STATE EX REL. YOUTH SVCS. SYS. v. Wilson, 25444.

• Decision Date: 13 May 1999
• Docket Number: No. 25444.,25444.
• Citation: 204 W.Va. 637,515 S.E.2d 594
• Court: West Virginia Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE of West Virginia ex rel. YOUTH SERVICES SYSTEMS, INC. a West Virginia Corporation, Petitioner, v. Honorable Ronald E. WILSON Judge of the Circuit Court of Ohio County and Tracy Galloway, Individually and as Administratrix of the Estate of D'Ominique Galloway, Respondents.

515 S.E.2d 594

204 W.Va. 637

STATE of West Virginia ex rel. YOUTH SERVICES SYSTEMS, INC. a West Virginia Corporation, Petitioner, v. Honorable Ronald E. WILSON Judge of the Circuit Court of Ohio County and Tracy Galloway, Individually and as Administratrix of the Estate of D'Ominique Galloway, Respondents.

No. 25444.

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Submitted February 16, 1999.

Decided May 13, 1999.

David L. Wyant, Esq., Shuman, Annand, Bailey, Wyant & Earles, Wheeling, West Virginia, Attorney for Petitioner.

David J. Sims, Esq., Robert G. McCoid, Esq., Sims & McCoid, Wheeling, West Virginia, Attorneys for Respondents.

WORKMAN, Justice.

Youth Services Systems ("Youth Services") seeks a writ of prohibition to prevent enforcement of the ruling¹ issued by the Circuit Court of Ohio County, in which the court found that Youth Services is not a "political subdivision" within the meaning of the Governmental Tort Claims and Insurance Reform Act (the "Act"), West Virginia Code §§ 29-12A-1 to -18 (1999), and is therefore not entitled to immunity from prosecution for a wrongful death action. After closely examining the statutory provisions at issue, we find no error in the lower court's ruling and accordingly, we refuse to grant a writ of prohibition.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Mrs. Tracy Galloway, Plaintiff below, initiated delinquency proceedings against her fourteen-year-old son, D'Ominique, with the filing of a petition on September 22, 1995, wherein she alleged that D'Ominique was both incorrigible and a runaway.² Three days later, D'Ominique was arrested and placed at the Northern Regional Juvenile Detention Facility.³ Following the detention hearing on September 26, 1995, the circuit court entered an order on September 27, 1995, requiring D'Ominique to remain at the Northern Regional detention facility. The dispositional hearing was held on September 28, 1995, and the circuit court directed that D'Ominique be placed at Olympic Center⁴ in Kingwood, West Virginia, for inpatient drug and alcohol treatment. Both Mrs. Galloway and the juvenile probation officer agreed to the placement. The dispositional order further provided that D'Ominique was to have a psychological examination while at the Olympic Center. When the Ohio County Juvenile Probation Officer, Susan Mortakis, contacted the Olympic Center, Ms. Mortakis was purportedly told that she had to obtain preapproval⁵ from the West Virginia Medical Institute⁶ before the Olympic Center could Accept D'Ominique. Youth Services claims that when it contacted West Virginia Medical Institute for the necessary approval,⁷ it was told that the transfer would not be authorized until a psychiatric evaluation was performed and a treatment plan submitted.⁸

After holding the adjudicatory hearing on October 12, 1995, the circuit court placed D'Ominique on probation for one year.⁹ Shortly after his release from the Northern Regional detention facility and while in the custody of his mother, D'Ominique ingested controlled substances and shot himself in the head. He later died as a result of the gunshot wound. Although D'Ominique had been scheduled to have a drug and alcohol evaluation on October 16, 1995, no such evaluation was performed because of his release¹⁰ four days prior to the scheduled evaluation.

Mrs. Galloway instituted a wrongful death suit against Youth Services and West Virginia Medical Institute¹¹ on February 13, 1997, asserting negligent failure to approve and secure treatment for D'Ominique. On February 12, 1998, Youth Services filed a motion for summary judgment wherein it claimed immunity from suit under the Act. Judge Wilson concluded, following a hearing on the motion, that Youth Services was not a "political subdivision" entitled to immunity under the Act. Seeking to prevent enforcement of the lower court's denial of statutory immunity, Youth Services requests that a writ of prohibition issue.

