Texas Dept. Transp. v. Jones
| Court | Supreme Court of Texas |
| Citation | 8 S.W.3d 636 |
| Docket Number | No. 99-0126,99-0126 |
| Parties | (Tex. 1999) Texas Department of Transportation, Petitioner v. Stephen Jones, Respondent |
| Decision Date | 02 December 1999 |
Page 636
v.
Stephen Jones, Respondent
On Petition for Review from the Court of Appeals for the Thirteenth District of Texas
Page 637
Per Curiam
Today we reaffirm that governmental immunity from suit defeats a trial court's subject matter jurisdiction and thus is properly asserted in a plea to the jurisdiction. Without considering the merits of the Texas Department of Transportation's plea to the jurisdiction, the court of appeals in this case held otherwise and affirmed the trial court's denial of the Department's plea. 983 S.W.2d 90. We therefore reverse the court of appeals' judgment and remand this cause to that court for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Stephen Jones sued the Texas Department of Transportation for damage to his car, which he alleges resulted from driving it on a recently resurfaced road. The justice of the peace court rendered judgment against the Department for $327.40. The Department appealed to the county court at law, where it filed a motion for summary judgment and a plea to the jurisdiction contending that because Jones' claim did not fall within the waiver of immunity from suit in the Texas Tort Claims Act, the court lacked jurisdiction. Both were denied. The Department then filed an interlocutory appeal from the denial of its plea to the jurisdiction.1 The court of appeals affirmed the denial, holding that immunity from suit is not a jurisdictional bar and thus could not be asserted in a plea to the jurisdiction. 983 S.W.2d 90. The Department complains in this Court about the court of appeals' refusal to consider the merits of its plea.
In support of its ruling, the court of appeals relied on Davis v. City of San Antonio, 752 S.W.2d 518 (Tex. 1988). The court interpreted Davis as holding that immunity from suit is not "a jurisdictional obstacle to a trial court's power to hear cases against governmental defendants," thus making a plea to the jurisdiction, which contests a trial court's subject matter jurisdiction, an improper vehicle for asserting immunity from suit. 983 S.W.2d at 91-92. We disagree with this interpretation of Davis.
In Davis, the plaintiff sued the City of San Antonio for, among other things, malicious prosecution. The jury found for the plaintiff, but the trial court granted the
Page 638
City's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the ground that the City was immune from liability. The court of appeals agreed, concluding that the City was immune from liability as a matter of law. Davis v. City of San Antonio, 739 S.W.2d 394, 397 (Tex. App. -- San Antonio 1987), rev'd, 752 S.W.2d 518 (Tex. 1988). Our review concerned the City's ability to avoid liability when it failed to raise immunity until it filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Davis, 752 S.W.2d at 519. We held that "sovereign immunity may not be asserted as a jurisdictional obstacle to a trial court's power to hear cases against governmental defendants" and that by failing to plead immunity, the City waived its ability to rely on that defense. Id. at 519-20. While neither our holding nor our analysis distinguished between immunity from liability and immunity from suit, our description of the lower court proceedings in Davis reveals that the component of governmental immunity at issue in that case was immunity from liability, not immunity from suit. See id. at 519.
Immunity from liability and immunity from suit are two distinct...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Nueces County v. Ferguson, 13-02-230-CV.
...Id. Immunity from liability is an affirmative defense that must be pled or else it is waived. Texas Department of Transportation v. Jones, 8 S.W.3d 636, 638 (Tex.1999) (citing Davis v. City of San Antonio, 752 S.W.2d 518, 519-20 (Tex. 1988)). Immunity from suit, on the other hand, bars a su......
-
Rusk State Hosp. v. Black, 10–0548.
...(“We again reaffirm that it is the Legislature's sole province to waive or abrogate sovereign immunity.”); Tex. Dep't of Transp. v. Jones, 8 S.W.3d 636, 638 (Tex.1999) (per curiam).2 [392 S.W.3d 94] The Legislature has waived governmental entities' immunity from certain claims by means of t......
-
Texas Dept. Parks and Wildlife v. Miranda, 01-0619.
...in which the state or certain governmental units have been sued unless the state consents to suit. Tex. Dep't of Transp. v. Jones, 8 S.W.3d 636, 638 (Tex.1999); Fed. Sign v. Tex. S. Univ., 951 S.W.2d 401, 405 (Tex.1997), superseded by statute on other grounds as stated in Little-Tex Insulat......
-
Garcia v. Kubosh, 01–11–00315–CV.
...not affect a court's jurisdiction to hear a case and cannot be raised in a plea to the jurisdiction. See Tex. Dep't of Transp. v. Jones, 8 S.W.3d 636, 638–39 (Tex.1999); see also Miranda, 133 S.W.3d at 224. “Governmental immunity operates like sovereign immunity to afford similar protection......
-
Nitsch v. City of El Paso, EP-06-CA-0042 KC.
...be substantiated. A state court may not hear a claim against the state when sovereign immunity is invoked. Tex. Dep't of Transp. v. Jones, 8 S.W.3d 636, 637 (Tex.1999). Sovereign immunity under state law involves immunity from suit, not immunity from liability. Id. at 638. As such, refusal ......
-
McGinnis v. Union Pacific R. Co.
...in which the state or certain governmental units have been sued unless the entity consents to suit. Texas Dep't of Transp. v. Jones, 8 S.W.3d 636, 638 (Tex.1999); Fed. Sign v. Tex. S. Univ., 951 S.W.2d 401, 405 (Tex.1997), superseded by statute on Page 799 grounds as stated in General Serv.......
-
Bittakis v. City of El Paso, EP-05-0402-FM.
...and its governmental units are immune from suit absent a statute or express legislative permission. See Texas Dep't of Transp. v. Jones, 8 S.W.3d 636, 638-39 (Tex.1999). The Texas Tort Claims Act ("TTCA") waives immunity for three types of claims: (1) claims arising from the operation or us......
-
State v. City of Galveston
...waived immunity from suit, the State retains such immunity even if its liability is not disputed."); Texas Dep't of Transp. v. Jones, 8 S.W.3d 636, 638 (Tex.1999)("The party suing [a] governmental entity must establish the state's consent, which may be alleged either by reference to a statu......
-
Damage Award For Man Injured In Bus Accident Reduced Where Defendant Was A Governmental Unit
...(Tex. 2009). Immunity from suit "bars an action against the State unless the State consents to the suit." Tex. Dep't of Transp. v. Jones, 8 S.W.3d 636, 638 (Tex. 1999). "Consent to suit must ordinarily be found in a constitutional provision or legislative enactment." Wichita Falls State Hos......