Welch v. Douglas County
| Decision Date | 11 March 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. A90A1696,A90A1696 |
| Citation | 199 Ga.App. 269,404 S.E.2d 450 |
| Parties | WELCH v. DOUGLAS COUNTY. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers, James T. McDonald, Jr., R. Briggs Peery, for appellant.
Drew, Eckl & Farnham, Nena K. Puckett, Theodore Freeman, for appellee.
Plaintiff/appellant Thomas L. Welch, Sr., brought this suit against defendant/appellee Douglas County on behalf of his daughter, Michelle, who suffered an injury to her foot when she stepped on a nail in a board at a ball field owned by Douglas County. Based on the application of the Recreational Property Act, OCGA §§ 51-3-20 through 51-3-26, the trial court granted summary judgment to Douglas County and plaintiff brings this appeal.
1. (Parenthetical citations omitted.) Cedeno v. Lockwood, Inc., 250 Ga. 799, 801(2), 301 S.E.2d 265 (1983). The Recreational Property Act applies to both private owners of land as well as public owners of land. Stone Mountain Mem. Assn. v. Herrington, 225 Ga. 746(2), 171 S.E.2d 521 (1969).
The record shows that Douglas County made the property involved in this case available to a local civic association for use as a ball field by the public. No charge was made for use of the property. Plaintiff's daughter was injured while her family attended a baseball game in which her brother played. Douglas County clearly comes within the protection of the Recreational Property Act under these facts. However, plaintiff argues that Douglas County waived the protection of the Act on two grounds: 1) by providing workers to maintain the ball field by cutting the grass on a regular basis and cleaning up any debris the workers saw while on the site and 2) by purchasing liability insurance.
Plaintiff argues that Douglas County's act in undertaking maintenance of the property means that Douglas County voluntarily undertook the duty to keep the ball field safe and thus waived the protection of the Act. We do not agree. OCGA § 51-3-23 says in pertinent part "an owner of land who either directly or indirectly invites or permits without charge any person to use the property for recreational purposes does not thereby: (1) Extend any assurance that the premises are safe for any purpose; (2) Confer upon such person the legal status of an invitee or licensee to whom a duty of care is owed...." The only exception to the grant of immunity given by OCGA § 51-3-22 is contained in OCGA § 51-3-25 which specifies that an owner will be liable for "willful or malicious failure to guard or warn against a dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity...." Construing the Act as plaintiff would have us do would largely frustrate the purpose of the Act and would increase the danger to the public. Under plaintiff's construction, a landowner would enjoy immunity only if he essentially...
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Norton v. Cobb County
...without charge for recreational purposes. OCGA § 51-3-20; see, e.g., Maleare, supra at 594(1), 445 S.E.2d 321; Welch v. Douglas County, 199 Ga.App. 269(1), 404 S.E.2d 450 (1991). To the extent that the trial court's analysis implies a waiver of sovereign immunity by analyzing the RPA, it wa......
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...the Olympic Games v. Hawthorne, 278 Ga. 116, 117(1), 598 S.E.2d 471 (2004) ("ACOG II"). 3. OCGA § 51-3-20. 4. Welch v. Douglas County, 199 Ga.App. 269(1), 404 S.E.2d 450 (1991). 5. Hogue v. Stone Mountain Mem. Assn., 183 Ga.App. 378-379, 358 S.E.2d 852 (1987), citing OCGA §§ 51-3-23 and 51-......
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South Gwinnett Athletic Ass'n, Inc. v. Nash, A95A2365
...unfinished bleachers, the trial court erred in denying the Association's motion for summary judgment. See Welch v. Douglas County, 199 Ga.App. 269, 270(2), 404 S.E.2d 450 (1991); Ga. Marble Co. v. Warren, 183 Ga.App. 866, 867-868(1), 360 S.E.2d 286 (1987). 2. Due to our ruling in Division 1......