Jarboe v. Board of County Com'rs of Sedgwick County
| Citation | 262 Kan. 615,938 P.2d 1293 |
| Decision Date | 06 June 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 76,846,76,846 |
| Parties | Donald F. JARBOE and Linda P. Jarboe, Co-Guardians and Co-Conservators For Jason M. Jarboe, a disabled person, Appellants/cross-appellees, v. The BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY, Kansas, Appellee/cross-appellant, and William C. Vann, Defendant, and Janet Schalansky, Acting Secretary of Social and Rehabilitation Services, an Agency of the State of Kansas, and The STATE of Kansas, Appellees/cross-appellants. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Kansas |
Syllabus by the Court
1. The legislative history of K.S.A. 75-6104(d) makes it clear that the 1987 amendment to that statute was intended to not allow the result in Fudge v. City of Kansas City, 239 Kan. 369, 720 P.2d 1093 (1986), to remain as the law in Kansas. Fudge can no longer be relied upon as valid precedent to establish liability as a result of a public employee's failure to follow written personnel policies, unless an independent duty of care is owed to the injured party.
2. Agency policies and procedures should not be read so strictly that the agency's inherent functions are impaired.
3. Although a government agency does not have a discretionary right to violate a legal duty and avoid liability, a legal duty to the public at large is not equivalent to a legal duty to a specific individual.
4. An agency's interpretation of its own regulations should be granted deference and not disturbed on appeal unless clearly erroneous or inconsistent with the regulations.
Loren H. Houk, Wichita, argued the cause and was on the briefs, for appellants/cross-appellees.
Michael George, of Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, Topeka, argued the cause and was on the brief, for appellees/cross-appellants Janet Schalansky and State of Kansas.
Greer Gsell, of Woodard, Blaylock, Hernandez, Roth & Day, Wichita, argued the cause and was on the brief, for appellee/cross-appellant Board of County Commissioners of Sedgwick County.
This is a personal injury action brought by Donald and Linda Jarboe, co-guardians and co-conservators for their son, Jason M. Jarboe, who was shot and severely injured by Charles Edward Clare, an escapee from a youth residence facility where he had been placed by the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) following a juvenile court adjudication in Sedgwick County, Kansas. The defendants are the Board of County Commissioners of Sedgwick County, (Sedgwick County) as the operators of the juvenile residence facility, and SRS. The Jarboes alleged negligence in the placement and supervision of Clare.
The trial court determined the defendants were immune from liability under what is now K.S.A.1996 Supp. 75-6104(d) and (e) of the Kansas Tort Claims Act (KTCA) and granted summary judgment in their favor. The Jarboes appealed. The defendants cross-appealed the trial court's failure to also find they were entitled to immunity under what is now K.S.A.1996 Supp. 75-6104(b).
Factual statement
The trial court essentially accepted SRS's and Sedgwick County's statements of material fact that were not controverted by the Jarboes. It ruled the remaining facts were not material for a proper determination of the legal issues.
Charles Edward Clare was adjudicated a juvenile offender for unlawful deprivation of property (joy riding) on November 4, 1992. Clare had previously been subject to adjudications in juvenile court for misdemeanor criminal damage to property and misdemeanor theft in July 1990, and misdemeanor battery because of a fistfight in October 1990. Clare received probation for each of these prior offenses and successfully completed each probation period.
Clare had also been hospitalized for his aggressive and antisocial behavior, first, at Charter Hospital in Wichita (Charter) from January 24, 1988, to February 23, 1988, and again at Charter from October 29, 1990, to January 3, 1991. The later hospitalization followed the battery adjudication. The physicians at Charter recommended Clare's transfer to the Shadow Mountain Institute (Shadow Mountain) in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for extended inpatient treatment, which is where Clare remained from January 4, 1991, to May 10, 1991.
The court services officer who prepared Clare's predisposition report for the unlawful deprivation of property offense recommended probation. However, the juvenile court ruled that Clare should be placed in the custody of SRS and recommended an out-of-home placement. No specific placement was suggested.
At that time, the making of placement decisions for juveniles in SRS custody was controlled by section 4521 of the SRS Kansas Manual of Youth Services (KMYS). That section, entitled "Levels of Care Facilities for Group Boarding Homes/Residential Centers," provided:
"The effectiveness of the referral process depends on the extent to which significant behavior characteristics of the youth can be identified. An effective service delivery system must provide a means for placing clients in agencies with programs relevant to their service needs.
A. All referrals of youth to level of care group boarding homes and residential centers will be based on the matching of the child's characteristics with the specific level of care provided by the facility.
B. Based upon the well-substantiated data regarding the child gathered from all available sources, the child's service worker, with the assistance of the administrative review/staffing team shall complete the Placement Behavior Scale [YS-3409].
C. The administrative review/staffing team will identify and assign the overall level of care for the child or youth.
D. Based upon the assigned overall level of care for the child or youth, the administrative/staffing team will identify from the Residential Services for Children and Youth Resource Directory the appropriate level group home or residential center to which the child or youth shall be referred."
The SRS case worker assigned to Clare's case was Shari New. In making the placement, New interviewed Clare; reviewed documents from the juvenile court, educational records, psychological evaluations, and medical discharge summaries; considered the results of an interview by an intern with Clare's mother; and examined form 815, the Comprehensive Information Sheet--Juvenile Offender, which had replaced form YS-3409 (a requirement of section 4521 of the KMYS).
New was aware of Clare's hospitalization history, but did not seek or obtain Clare's medical records from Shadow Mountain before making a placement recommendation. New also did not receive Clare's entire medical record from Charter, although she read psychological evaluations and medical discharge summaries from at least two doctors at the hospital. She admitted in a deposition that she had not obtained data from "all available sources," but maintained in an affidavit that nothing in the Shadow Mountain records would have changed her placement decision.
New referred Clare to two licensed residential facilities, Judge Riddel Boys Ranch (JRBR), a level V residential facility, and Elm Acres Home, a level IV residential facility. Level IV facilities are less restrictive than level V facilities, as residents may attend public schools rather than receive in-house schooling. A level V facility is defined in the KMYS as a "non-secure facility providing 24-hour residential care for children and youth with severe maladaptive or disruptive behavior who require a program which provides consistent structure, frequent therapeutic intervention, a controlled environment with a high degree of supervision."
In making the referral of Clare to these facilities, New deemed Clare to be a nonviolent offender despite his misdemeanor battery charge. Clare was accepted at both facilities, but was placed in JRBR because Elm Acres Home was full.
Sedgwick County owns and operates JRBR, a treatment facility for male juvenile offenders. Admissions criteria for JRBR are consistent with level V care standards established by the State of Kansas. Those eligible for admission must meet the following criteria, according to JRBR Policy 17.1, III.B.:
Mark Masterson, the Assistant Director of the Department of Youth Services in Sedgwick County, made admissions decisions for JRBR and authored the admissions policy. Masterson reviewed information in the referral package sent by SRS regarding Clare's criminal history, hospitalizations, education, and health; performed a computer background check; and interviewed Clare, his mother, and New. In deciding to accept Clare, Masterson considered Clare an average level V referral and did not deem him to be a violent offender by reason of his misdemeanor battery charge. Although Masterson was aware that Clare had received an early discharge from Shadow Mountain, he did not obtain the hospital's records. Masterson stated in an affidavit that nothing in the Shadow Mountain records would have altered his decision to admit Clare to JRBR.
The record does not support the Jarboes' contention that examination by New and Masterson of the Shadow...
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