II. Standard of Review

We recently set forth the controlling standard of review for writs of prohibition that do not involve a challenge to the lower court's assertion of jurisdiction:

In determining whether to entertain and issue the writ of prohibition for cases not involving an absence of jurisdiction but only where it is claimed that the lower tribunal exceeded its legitimate powers, this Court will examine five factors: (1) whether the party seeking the writ has no other adequate means, such as direct appeal, to obtain the desired relief; (2) whether the petitioner will be damaged or prejudiced in a way that is not correctable on appeal; (3) whether the lower tribunal's order is clearly erroneous as a matter of law; (4) whether the lower tribunal's order is an oft repeated error or manifests persistent disregard for either procedural or substantive law; and (5) whether the lower tribunal's order raises new and important problems or issues of law of first impression. These factors are general guidelines that serve as a useful starting point for determining whether a discretionary writ of prohibition should issue. Although all five factors need not be satisfied, it is clear that the third factor, the existence of clear error as a matter of law, should be given substantial weight.

Syl. Pt. 4, State ex rel. Hoover v. Berger, 199 W.Va. 12, 483 S.E.2d 12 (1996). In this case, Youth Services contends that the circuit court's ruling with regard to its entitlement to immunity was clearly erroneous as a matter of law.

III. Discussion

Youth Services bases its argument for immunity on two separate provisions of the Act. The first section concerns immunity for "enforcement of the lawful orders of any court." W. Va.Code § 29-12A-5(a)(3). Youth Services relies secondarily on the statutory immunity extended under the Act for the provision, equipping, lawful operation or maintenance of any prison, jail, or correctional facility. See W. Va.Code § 29-12A-5(a)(14). Before we consider the applicability of these immunity provisions, however, there is an initial hurdle that must be met. Since the immunity provisions at issue apply only to political subdivisions, Youth Services must first qualify as a "political subdivision" to invoke statutory immunity.

The term "political subdivision" is defined in West Virginia Code § 29-12A-3(c) as:

any county commission, municipality and county board of education; any separate corporation or instrumentality established by one or more counties or municipalities, as permitted by law; any instrumentality supported in most part by municipalities; any public body charged by law with the performance of a government function and whose jurisdiction is coextensive with one or more counties, cities or towns; a combined city-county health department ...; public service districts; and other instrumentalities including, but not limited to, volunteer fire departments and emergency service organizations as recognized by an appropriate public body and authorized by law to perform a government function: Provided, that hospitals of a political subdivision and their employees are expressly excluded from the provisions of this article.

In its attempt to come within the statutory parameters of a political subdivision, Youth Services looks to the definitional language which references "any public body charged by law with the performance of a government function and whose jurisdiction is coextensive with one or more counties, cities, or towns." In circular fashion, Youth Services suggests that since the youth detention services it provides qualify as a government function, it necessarily follows that it is a "public body charged by law" to perform such governmental services. Concerning the critical issue of whether it is a public body, Youth Services acknowledges that the term "public body" is not defined within the Act and then proceeds to a completely distinct statutory enactment to locate a favorable definition of such term. Citing the definition provided in the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), West Virginia Code §§ 29B-1-1 to -7 (1998), Youth Services appropriates the closing catchall FOIA language that defines a "public body" as "any other body which is created by state or local authority or which is primarily funded by the state or local authority." W. Va.Code § 29B-1-2(3). Glossing over significant analytical obstacles, Youth Services concludes that because it gets most of its money from the DHHR and because DHHR is statutorily authorized to provide services for juvenile offenders,¹² Youth Services therefore qualifies as a public body under the FOIA definition of such term. Having qualified itself as a public body, Youth Services concludes that it therefore comes within the Act's definition of a political subdivision based on its provision of a governmental function. See W. Va.Code § 29-12A-3(c).

Dismantling the argument constructed by Youth Services, Plaintiff contends that Youth Services' reliance on the Act is misplaced as the definition of "political subdivision" found in West Virginia Code § 29-12A-3(c) clearly encompasses only governmental entities. As support for its position, Plaintiff cites a principle of statutory construction known as noscitur a sociis or "`a word is known by the company it keeps.'" Banker v. Banker, 196 W.Va. 535, 545, 474 S.E.2d 465, 475 (1996) (quoting Martin v. Randolph County Bd. of Educ., 195 W.Va. 297, 311, 465 S.E.2d 399, 413 n. 10 (1995)). The entities expressly identified in the statutory definition of the term "political subdivision" include "county commission," "municipality," "county board of education," "combined city-county health department," and "public service district." W. Va.Code § 29-12A-3(c). Each of these entities, as Plaintiff emphasizes, is clearly governmental in both origin and purpose. Plaintiff contends that this Court's recognition in Randall v. Fairmont City Police Dep't, 186 W.Va. 336, 412 S.E.2d 737 (1991), that "[a] `political subdivision'...