Olvera v. Univ. Sys. of Georgia's Bd. of Regents
Decision Date | 19 March 2015 |
Docket Number | No. A14A2352.,A14A2352. |
Citation | 331 Ga.App. 392,771 S.E.2d 91 |
Parties | OLVERA et al. v. UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF GEORGIA'S BOARD OF REGENTS et al. |
Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Kuck Immigration Partners, Charles Herman Kuck, Atlanta, for Appellants.
Samuel S. Olens, Atty. Gen., Russell D. Willard, Senior Asst. Atty. Gen., Allen Inman Lightcap, Asst. Atty. Gen., for Appellee.
Non-citizen college students who are beneficiaries of the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (“DACA”) brought an action against the University System of Georgia's Board of Regents and its members in their official capacities (collectively, “the Board”) seeking a declaration that they were entitled to in-state benefits at institutions in the University System of Georgia. The trial court granted the Board's motion to dismiss on the ground that sovereign immunity bars the action. We agree and affirm. Accordingly, we do not reach the merits of the action.
Board of Regents & c. of Georgia v. Canas, 295 Ga.App. 505, 509(3), 672 S.E.2d 471 (2009) (citation and punctuation omitted).
In their declaratory judgment petition, the students alleged that their status as DACA beneficiaries rendered them lawfully present in the United States. They further alleged that the Board's policy manual required students to provide verification of their lawful presence in the United States before being classified as in-state students for tuition purposes. And they alleged that the Board had not defined “lawful presence” for the purpose of its policy manual. The students alleged that the Board has “refus[ed] to confer in-state tuition benefits to Georgia college students[ ] who have obtained lawful presence in the United States through DACA[.]” They sought a declaration that they “and other similarly situated DACA approved students[ ] who would otherwise qualify for in-state tuition benefits are entitled to those benefits[.]”
Arguing that sovereign immunity barred the declaratory judgment action, the Board moved for the trial court to dismiss it. The trial court agreed and granted the motion to dismiss, reasoning among other things that sovereign immunity extends to declaratory judgment actions and that the provision in the Administrative Procedure Act authorizing declaratory judgment actions against state agencies to determine the validity of agency rules, OCGA § 50–13–10, did not waive sovereign immunity in actions concerning “interpretive rules.”
We agree with the trial court that sovereign immunity bars this action. Our state constitution provides that, with certain exceptions not relevant to this case, sovereign immunity “extends to the state and all of its departments and agencies.” Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Par. IX (e). Accordingly, sovereign immunity extends to the Board of Regents. Wilson v. Bd. of Regents & c. of Georgia, 262 Ga. 413, 414(3), 419 S.E.2d 916 (1992) ; Carroll v. Bd. of Regents & c. of Georgia, 324 Ga.App. 598, 602(2), 751 S.E.2d 421 (2013) ; Bd. of Regents & c. of Georgia v. Ruff, 315 Ga.App. 452, 456(2), 726 S.E.2d 451 (2012). It also extends to individual members of the Board when, as here, they are sued in their official capacities. See Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources v. Center for a Sustainable Coast, 294 Ga. 593, 599(2), 755 S.E.2d 184 (2014) ( ); Cameron v. Lang, 274 Ga. 122, 126(3), 549 S.E.2d 341 (2001) ( ). And sovereign immunity extends to declaratory judgment actions against state agencies. See Judicial Council of Georgia v. Brown & Gallo, LLC, 288 Ga. 294, 298, 702 S.E.2d 894 (2010) ; DeKalb County School Dist. v. Gold, 318 Ga.App. 633, 637, 640(1)(a), 734 S.E.2d 466 (2012) ; Live Oak Consulting v. Dept. of Community Health, 281 Ga.App. 791, 796(1), 637 S.E.2d 455 (2006).
Georgia State Bd. of Dental Examiners v. Daniels, 137 Ga.App. 706, 707(1), 224 S.E.2d 820 (1976) (citations omitted) (OCGA § 50–13–10 ) earlier version of .
The waiver in OCGA § 50–13–10 only applies to actions determining the validity of rules adopted by agencies under the rule-making procedures of the Administrative Procedure Act. See Daniels, 137 Ga.App. at 708–709, 224...
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Olvera v. Univ. Sys. of Georgia's Bd. of Regents
...ground that sovereign immunity bars the action, and the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court. Olvera v. Univ. Sys. of Georgia's Bd. of Regents, 331 Ga.App. 392, 771 S.E.2d 91 (2015). We affirm.As set forth by the Court of Appeals,in their declaratory judgment petition, the students all......
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