to sue and be sued. We disagree.
In Thigpen, citing Toombs County v. O'Neal, 254 Ga. 390, 330 S.E.2d 95 (1985) for the proposition that a county is included within the definition of "the state and any of its departments and agencies" in the above-cited constitutional provision, we held that the defendant McDuffie County Board of Education was likewise included in that provision. However, as...
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...v. Uslu, 301 Ga. App. 885, 885 (2010); Means v. City of Atlanta Police Dep't, 262 Ga. App. 700, 703 (2003); Cook v. Colquitt Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 261 Ga. 841, 841 (1992); Tidwell v. Coweta Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 240 Ga. App. 55, 56 (1999); Williams, 2009 WL 1457156, at *2; Brownlee, 59 Ga. App.......
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Foskey v. Vidalia City School
...it manages, is not a body corporate and does not have the capacity to sue or be sued. (Citations omitted.) Cook v. Colquitt County Bd. of Ed., 261 Ga. 841, 412 S.E.2d 828 (1992); see also Hicks v. Walker County School Dist., 172 Ga.App. 428, 429(2), 323 S.E.2d 231 (1984). "Only if the legis......
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Leake v. Murphy
...it manages, is not a body corporate and does not have the capacity to sue or be sued." (Citations omitted.) Cook v. Colquitt County Bd. of Ed., 261 Ga. 841, 412 S.E.2d 828 (1992). The Leakes also consented to the dismissal of the Gwinnett County School District on the basis of sovereign imm......
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Adaway v. Atwater
...capacity to sue or be sued.'" Mason v. Clayton Cty. Bd. of Educ., 334 Fed. App'x 191, 194 (11th Cir. 2009) (quoting Cook v. Colquitt Cty. Bd. of Educ., 261 Ga. 841 (1992). In contrast, school districts are corporate bodies with the capacity to sue and be sued. Zachery v. Crawford Cty. Bd. o......